This time last year my Instagram friend Nano from Travels With Nano came down to Okinawa for work from mainland Japan. She had a free day and asked me to show her around. In return she took some cute snapshots of me which I’m so thankful for, since I barely have any nice photos of myself on Okinawa!
On our way to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium we made a pit stop at the first beach we ever visited on island. We used to pull over all the time to take in the view when exploring the north side of the island. It’s off 449 right after the Hotel Resonex Nago. I didn’t take photos inside the aquarium because it was jam packed that day… but the outside of the aquarium was full of blooming flowers, so naturally I captured those.
^^ doing my thing for the ‘gram… also I do not miss my iPhone 6 at all !! ^^
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
^^ the flower sign reads mensore which means welcome in Okinawa dialect ^^
After the aquarium we stopped at Bise Village for lunch and a quick walk around. Next we headed towards Kouri Island. I had mentioned to Nano that there were some pretty wings in that area and naturally we stumbled upon them totally by accident! Before driving into Kouri we attempted to find this amazing viewpoint I had seen online… after getting a bit lost we found it! From the Unten Observation Deck you’ll see Kouri (left) and Yayagi Island (right) in the background accompanied by gorgeous blue and turquoise waters.
Unten Observation Deck
^^ this is the ferry that goes from Unten to Izena and Iheya Island ^^
Afterwards we drove over to Kouri Island and as always a stop at Kouri Beach is a must! We then drove to the other side of the island to visit the famous love rocks. It has become a crazy popular tourist spot after it was featured in a Japan Airlines commercial along the J-pop band Arashi, back in 2016.
Kouri Island is known as “love island” thanks to a local legend. The legend tells the story of two lovers who wanted to marry despite the disapproval of their family. They later threatened to commit suicide by drowning themselves in the ocean. The Ryukyu god was touched by their love and turned them into two heart shaped rocks, so that they can be together forever and never separated by their families. Many Japanese people believe this area to be a ‘power spot’, a place that’s a source of positive spiritual energy.
If I’m honest it felt like a tourist trap since the parking lot charged us ¥300 to park there! As we drove away we realized there are 3 parking lots and the last one is only ¥100!! So if you plan to go definitely park in that one.
Kouri Beach
Kouri Heart Rock
^^ expectations vs reality! ^^
^^ surprisingly the tide was really high, so it made for some great shots with the blue water ^^
Our last stop was supposed to be Cape Manzamo but I missed the exit on the Expressway (oops!)… we were having such a great conversation! We decided last minute to stop at Cape Zanpa instead, right before the sun set.
