I’ll be moving to Okinawa from a land of mountains and trees soon and would love to get some recommendations for these and other non-beach related outdoor activities (those are easy to find haha). Preferably things we could do on our own, after we get the lay of the land, rather than guided. All ideas are appreciated!
by karabeth05
3 comments
Kayaking can be done on the ocean. There is a great tradition for car camping in japan but it’s much too social for my taste. You have neighbors 15ft on both sides camping too.
I’ve heard of beach camping here, especially if you get a boat ride to a quieter island nearby, and camp there.
There are a few rivers and at least one has a km or two that commonly has kayaking in it.
The mountains have hiking but if you go off trail there are snakes and unexploded artillery shells…haven’t tried that yet.
Lastly there are many nice reservoirs but the nearest one does not allow boating or swimming and that may go for them all.
Higashi mangrove paddle, it’s a national park on the East side. You can kayak or SUP there. They require that you wear a life vest or will ask you to leave, there are no vests to rent, given you are doing this without a tour come prepared. There’s a really fun tight mangrove tunnel marked by a buoy on the left as you head up river, the tunnel is maybe a 1/2 mile long. High tide is preferred as it gets a bit too shallow at low and becomes impassable in many areas.
Tataki Falls water fall hike is another fun one. There are loads of caves to explore all over the island. Many are easy to find and marked on google maps such as “happy cave” in Yomitan or “Todoroki Cave” in Itoman.
Daisekirinzan park up by Cape Hedo is a nice hike with loads of massive banyan trees and really cool rock formations. Located on the northern tip of the island.
Forest Adventure Park has zip lines,
[https://foret-aventure.jp/en/park/fa-onna/](https://foret-aventure.jp/en/park/fa-onna/)