Exploring Okinawa Island

Mass suicide bunker

The mall in which Banana Car Rental is located opens at 1000.  But they had set up a desk outside for our 0930 collection in a highly professional and organised manner.

We turned up a little earlier and managed to hit the road in our Suzuki Solio at 0930 heading to the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters.  The drive took us through very narrow alleyways and it’s a good reminder why small cars are popular in Japan and Italy.

The Japanese Navy stationed themselves in these underground tunnels during the war.  Some 4000 of them were killed or committed suicide as their loss appeared imminent.  It appeared that they killed themselves with grenades, as seen from the pock-marked walls.

Text continues after this gallery.

Okinawa Aquarium

Around 1015, I continued our drive north on the long stretch to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium.  The drive was motorway for about an hour before changing to normal roads for about 30 mins.

We made a lunch break at an Aeon overlooking a gorgeous island and beach (linked to mainland Okinawa) before arriving at the aquarium parking around 1220.

For some reason, both of us missed the big aquarium entrance near the carpark and walked in the wrong direction in the heat to find the entrance.  We finally entered some shelter around 1240 and zoomed past the various exhibits to try make it to the dolphin performance at 1300.

While animal performances are politically-incorrect in the west, they still make people appreciate nature a little more in this part of the world and will hopefully help with the conservation cause.

The dolphins gave an amazing performance.  However, we can’t believe how dumb people (young and old) are, agreeing to get drenched by the splashes during “Splash Time”.

It was scorching walking through the outdoor area to and from the dolphin performance.  We decided to quickly see the remaining outdoor areas before returning indoors.

The sea turtles could be observed from both above and below the water.  It was amazing seeing them close-up from underneath.

The manatees next door were rather cute in their own way.  They look like cute seals that have over-eaten, aged and slowed down.

We returned indoors and walked against the flow of the traffic upstairs, pausing at various displays of interest.  The main tank of the aquarium is amongst the largest in the world.  The collection of a whale shark and mantas, among other large species, is jaw-dropping.

By the way, the outdoor areas (Ocean Expo Park) are free and accessible to the public.  It’s only the indoor area that’s chargeable.

Text continues after this gallery.

Additional sightseeing

After two hours in the aquarium and the outdoor areas, we returned to the car to continue our drive.  A few minutes away we arrived at Bise village where the street was lined with garcinia trees.

Parking was a hassle so we moved on to Kour9 Island bridge lookout around 1530.  We could see a gorgeous white sand beach at the far end of the bridge.

We then continued for a drive around Kouri Island in a clockwise direction, which only took less than 15 mins.

Text continues after this gallery.

Around 1600, we started our drive back to Naha, initially in slow traffic.  Fortunately, things cleared up on the tolled motorway.

We returned the rental car around 1800 by parking it on the street and walking into the mall to return the key.  They didn’t bother doing any checks even though the car was in very tidy condition.

After the big day, we took dinner around 1900 across the road from the hotel.  It was a superb meal of poached chicken, crunchy spicy cucumber, fried and steamed dumplings. Due to the language barrier, we ordered online through their Japanese website and Google Translate and it worked very well!

Observations

We did observe that speeding is common here on all roads, not just on the motorway where the limit is 80 km/h.

There are very few areas on roads where one can park, because the roads are quite narrow.  One really needs to park in dedicated parking areas.

On the streets, there are almost no rubbish bins.  One has to take rubbish home for disposal.