We wanted to visit Okinawa in 2016 but there was no direct flight from Singapore back then. This year we chanced upon Jetstar which is flying direct to Naha Airport. The entire journey is around 5 hours and 10 minutes. The only minus point is that you depart from Singapore at 2am in the morning and Jetstar doesn't fly every day.
Some points / tips to note when you are visiting to Japan:
1) No visa is required for Singaporeans travelling to Japan for less than 90 days.
2) Rent your portable wifi at Changi Airport and they are open for 24 hours.Go to this link. The reason is the unlimited wifi is the "real" unlimited data usage based on the specs here. You may reserve online, and an email reminder will be sent to you one day prior to your flight. Payment to be made only upon return of the device.
3) Japan is an hour ahead of Singapore.
~ Day One : Singapore - Chatan ~
We had fun checking out Social Tree at Changi Airport while waiting to board our plane.
Our first meal upon touching down in Naha airport. The yummylicious A&W, but Okinawa's branch did not serve any ice-cream waffles.
I guess Japanese had this overwhelming love for vending machines. There were literally vending. machines. everywhere.
Check out the mini Churaumi Aquarium at Naha Airport.
We bought Limousine bus' tickets from Naha Airport to our hotel in Chatan. Adults's tickets at SGD 10.00 and child at SGD 5.00 which was very affordable. If we were to board a taxi, I believe the fare would be around SGD 100.00. After an hour of travelling, we finally reached Vessel Hotel Campana at American Village.
Our lunch at the most delicious Okinawan soba at Uema. The fish tempura was so fresh, I could totally eat it since there was no fishy smell.
After catching up with our sleep at the hotel, we dropped by a food court at Aeon Chatan for dinner. It was soba again.. sigh.
The cost of beers in Japan is so cheap! I bet my father-in-law would be jumping with joy looking at all these beers. Note that you have to DIY when packing of your groceries. There is a counter after you paid at the cashier.
We had our dessert of the day at Blue Seal.
Our loots of the day. Remember to buy the sweet potato flavour kit-kat which you can only find in Okinawa. The brown sugar is also a must have.
Naha International Airport
150 Kagamizu, Naha, Okinawa Perfecture, 901-0142, Japan | +81 98-840-1179
http://www.naha-airport.co.jp/en/terminal/international
Naha Domestic Airport
150 Kagamizu, Naha, Okinawa Perfecture, 901-0142, Japan | +81 98-840-1179
http://www.naha-airport.co.jp/en
A&W Okinawa
150 Mihama, Naha-shi, Domestic Building 3rd Floor, Okinawa, 901-0142, Japan
+81 98-857-1691 | http://www.awok.co.jp
Operating hours: 6:30am to 8pm daily
Limousine Bus
+81 98-869-3301 | http://okinawabus.com/en/ls
Vessel Hotel Campana Okinawa
9-22 Mihama, Chatan-cho, Nakagami-gun 904-0115, Okinawa Prefecture
+81 98-926-1188 | https://www.vessel-hotel.jp/campana/okinawa/en
Uema Tempura and Okinawa Soba
Japan, 〒904-0115 Okinawa-ken, Nakagami-gun, Chatan-chō, Mihama, 字美浜９番地20 アカラC棟 1F
+81 98-926-3311 | https://uemabento.com
Operating hours: 11am to 8pm daily
AEON Chatan Shopping Center
8-3 Mihama, Chatan Town, Nakagami District, 904-0115
+81 98-982-7575 | http://www.aeon-ryukyu.jp/en
Operating hours: Food - 7am to 12am daily, Retail Stores - 10am to 12am daily
Blue Seal
Second floor, Depot Island Bldg. “D” 9-1 Mihama, Chatan Town
+81 98-936-9659| http://en.blueseal.co.jp
Operating hours: Sun-Thu, 10am to 12am | Fri-Sat, 10am to 1am
~ Day Two : Chatan ~
Our snorkeling tour was cancelled due to bad weather so we kind of spent the whole day around American Village doing almost nothing. Playing arcades, bowling, gone to the beach, and more arcades again.
Check out Skymax 60 to have an amazing view over American Village.
Ethan wanted to try out the VR game, so I accompanied him and we had so much fun!
Our quick lunch at nearby McDonalds. The burgers and fries tasted the same similar to Singapore's Mac.
More arcades again and bowling game up next.
Japan has this adorable bowling assistant for children which I find it pretty cool.
Going to the beach? Just pick up some of these lovely items on the way there. Our hotel prepared them for their guests. We finally got to build some sandcastles after such a long time. Our last beach outing was in Perth last year.
Sushi dinner was great and more than enough to fill up our tummies.
On our way back to hotel, and we saw more arcades so went there to kill time.
