Minnajima combines remote-island beauty with main-island-stay convenience.

It’s a long way to Okinawa from most parts of the rest of Japan. Getting there from Tokyo, for example, requires you to first go to Haneda Airport, get through all your check-in procedures, fly for about two and a half hours to Naha, Okinawa’s capital city, and then, after you land, make your way to the beach.

This had us in a bit of a quandary on our recent trip to Okinawa. The prefecture’s best beaches are on its outer islands, but getting to them tacks yet another time and energy-consuming segment onto the total journey, so we were thinking of maybe just making do with the coastal options on Okinawa’s main island, which are still nicer than the beaches in most other parts of Japan.

But then we took another look at the map and noticed Minnajima Island.

▼ Minnajima Island

Minnajima is only about 15 minutes by boat from Toguchi Port in the town of Motobu on Okinawa’s main island. We heard, though, that it’s in a whole other class in terms of beach beauty, and so we headed to the port to catch a 10:30 a.m. ferry to see the place for ourselves.

We booked our tickets as part of a package through marine sports/tour company Mermaid, paying 4,500 yen (US$29) for round-trip ferry fare, lunch, and beach umbrella rental, all of which turned out to be things we were happy to have sorted out ahead of time. The same tour is priced at 3,500 yen for kids ages 6 to 11 and 500 yen for children 5 and younger (although that youngest age bracket doesn’t include lunch).

Almost every seat on the ferry was full, but the ship departed right on schedule, and as we drew closer to the Minnajima dock…

…the ocean transitioned to a brilliant blue. The color was so dazzling it reminded us of a tropical cocktail, and not only was the water’s hue breathtaking, but its clarity was too.

At the beach, the tour’s partner staff asked us where we’d like our beach umbrellas set up, and then planted them in the sand for us.

Even if you’re not ordinarily the sort of person who uses a parasol at the beach, we’d recommend one here. While there are lockers and shower facilities, there aren’t really any shade-providing structures or vegetation. Without an umbrella, you’re going to be in direct sunlight pretty much nonstop, and the sunlight is definitely strong here in midsummer.

And again, we can’t stress enough how incredible the water is here. Sometimes when looking at photos posted online of Okinawa beaches, it’s hard to imagine there isn’t some serious filter and color-processing going on, but this really is how Minnajima looks.

As for why booking a package day-trip that includes lunch is a smart idea, there are very few restaurant options on the island, and if you bring your own food, you’ll have to store and carry home all of your own trash, as there are no trash receptacles at the beach. Our package provided us with Okinawa soba noodles at a cafe up the street from the beach, and even the walk there featured great scenery, such as a field of sugarcane.

▼ Our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko and his daughter having lunch after hitting the beach

Our boat back to the main island left at 3:30 p.m., and while it might have been nice to stay longer and take the 4:30 ferry instead, we still got to spend close to five hours on Minnajima, and it was time very well spent.

In a way, Minnajima represents the best of both worlds when traveling in Okinawa. Obviously, it’s not deserted during the peak summer travel season, but it was significantly less crowded than the main island’s major beaches. It lets you experience a more unique, and beautiful, part of Okinawa Prefecture’s coastline, but its day-trip-doable status still lets you have the convenience, larger selection of hotels, and larger amount of free time that comes from staying on the main island. Just be sure, if you’re headed to Okinawa, to watch out for the new luggage check-in rules at Haneda Airport.

Related: Mermaid
Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]