Kume Island

Kume-jima, this place has been on my dream list since I first saw an ad for Hate no Hama at a travel agency near my apartment in Naha. I've been going to Japan for a few years now, but it's always been Tokyo, Osaka, etc. Every time I thought how awesome it would be to get back down to Okinawa and then on to Kume, but the problem has always been the same, it costs a little bit of coin to get this far south in Japan. For the price of the flight alone I could spend 5-7 days with a rail pass exploring places I've never been on the main island, Honshu. However this year I decided to just do it!

This little island about 90-100km off Okinawa was just amazing. I took off from Okinawa on the ferry and figured it was going to be like the ferries up around the Puget Sound, fast and for the most part, pretty smooth. This one was a little more exciting. The boat was rocking back and forth with the waves, the larger ones around 4-5 ft, the entire 3+ hours. I've never had any kind of motion sickness, I can read a book in a car while driving up and down the craziest mountain road you could imagine and no amount of turbulence in a plane has ever made me come even close to loosing it. But this... I was able to hold on to my stomach, but my head started feeling a little light headed. I think it was just the constant up and down. Very rhythmic. Anyway I was pretty happy when we pulled into port. It was a new experience that's for sure.

Once I got on the island I rented a car and went for a drive. All the rentals in Japan have GPS and a car navigation built in so I decided to get lost going down what ever road I wanted and taking pictures of whatever I happened upon. It was awesome. The tourist season was official over so at a number of the more famous spots/ viewpoints I was the only one there taking pictures, soaking in the amazing ocean breezes, and just getting lost in the views. The drive around the entire island was about 30km. The first stop was on the north side of the island was at a place called "Mifuga". It has a very special role to play in the history of the Ryukyu people. Evidential people from all over come to this spot to walk under / through the opening in the rock, believing it to help with fertility issues.

After this I then drove up to the highest point on the island. This spot was claimed by the king of the region a few hundred years ago, who promptly built a castle on top. There is nothing but the foundation left but you can see how it would have been a very imposing building, almost impossible to sneak up on.

The rest of the day was spent driving the coast, taking pictures of the waves crushing on the rocky northern shore and lapping up on the beautiful white sand on the southern shore. One place in particularly was pretty interesting. It's a place they call Tatami Ishi, or rocks placed together like tatami. Here you have columns of volcanic rock, kind of like at Devils Tower, only these are right on the shore line so as the water comes in and out with the tides the rocks get nice and polished. The tide was just right when I got there and I was able to walk out on to the rocks to take these pictures. I had never seen anything like it. This one section of volcanic rock completely surrounded by white corral sand. (Not to mention the awesome turquoise color of the water.) Close to the Tatami Ishi I found these trees with an interesting fruit hanging on the branches. I have no idea what they were, but they smelt kind of like a pineapple.

I grabbed a room at a hotel on the south side of the island close to Eef Beach and went for a swim at around sunset. I of course brought my camera and was able to take a couple shots while I was playing around in the ocean.

The next morning I caught a boat for Hate no Hama. Hate no Hama is basically a 1 km long sand bar that sticks out off the southwest side of the island 7-8km out in the water. No plants, no animals, and no permanent structures. Stepping off the boat and looking at that picturesque scene really was a realization of a dream for me. The snorkeling was amazing as well. The water was only 6-8 ft deep even 200-250 yard of the shore. I saw some sea turtles and all sorts of fish that, name wise, I have no clue about. I took a ton of video since taking pictures underwater proved to be more difficult than I anticipated. :-) This drained my battery in the first 2+ hours I was in the water. I was a little upset because I still hadn't taken the pictures of the beach that I wanted. (The shots of the beach that was used in the ad to get me here in the first place!) Luckly I had made friends with one of the other customers on the boat, a girl named Aya. She had an extra disposable camera and I was able to get something. Not the pictures I was hoping for but still, it's something.

The next day I preped mentally and physically for a wild boat ride back to Naha, but I was pleasantly surprised as the ride back was comparatively calm. After landing in Naha I headed for Shuri Castle to get some night shots, and then on to another Net Cafe in Oroku to spend the night.

This portion of the trip was one I was really looking forward to. That and the fact that I really lucked out with the weather, made it worth every effort to make it down here. Next stop, Cambodia.