Time out in… Okinawa I 61
ISLAND LIFE In need of some “do nothing” time, I spend the morning by the Hilton Okinawa Chatan Resort’s (
hilton.com) outdoor pool. In a stroke of genius, the hotel created this and a shallow family pool with slides, etc just far enough apart (over a walking bridge) to keep everyone happy. Sipping a mocktail – it is the morning, after all – I admire the long, gentle curve of the 346-room resort’s west-facing façade, designed like a wave and offering sea (and sunset) views and balconies to almost all its luxurious rooms. Hilton is building a second low-rise
property next door under the Doubletree brand, which is due to open next year. The Chatan district of the island is a major tourist destination; as well as being close to the island’s remaining US air base, Sunset Beach draws the crowds, and the Sunabe Seawall is a popular spot for an evening stroll. However, the jewel in Chatan’s crown is Mihama American Village (
okinawa-americanvillage.com), four blocks of land devoted to a Japanese rendering of leisure-lifestyle Americana that’s rooted in Okinawa’s large US military population of decades ago, and now teems with tourists by day and night. It’s gaudy and gauche, but friendly and
fun if you’re in the holiday spirit. A Ferris wheel stands over one “Carnival” mall; an American Depot store boasts pirate statues and convertible cars on the walls; there’s a multiplex cinema and colourful Tex-Mex style buildings filled with pizza and taco eateries, as well as fashion stores and ice-cream parlours – be sure to try Okinawa’s famed salted ice cream! Of course there are plenty of other
businesstraveller.com
tourist districts on the west coast. South of Chatan is Araha Beach and Ginowan, where the Okinawa Convention Center and neighbouring Laguna Garden Hotel (
laguna-garden.jp/en) are situated within an expansive green space (with its own baseball park) next to a marina. North of Chatan in the central part of the island is Onna Village, a laid-back enclave that in recent years has seen many new resorts opening alongside the housestays, from a Rennaissance, Hotel Monterey and Moon Beach, to the ANA Intercontinental, Sheraton, Marriott and Ritz-Carlton – with a Hyatt Regency said to be on the way too.
WATER, BOTH OFFSHORE AND ONSHORE All of these areas – Naha included – offer day trips around the island but there’s a particular focus on the many water activities possible in this pristine ocean environment. With deep marine trenches nearby, and carefully managed reefs that flourish on warm currents and plentiful nutrients, Okinawa and the nearby collection of islands called the Keramas are blessed with wonderful snorkelling and diving potential.
Dive thrills just off the central Okinawan
shoreline include feeding batfish off Maeda Point, swimming with sea snakes off Sunabe Seawall, marvelling at the rock formations of the Blue Cave, or playing peekaboo with garden eels at Manza Dreamhole. In the north just off Kouri Island is the wreck of the USS Emmons, a deep but fascinating dive of the ill-fated American destroyer that was sunk by
multiple kamikaze planes during WWII. Only 45 minutes away by boat, the beautiful Kerama Islands offer shallow diving and snorkelling on colourful reefs that teem with life. Over the course of a few dives I spend quality time with hawksbill turtles, watch eagle rays soar past, explore underwater canyons and have a tête-à-tête (of sorts) with a very large spotted moray eel. But my most inspiring fish encounter comes on land, when I visit the Churaumi Aquarium (
churaumi.okinawa/en) on Okinawa’s northern Motobu Peninsula. Japan’s largest aquarium is part of the Ocean Expo Park, which also includes an arboretum and tropical flower garden, a traditional Okinawan native village, and the fascinating Oceanic Culture Museum, filled with all manner of Polynesian outriggers and seafaring craft. The majority head directly for the aquarium though, and it’s easy to understand why: there are a host of interesting tanks and displays. When I arrive at the enormous main tank (it seems more of a mini-ocean in many respects) I’m as gobsmacked as the rest by the sight of not one but two gigantic whale sharks, four manta rays, numerous other sharks and rays, great trevallies and schooling fishes, all moving in graceful splendour round their manmade marine habitat. I stand and watch for half an hour, then sit in the café with tables next to the glass for another 30 minutes – as mesmerised as I had been on Sunset Beach at the start of my Okinawan sojourn. There’s no doubt about it: nature in the Pacific sure knows how to put on a show.n
NOVEMBER 2017
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