Japan Honeymoon: Okinawa 3-Day Itinerary
Welcome back to part 6 of my Japan Honeymoon series 💗, where I write about everything we did, what we ate, and where we stayed during our 3 week trip to Japan.
We are entering the later half of our trip where we are visiting new places in Japan – this means we are not in Tokyo or Kyoto. We just explored Fukuoka for 4 days and now we are on a flight to visit the southern region of Japan – Okinawa!
My impression of Okinawa is that it is the Hawaii of Japan 🏝 with so many beautiful beaches, swimming and snorkeling locations, and hotter weather. It definitely seems more like a honeymoon location because it is more tropical and less city and go-go than other prefectures. When comparing Okinawa to other parts of Japan, it is actually quite different from its cuisine to culture.
Here is everything we did, ate, and where we stayed – I hope our itinerary helps give you an idea of things you want to do or check out if you are planning to visit Okinawa.
Japan Honeymoon trip 2024 recap
Tokyo | Osaka | Kinosaki | Kyoto | Fukuoka | Okinawa
Day 14: Arrival to Okinawa
Today we are flying from Fukuoka to Okinawa.
Transportation: Flight to Naha
We took our time sleeping in, packing, eating a light lunch/brunch and boarded our 12:30pm flight ✈️ to Naha, the capital city of Okinawa. We flew with Peach Aviation and it costed us around $245 CAD for 2 adults and our 2 medium-sized luggage. The flight took just under 2 hours.
Transportation: Car rental
It was highly recommended for visitors to rent a car while visiting Okinawa 🚗. My husband arranged the car rentals and it was kind of funny because he booked with some Chinese company called Nemo, so we were actually speaking Mandarin to the staff instead of Japanese.
The car rental costed us $131 for our entire stay in Okinawa (3.5 days).
Dinner: Sam’s By-the-Sea
When we arrived in Okinawa, my husband surprised me by telling me he made a few reservations. This is a surprise because usually I am the planner.
The first reservation he made was at this restaurant called Sam’s By-the-Sea. It is a seafood restaurant that really has this Hawaii vibe inside, but the funniest part is that it is not by the sea at all like he had assumed. It was in a parking lot close to the airport 😂. The reservation was also an early dinner due to our flight arrival time, and so it actually wasn’t that busy and I feel like we didn’t actually need a reservation.
In terms of food, we both ordered a surf & turf platter and it was not a cheap meal – around $50 CAD per person if you want both meat and seafood entrees.
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sam’s By-the-Sea
3 Chome-25-5 Gushi, Naha, Okinawa 901-0146, Japan
Recommended: Read my full review of our seafood dinner at Sam’s By-the-Sea in Naha.
Activity: Shopping on Kokusaidori Street
Today is our only day in Naha and the only thing I wanted to check out was the popular Kokusaidori Street, which is a long shopping street.
After we finished our dinner, it got dark and it also started raining. It was a little difficult to find parking around the Kokusaidori Street area and we did have to pay for parking (not that cheap either).
The stores were interesting but it definitely felt more geared towards tourists. We made the mistake of entering the big Don Quiote (btw the Don Quiote mascot has a different outfit in Okinawa – cute!). This was one of the worst shopping experiences I’ve had in a Don Quiote 💀. It was insanely crowded and loud with long lineups at the cashier.
Accommodations: Hotel Nikko Alivila
For our hotel, we stayed the entire time at Hotel Nikko Alivila in the Yomitan area, which is more in the middle of Okinawa (Naha is near the bottom). It took 1 hour to drive to the hotel from Kokusaidori Street.
This was not a cheap hotel but we wanted to stay somewhere spacious and nice since we are supposedly now in the more “relaxing” period of our honeymoon. For 3 nights, we paid $1,015 in a King bed room with ocean views.
The hotel has a Spanish/Mediterranean look to it with red terracotta tile roofs, swirly black fence and railings and lots of arched hallways. It has a swimming pool and private beach access!
Our travel days are usually a rest day so after we checked in, we unpacked, bathed and showered, and enjoyed our new hotel room.
Day 15: Motobu
Today is our first full day in Okinawa! We woke up to a beautiful ocean view with such clear and blue waters. We also took some time exploring our hotel in daylight.
