Miyakojima vs Ishigaki — first week of August. What would you pick?

Hi everyone,

 Planning a trip to Japan and would love some input from people who know the Okinawa islands well.

 We're a couple traveling from August 8th to 13th (5 nights) and are trying to decide between **Miyakojima** and **Ishigaki** as our base. Both PADI Advanced certified, so diving is on the table.

 Our priorities:

1. Nice beaches

2. Snorkeling / Scuba diving

A few specific questions:

 – Beaches: Which island has better/more beautiful beaches? We've seen photos of Yonaha Maehama in Miyako and Kabira Bay in Ishigaki — is one clearly better than the other?

– Snorkeling / Diving: Which island has better options? I guess that there is not much diving in Miyako

– Overall vibe: Which island feels more authentic?

– Typhoons: We know this is typhoon season and there's no guarantee either way, but from your experience — is one island more exposed or more frequently hit than the other in early August? And practically speaking, if a typhoon does hit, what happens? How much buffer time would you recommend building into the itinerary? We have 4 nights so we're aware we might lose a day or two to bad weather — just want to understand how bad it can realistically get and how quickly things recover.

For context: we're coming from Kyoto and flying into the islands, then heading back to Tokyo. So we'd be flying in and out either way

Would really appreciate any firsthand experience.

 Thanks!