Kerama Islands in Okinawa

 

            The Kerama Islands in Okinawa Prefecture are an unspoiled tropical paradise with white sand beaches and a coral reef populated by a wide variety of fish and other wildlife, including rays, sharks, and turtles. There are 22 islands in the chain, of which four are inhabited. During WWII, the Kerama Islands were a staging area for US Forces preparing to attack Okinawa. However, now its largest draw is the beauty of the islands and the surrounding waters.

Kerama Island

            It is easy to get to the Kerama Islands (慶良間諸島 Kerama-shotō, Okinawan: キラマ) from other points in Okinawa by boat. It is less than one hour by high speed ferry from Naha, which is 32 kilometers (20 miles) to the northwest of the island chain. Check out the island of Zamami for a quaint town with shops, lodging, and restaurants; it has the best selection of places to eat and stay for a visitor to the area. There are even campgrounds if you prefer to spend your vacation outdoors.

Zamami Island viewpoint

Kayaking is a great way to see the Kerama islands, which are close together and usually well-protected from the weather. Most kayaking is arranged through the  kayak centers on the island, which offer guided tours from a couple hours to an overnight camping trip. One interesting tour is a night phosphorescence trip which is amazing.

Walking the beach on Kerama Island

 Snorkeling equipment is readily available and there are some great beaches to sun and snorkel. Furuzamami beach is good and is very popular with tourists. Ama beach is not the best for snorkeling but offers good opportunity to see sea turtles. Yuhina beach offers good snorkeling beyond the reef, but be warned it is a long swim. Chishi beach has good snorkeling out to the edge of the reef. Nishibama beach is very scenic located on the north shore of Aka, which overlooks many small islands and has good snorkeling and a photographers prime observatory point.

Diving at Kerama Islands- Nemo!! (photo: MollaAliod/flickr)

Diving in the Kerama Islands is often considered the highlight of a vacation to Japan, with visibility ranging from 30-40 metres.

Diving at Kerama Islands – Unbelievable! (photo: Kawa0310/flickr)

At the end of December humpback whales start arriving in the Keramas Islands to spend the winter here. Zamami is one of the best places in Okinawa for whale watching. There is a Zamami Whale Watching Association which has whale spotters who spend the day with binoculars looking for whales from the islands’ highest observatories, so the whale-watching boats that depart daily at 10:30 am and 1:00 pm on the 2.5-hour trips can take you straight to the whales. Sunset whale watching trips are by reservation only and require a minimum of two guests. 

Whale breaching on Yakabijima, Kerama, Okinawa (photo: marylkayoe/flickr)

The prime whale watching season begins in January and runs through the end of March. January and throughout February are the best times for prime breaching observations. Whale calves are born in March. 

Kerama Islands – yosuji-fuedai -bluestripe snapper (photo: Nemo’s great uncle/flickr)

Zamami Island has the annual Whale Watching Festival which is usually the last weekend of March.

On March 5th (Coral Day in Okinawa), 2014, Okinawa’s Kerama Islands will be designated Japan’s 31st national park. The surrounding waters up to 7 km from shore will be protected.

Sun setting from the Unajinosachi observatory on Zamami Island (photo: rogerimp/flickr)

There is useful information in English at: http://www.zamamienglishguide.com/

photo by: SteFou!