Today’s itinerary is all about staying in the Motobu area, which is slightly higher up in Okinawa and a 1 hour and 20 min drive from Yomitan.
Lunch: Atabii’s
We decided the buffets inside our hotel were too expensive and not worth it for us. Instead, we were kind of craving a hamburger 🍔 so we searched up highly rated spots for burgers near us.
Okinawa food actually has quite a bit of American influence due to its history. Things like burgers, tacos, and American fast food joints are more prevalent here than in other prefectures.
We ended up Atabii‘s and we ordered the bacon cheeseburger with fries and an iced coffee. The burger is American style and may be considered big for Japan sizing. As this was our first meal of the day, we shared the burger to have a lighter meal but if it was dinner, I am sure I could have finished the burger by myself.
The burger was very tasty and I liked the structural integrity of the bread and the crispy bacon. Patty was savoury and fries were also decent. Iced coffee was a nice kick start to our day.
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Atabii
Japan, 〒904-0323 Okinawa, Nakagami District, Yomitan, Takashiho, 915ｰ1 Gala青い海 内
Activity: Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
The number one thing I wanted to do in Okinawa was to visit the Churaumi Aquarium. This used to have the largest aquarium tank in the world until 2005. Admission for adults cost around $20 CAD per person.
This place was huge – it was like an amusement park inside with both indoor and outdoor areas. There was a lot to see but we came on a Saturday so it was also very crowded and incredibly humid and hot. I was low-key dying watching the dolphin show outside in the sweltering heat despite the cloudiness of the sky. And in terms of the dolphin show, I actually preferred the one at the Fukuoka aquarium more (more impressive and more dolphins).
Activity: Swim at Emerald Beach
After spending around 2 hours inside the aquarium, we walked 12 minutes to the nearby Emerald Beach. We packed our swimsuits and simply changed in the car – so convenient!
Emerald Beach was a very calm beach with a large netted area that is safe for swimming with lifeguards on watch (very family friendly). We swam and relaxed here for around 30-40 minutes before rinsing off and changing in the washrooms.
Snack: 711
After swimming, we got a little snackish and went on a snack haul at a nearby 711. I grabbed the famous creme brulee ice cream – very yummy but can be a bit sweet! I recommend sharing with another person. They also have Okinawa special items like special beer.
Dinner: hale’aina HOA Okinawa
We were really feeling the island vibes and looked for a restaurant that offered Hawaiian food. We ended up at hale’aina HOA Okinawa, which was on the way drive back to Yomitan. This is a colourful restaurant with a lot of rice plate dishes and a menu with lots of photos (easy to order for foreigners).
We ordered the wagyu surf & turf ($42 CAD) and the ahi poke ($13) along with a Okinawa beer ($6) and pineapple drink ($7) and a cup of clam chowder ($6). Overall, we found the food to be just ok but good price.
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
hale’aina HOA Okinawa
2159-1 Nakama, Onna, Kunigami District, Okinawa 904-0401, Japan
Izakaya: Inakamono
We arrived back in Yomitan a little past 8pm and decided to unwind with some drinks at a nearby izakaya before going back to the hotel. We made it into Inakamono right before they stopped accepting new customers.
Inside was cozy and kind of felt like some Japanese person’s home. They gave us slippers and we were seated in a tatami mat room where the tables are very short and you have to either sit cross-legged or stretch your legs out straight on the floor.
We mainly wanted to try awamori, which is distilled spirit from Okinawa 🍶. It is very similar to sake and came in a urn-looking bottle. We also ordered a plate of assorted sashimi to pair with the drinks. The drinks were actually quite strong and we got buzzed very quickly while sipping on the awamori 🥴, but it was nice and smooth – easy to drink.
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Inakamono
1736-1 Namihira, Yomitan, Nakagami District, Okinawa 904-0322, Japan
Day 16: Yomitan
For our second and last full day in Okinawa, we decided to stay in the Yomitan area and enjoy the facilities in our hotel.
Activity: Photoshoot around hotel
We decided to explore more the hotel grounds and take photos because I was essentially wearing my main honeymoon outfit – a flowy white dress! There were a lot of photo spots around the hotel but I do wish I brought a tripod or something to take photos together.
