Snorkeling at Okinawa's Komaka Island in Nanjo! Everything you need to know about this southern city's snorkel course! ♪ Beach Hack Tour Part 3

Haitai (that’s “what’s up” in Okinawan) to all of our Okinawa Holiday Hackers subscribers!!

This July we are partnering with OkinawaLikes to help you level up your beach bum game 120% with this summer break exclusive plan!!

Okinawa Holiday Hackers × OkinawaLikes

BEACH HACK TOUR

You guys really seemed to like parts one and two of our series, so we are here to bring you a third!! ＼(^o^)／ Yayyy!! ♪

You might be thinking, “Beach Hack Tour? What are you guys talking about??”

And we’ve got answers to those questions and lots more in our first blog post! ▼

And in case you missed it…

We introduce Kunigami’s magical beaches here in part two of our series! ▼

For part three of our series, our adventure will be taking place at none other than the wonderful city of Nanjo in the south of Okinawa’s main island!

We just came back from an awesome snorkeling trip on the beautiful deserted island of Komaka!! ♪

Our tour was held…

AUGUST 7, 2018

Just like last time, we want all of you guys to feel like you were right there with us on this trip!!

And so to have you experience this as close to real time as possible we will be broadcasting this trip to you live on our social media!!!

▼Check out the links to our social media pages here!! ^ ^

※Unfortunately, we’ve already finished sharing the Stories from our trip! Still curious? Check out the Highlights on the Okinawa Beach Hack Instagram!

Alright, alright! Let’s just hop right into it already! The Beach Hack Tour Part 3 Travel Guide starts here! ♪

Beach Hack Tour: Nanjo City
Travel Guide

9:15 am
Snorkeling at Komaka Island

Have you guys ever heard of Komaka Island? ^ ^ It’s a an island off the coast of Nanjo and it is completely unpopulated!

If you leave from the Chinen Leisure Center next to Azama Sun Sun Beach, you can get there in about 15 minutes by boat. If you come having made a reservation, they will provide everything you need to enjoy snorkeling and other seaside activities! ♪

Boat reservations can be made over the phone!

This time we used the always convenient One Two Smile ACTIVITIES to book our ride.

There is not a lot of shade on the island, so we definitely recommend renting a parasol to protect your skin from the sun! You can find rentals at the Chinen Leisure Center before you leave.

We lounged about in the sun, and went for a little walk around the island where we found this cute spot behind the pier with an absolutely gorgeous view. ♪

The sea at Komaka is such a beautiful blue!!

Our guide told us this spot wasn’t for swimming, but as you can see, we can totally recommend it for sightseeing!

After we finished our walk, we moved onto the main attraction… snorkeling!! \( ˆoˆ )/

We actually didn’t book our snorkel tours on time, so this time we brought our own sets (four pieces each) that were lent to us and we went ahead with the snorkeling ourselves! ♪

And we could not believe what we were able to see when we went under!

We got super close to a bunch of beautiful, colorful tropical fish, and these enormous fish called taman!

The “taman” is a high grade fish that is popular with Okinawan locals”

If you book with a tour guide, they will show you around all the best spots on the island for snorkeling. (Next time, the Hackers are definitely going to try to go for the tour again properly!)

<Basic Info on Komaka Island>

1:00 pm
Lunch With a View at Shokudo Karika

We’ve come all this way, so of course we have to enjoy our lunches seaside!!

For this, we went from the Chinen Leisure Center to a great Nepalese restaurant called Shokudo Karika about fifteen minutes away by car on Mibaru Beach.

There are plenty of cafes in Nanjo with beautiful views, but if you’re looking for lunch on the beach, this is it! ♪

We got really excited when we saw the beautiful scenery coming into view through their entrance ( ＾∀＾)

And when we stepped inside… we saw a pure white sandy beach and their calm, cool parlor style eat-in-space!

The outside of the building is decorated with all kinds of shells. It was such an adorable restaurant. ♪

Their specialty at Shokudo Karika? Nepalese Curry.

We ordered their versions of chicken and chicken spinach curry.

Both were pretty hot, but if you can handle your spice, we definitely recommend you try them! Order one of those with the restaurant’s handmade lassi and you will thank us later! So good! (^ ^)

<Basic Info on Shokudo Karika>

2:00 pm
A Stroll Through Mibaru Beach

After lunch we headed to Mibaru Beach for a little stroll! ♪

The parking at Shokudo Karika was free for 90 minutes, so we recommend you take as much time as you like filling up your bellies before you go chill at Mibaru Beach.

Just looking at Mibaru’s beautiful pastel blues feels healing and purifying to the soul.

Running a little low on time, we decided to postpone our intro of Hyakuna Beach until next time!

＜Basic Info on Mibaru Beach＞

3:00 pm
Wandering Oujima

Oujima is connected to the main island by bridge, so on your way to grab some of Oujima’s top class tempura, you can stop and enjoy the view of the Okinawa’s beautiful sea from up above it. ♪

Did you know there are actually two places that sell Oujima’s famous tempura?

The first is the Oshiro Tempura Shop right next to Oujima Beach.

The place has a very classic Okinawan feel to it with its tiled roof and banyan trees. ♪

Unfortunately when we went there, they were in the middle of having a gas inspection done, so we weren’t able to get get any tempura! But we will definitely be back there to try at it again in the future!

★Our followers on Instargam though recommended us the mozuku tempura!♪★

＜Basic Info on the Oshiro Tempura Shop＞

The other tempura place is the Nakamoto Sengyo Tempura Shop right across the bridge from the main island on your right.

They mix their batter here with dashi, and when fried it is super fluffy and delicious!! ( ´∀｀)

At the Nakamoto Sengyo Tempura Shop, they bring in different fish each season, so you are always able to try something new and different there all year round! ♪

＜Basic Info on the Nakamoto Sengyo Tempura Shop＞

5:00 pm
Rest Stop at Parlor Maimu

This is is a super popular local parlor on Oujima Island that we happened upon. Their eat-in space they have set up in the shade in front of the shop was so, so pretty. ♪

When you think “Okinawan desert,” what comes to mind but some classic shaved ice topped with cold sweet bean zenzai?

At Parlor Maimu, they have a whole array of different kinds of zenzai to try!

This time we ordered their milk zenzai topping!

After a busy day out in the hot sun, the sweetness and cool touch of their milk zenzai really hit the spot 〜!

After we cooled off, we left Nanjo to end the day by watching the sunset〜!!

7:00 pm
Catching Sunset at Chura Sun Beach

Since Nanjo is on the east side of the island, we recommend either heading south or to the west if you want to catch the sunet!

If you are leaving from Nanjo, there is a sunset viewing spot about fifteen minutes away from the airport that we really recommend called Chura Sun Beach.

Did you enjoy Part 3 of our Beach Hack series?

We are always so happy to be able to help you guys with making your time in Okinawa the best ^ ^

Summer is soon coming to an end and with that, so will this series! We hope you are looking forward to the final Part 4 of our Beach Hack Tour coming soon!!

※Beach Hack Tour Part 3 was broadcasted in real time to our subscribers on Instagram. If you are interested in watching, we have everything saved on our Okinawa Holiday Hackers Instagram page under Highlights.