Okinawa - A Hidden Diving Gem
If I’m at a computer, I can usually be found checking out the range of diving websites that are available around the world. I love reading about the tropical locations that look like paradise, but that I have neither the time nor the money to afford. Yet no matter how hard I look, one diving destination always seems to be absent in the websites and magazines: Okinawa, Japan. But why is this beautiful archipelagos so unvisited by foreign divers?
Okinawa and its outlying islands really are a divers paradise. The air temperature rarely drops below 14C all year, and hovers between 29-34C from late June to early November. During the summer, rain is notable only by its absence (with the exception of the odd typhoon), and there is usually only a breath of wind. Under the surface of the water, conditions are just as good: water temperatures range from 21C to 28C; visibility of over 30m in some places and enough underwater flora and fauna to please everyone. The coral isn’t bleached too badly, unlike many places in Asia, and the relatively low number of divers means that none of the dive sites are in bad condition. You want to go deep diving – at Toilet Bowl, Horseshoe and even Maeda you can reach 60m if you really want to. If rolling hills of coral are your thing, Onna Point (remember to take a 4×4!) and Junkyard can make you surface with a smile. There’s even a WWII wreck in the USS Emmons, and diving through to the cavern at Hedo point is a beautiful experience. And I haven’t even started to talk about diving in the Keramas yet, or the underwater ruins at Yonaguni.
But if you go to any of these dive sites, even during the height of summer, the only divers you will see are Japanese and US military personnel and dependents (plus me, of course!). There are simply no foreign tourists around. We’ve established that it can’t be because of the weather or the actual quality of diving, as I’d be surprised if many places in Asia can offer better. There are plenty of excellent quality hotels on the island, and although the staff are predominantly Japanese-only speakers, they would be more than happy to cater for foreign tourists. Public transport is a bit of a joke, but if people come on holidays to dive then they would be transported to and from the dive sites by locals. One reason could be a lack of liveaboard boats here in Okinawa. And another factor could be the lack of dive shops and dive schools which specifically cater for foreigners and speak European languages. But as anyone who dabbles in economics knows, there will only be supply if there is demand, and the demand just is not there from abroad. Magazines and internet sites rave about diving in the Philippines, Australia, Thailand, and countless other places in Asia & the Pacific, but rarely show Okinawa on their maps. So it’s left to the divers here to tell our friends and fellow divers about the wonders of diving in southern Japan. And all it would take is one article in a reputable diving magazine in Asia, Europe or North America, and the waves of foreign divers would start to come and would probably not stop.
As to whether that would be a good thing for Okinawa and its waters, I’ll leave it for you to debate. As always, comments and discussion would be warmly welcomed.
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