We did get shooed away by a staff when we were taking photos nearby a white church. It turns out there was a wedding happening inside.
Low-key near the end I thought I’d get heat exhaustion because it was crazy hot at noon 🥵.
Lunch: ¡Sabroso!
Strangely enough, a very popular food item in Okinawa is tacos or also taco rice. This is due to influence from WW2 and American military.
We found a cute little taco spot 🌮 called ¡Sabroso! that had a lot of reviews for birria tacos. We ordered 3 birria tacos ($17) and shrimp tacos ($15) – both were really yummy!
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
¡Sabroso!
1070-1 Namihira, Yomitan, Nakagami District, Okinawa 904-0322, Japan
Activity: Snorkel at Blue Cave
The number 1 thing my husband wanted to do in Okinawa was snorkel at Blue Cave 🤿, a very popular and highly rated spot for snorkeling.
We showed up with some cheap snorkeling masks from Don Quiote and our swimsuits. It was a little overwhelming because everyone around us were totally geared up in wet suits and scuba diving equipment and professional guides.
As we were walking down the steps to enter the water, one of the guides recommended for us to rent life jackets and water shoes. We decided this was a good idea and went to the rental area and waited for over 30 mins but nobody was there to help us 😑.
In the end, we just went back down and snorkeled and there were no issues. I don’t think it is necessary at all to have a life jacket or shoes if you know how to snorkel and can swim well.
We went back to our hotel to swim at the pool for a little and also to snorkel at the beach at our hotel. The lifeguards made us wear life jackets and also made us stay inside the net area, which sucked cause there’s nothing to see in the net area 😂. But, the lifeguards eventually clocked out and we ventured off behind rocks and past the net area without life jackets and could finally snorkel and swim freely.
This was actually a very beautiful and serene moment that I wasn’t able to capture because I didn’t have my phone with me at all. It was just us two and the water was so calm and we watched the sunset from the ocean 🥰.
Dinner: むらやー Muraya
After all that swimming and snorkeling, we washed up and had a relaxing izakaya dinner at this random izakaya we stumbled upon. It was called むらやー or Muraya and it was basically run by a couple of old Japanese grannies and aunties, but they worked so quickly and the food was delicious and reasonably priced. This was one of our favourite izakayas of the trip 🤩!
The interior had such a retro vibe with tons of posters and wall memorabilia of a Japanese baseball team. We were again seated in a tatami mat room and the space had a great summer breeze wafting through.
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
むらやー
1196-1 Sobe, Yomitan, Nakagami District, Okinawa 904-0304, Japan
Final thoughts
We had an amazing 3 days in Okinawa with so much sun, beach and good food 😍. I think Okinawa is totally underrated and more people should go! It is a great choice for honeymoon, couples retreat, babymoon and family friendly.
What I loved most about Okinawa was definitely the beaches 🏖. The weather was sunny and hot every day (sometimes too hot!) and there are so many beaches you can go to – they are never that crowded. Beaches and water are clean and so relaxing. Sand is so soft!
The next best part about Okinawa is the car rental 🙌! I know it sounds silly, but after walking so much in all the other cities, this car rental was a godsend. It is so convenient to be able to leave stuff in the car – things like other shoes, clothes, snacks, water, bags, etc. This makes it even better to go to the beaches and check out farther areas.
One minor thing I didn’t like too much was all this emphasis on safety. I know it sounds weird because obviously everyone should be safe, but I found the heavy emphasis on life jackets to be a little frustrating as someone who can swim fine.
As for the food, we were pretty easy-going about it. We didn’t make that many reservations to famous spots that had hours of lineups. Everything was pretty low-key and mostly we loved having izakaya dinners after a day of heat and swimming.
I found the “American” food in Okinawa to be totally fine. The burgers and tacos – all were delicious and not too different from what we have tried in Canada and US.
We had such a blast in Okinawa as we enter the last week of our honeymoon. Our next stop is also another sunny island off of Okinawa – a more rural island called Ishigaki!
Sincerely, Loewe
Japan Honeymoon trip 2024 recap
Tokyo | Osaka | Kinosaki | Kyoto | Fukuoka | Okinawa
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