Zamami Island, Japan, Okinawa

Zamami Island

I recently took a nice loooooong break from work (5 days) and headed down south to Okinawa to spend some time hoping around Naha for a day and then off to spend a glorious 4 days camping on the beatiful and quaint beach of Zamami Island.

First some travel stuff:

If you are headed to Okinawa from anywhere else in Japan you are fortunate enough to be able to use a couple different low cost carriers.

Peach Aviation (http://www.flypeach.com/)- I believe flies to most major destinations(Hokkaido, Okinawa. Osaka, Tokyo, etc.), They also fly internationally to Taiwan, South Korea and China.

or

Vanilla Airlines - I believe they only fly to and from Tokyo and other destinations in Japan. 

Both of these airline are fair priced however if you are on a strict time schedule you may be limited to the number of flights available per day. My flight cost around 140 USD round trip. It can cost more or less depending on the time of year.

From the tiny airport terminal in Okinawa reserved for PEACH and VANILLA, a bus will take you to the main terminal where you can access the monorail on the second floor to reach the city.

Flying into Naha we chose to stay the night and check out the city. This I would highly recommend as Naha has a rather large and fun shopping are commonly referred to as Peace Street.


Getting to Zamami:

 You can get to the island on two different boats.
1- The Queen Zamami - this is the faster of the two boats that goes to the island, however there are less available times to and from the island. Round trip it is around ¥5,970 (60 USD) 

2- The Ferry Zamami- Around the same price as the Queen but its slower. It does however have more available times. Round trip ¥4,030 (40 USD) 

Here is the English web link for information on the Island and the ferries.
http://www.zamamienglishguide.com/ferries.html

There are times tables and prices on the website.



Some more about the trip

It can be difficult to find depending on where you choose to stay, but I believe it is within walking distance of most stations.


I stayed at a hostel just off of stop 8. It was a bout a 15 minute walk to peace street from there and there are plenty of shops and places to eat once there. I recommend a tiny restaurant tucked away in the back of peach street.





 I cant recall how to get through the street to there but, its toward the back in the more foody area of Peace Street.

They had a wonderful lunch set that cost around 900 Yen. The menu was also in English, so choices were easy.

Once you have enjoyed the bustling city of Naha, you can make your way to the lovely beaches of Zamami Island.

This is the view from the beach to the camp group where we stayed on the island.

Arriving on the Island. 

When you arrive on the island you can access loads of information at the visitors center pictured here. There have a wall of restaurants, hostels, rental gear places and information on where you can obtain anything on the island. 

Directly across from the peer there is a small street that leads down between the homes and rental stores. This is where you will find the only small grocery store on the island. 

Camping on the Island

If you choose to camp on the island here are a few things

It cost around 300 yen, per person, per night to camp on the island. There is a designated camp group so please try not to camp anywhere but where is available. 

Once you arrive on the island there is a street leading from the pier that if you follow for about 15 minutes around to the left you will happen upon the camp ground. It just so happens to be off the beach where you can scuba dive with SEA TURTLES! woooo! 

Just to mention again that there is tremendous respect for the animals and sea life on this island, so please remember to respect their space. :) 

Rental gear for snorkeling  and diving is available in many shops around the island and are reasonably priced for a days use. 

 

This is the tent we brought along for the trip. it was small and fit two people well, but the tents you can rent are much better in size and easy to assemble.

Beach view near the camp sight

During our trip we biked around the island and saw a few of the observatories and mountain top spots to overlook the water. We rented bike from a small home on the side of the road, but if you have an international licence,  I would suggest a scooter. There are quite a few hills and we found ourselves walking the bike up the mountain more than riding it.

More of the spectacular views

Riding around the island there are several observatories in place that are simple gazebos for taking in the beautiful beaches of the island. I highly recommend seeing them if you have the time and are willing to make the trek. 

There are some small places around the island to try out delicious Okinawa soba! This place is tucked away down a side street surrounded by gear rental shops. I loved the food and they had English menus we could use.

 

Theres nothing too special about this picture... but LOOK at that cat. He looks sinister.

Last ! If you are in Okinawa a MUST is to try some Beni Imo ice cream! Yes, I know that sweet potato flavored ice cream sounds funny. BUT ITS AMAZING ! I loved it and ate it like every day (fatty me). Its an absolute must if yo go to Okinawa!