Gourmet Sushi-Go-Round Ichiba Mihama
1 5-67 Mihama, Chatan, Nakagami District, Okinawa 904-0115, Japan
+81 98-926-3054 | http://www.captains-g.co.jp/?page_id=54
Operating hours: 11am to 11pm daily
Daikoku 100 Yen Shop
Carnival Park Mihama | +81 098-921-7050
Operating hours: 10am to 11pm daily
McDonalds
87-1 Kuwae, 北谷町 Chatan-chō, Nakagami-gun, Okinawa-ken 904-0103, Japan
+81 98-926-5610 | http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/menu
Operating hours: Mon to Fri - 24 hours | Sat to Sun - 6am to 11pm
Skymax 60 Ferris Wheel
1 5-69 Mihama, Nakagami-gun, Chatan-cho, Okinawa-ken, 904-0115, Japan
Third floor of Carnival Park Mihama | +81 098-982-7735
Operating hours: 11am to 10pm daily
American Village Okinawa
https://www.okinawa-americanvillage.com/?lang=en
Depot Island
http://www.depot-island.com/en
~ Day Three : Senaga Island ~
Our second hotel at Senaga Island. There is an in-room onsen which we could soak in it all day to our convenience. Do check out hotel's website for free shuttle service from train station to hotel directly.
Lunch at Taco Rice Cafe and dessert at Senaga Chaya.
We settled for an authentic Okinawan dishes for dinner. Do try out the Agu Pork, sea grapes and stir fried vegetables with tofu.
Yui Rail
https://www.yui-rail.co.jp/en
Ryuku Onsen Senagajima Hotel
174-5 Senaga, Tomigusuku, Okinawa 901-0233 Japan
+81 98-851-7077 | https://www.hotelwbf.com/senaga/en
Umikaji Terrace Senagajima
174-6 Senaga, Tomigusuku, Okinawa 901-0233 Japan
+81 98-851-7446 | http://umikajiterrace.com/enOperating hours: 10am to 9pm daily (each shop varies)
Senaga Chaya @ Umikaji Terrace
+81 98-996-5290 | Operating hours: 10am to 8pm daily
Taco Rice Cafe Kijimunaa @ Umikaji Terrace
+81 98-851-3023 | http://www.omutaco.com/shop/senaga
Operating hours: 10am to 9pm daily except for July to Sept until 10pm
Kame's Kitchen @ Umikaji Terrace
+81 98-851-8836 | Operating hours: 10am to 9pm daily
~ Day Four : Naha ~
Our last hotel stay at Hotel Rocore Naha which was located at the other end of Kokusai Dori Street.
Ramen lunch at Motonari Kumoji tasted exactly the same as the one we had in Singapore.
Our feet hurt so much as we walked to and fro along the entire Kokusai Dori Shopping Street. Do check out First Makishi Public Market. We had Yukisio Salt Ice-cream and bought several bottles of salt home.
Hotel Rocore Naha
1-1-2 Matsuo Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture
+81 98-894-9312 | https://www.rocore.jp/en
Motonari Kumoji
Japan, 〒900-0015 Okinawa-ken, Naha-shi, Kumoji, 2 Chome−1
+81 98-943-3302 | Operating hours: Mon to Thu - 11am to 1am
Fri to Sat - 11am to 4am | Sun - 11am to 12am
Kokusai Dori Shopping Street
https://naha-kokusaidori.okinawa/en
Yukisio Salt Ice-cream
Japan, 〒900-0015 Okinawa-ken, Naha-shi, Kumoji, 3 Chome−25−19 1 肉久茂地
+81 098-860-8585 | Operating hours: 10:30am to 10:30pm daily
~ Day Five : Nago - Motobu ~
There are several bus tours in Okinawa which you may compare on the prices, duration, and places of interests at the following:
Jumbo Tours
http://www.jumbotours.co.jp/okinawa-hip-hop-bus/english
Okinawa Bus
http://okinawabus.com/en/bt
Okinawa Travel Info - tour Co. Rado Kanko Inc
http://okinawatravelinfo.com/tour/rado-churaumi
Yokoso Japan Tour
https://www.yokosojapan-tour.com/
We went for the tour with Yokoso Japan. The highlights of our tour was Churaumi Aquarium where we got to see a large whale swimming in its aquarium.
Up next was Nago Pineapple Park. We came to know that there were pineapples which grow on the ground and some from trees.
Then we headed to Butterfly Garden.
Nago Pineapple Park
1195 Biimata, Nago-shi, Okinawa-ken, 905-0005, Japan
+81 98-053-3659 | http://www.nagopain.com
Operating hours: 9am to 6pm daily
Ryugujo Butterfly Garden
390-1 Yamakawa, Motobu, Kunigami District, Okinawa, 905-0205, Japan
+81 98-048-3456 | http://www.ryugujo.net
Operating hours: 9am to 5pm daily
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
424 Ishikawa, Motobu-cho, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa-ken, 905-0206, Japan
+81 98-048-3748 | https://churaumi.okinawa
Operating hours: 8:30am to 7pm daily
