Northern Okinawa - Three Times Near Nago

What?
The northern part of the subtropical island Okinawa (沖縄) consists of the city of Nago (名護市) and the Kunigami District (国頭郡). Like most parts of Okinawa it has some great beaches and diving/snorkeling spots. Otherwise there is the Yanbaru National Park (やんばる国立公園) with the northernmost spot Cape Hedo (辺戸岬), the remote Fukugawa Falls (普久川の滝) and the small Kouri Island (古宇利島) which is connected to the Okinawa main island by bridge. Of course, being a prefecture that consists of many small islands, it’s also possible to do some island hopping. One of the most easy to reach islands is Ie Island or Iejima (伊江島), a flat pancake like island with a single 172 meter tall peak, Mount Gusuku (城山), also called Tatchu (タッチュー) by the locals.
Where?
Okinawa is easy to reach by plane from almost anywhere in Japan. To get from the airport to the northern part of the island is a different matter though. Buses connect the airport and nearby Naha (那覇) with Nago and Motobu (本部), but by far the easiest choice is to go for a rental car.
URL
Okinawa Island Guide Japan Guide (Cape Hedo)

Somewhere at the end of 2016, my local waterhole in Kansai decided to shut down. Not that the place wasn’t popular enough – it could run on its regulars alone – but the couple who owned the place decided it was time for a next step: they would open a small hotel in Okinawa.
Now, Okinawa can be reached without a problem from anywhere in the country, but said hotel was located way north on Yagaji Island (屋我地島)… so a car was pretty much imperative. And with it a driver’s license which I didn’t have.
It was the ideal excuse for me to finally get a license in 2019, and after that my wife and I immediately planned a trip to Okinawa’s north.

In the meanwhile – with a corona-break in between – we’ve visited our friends 3 times. Truth to be told, we mainly hang at the local beach behind the hotel with a drink or two (or three), and there is little time left for real sightseeing. However after 3 visits I think I can write down a few of our experiences.

Our first visit was in the summer of 2019. Okinawa fulfilled its tropical promises of sun, sea and beach. A little bit too much sun as I immediately got burned, but that didn’t spoil the fun. We enjoyed the local beach by swimming, walking barefooted in the sand and running like crazy in futile attempts to keep a Star Wars kite up high. We went a little further to the Gorilla Chop beach in Motobu for some excellent snorkeling and additional sunburning.
And the Orion Happy Park in Nago was luckily connected to our hotel by bus.
All in all it was a vacation that was pretty much standard for a holiday in Okinawa.

Our second stint was in December of 2020, when the first few waves of corona had died out. The weather was absolutely perfect, but it was a little bit too cold to have a swim as we did last time. I thought that was great as it would open up the opportunity to do some other things.
The first trip was an unexpected recommendation from our friends. They took us not far away from their hotel to a parking lot that was barely taken care of. From there we walked for around 20 minutes to the Fukugawa Waterfall, better known to the locals as simply Fuu Falls. The falls in itself are not that impressive, but the path towards it through tropical forest combined with the possibility of some relaxing foot bathing made for a great getaway, even for Okinawan standards.
A few days later it was time for a trip to the northernmost part of the Okinawa main island. Cape Hedo was long on my to see list, however driving there with half a hangover decidedly was not. It didn’t really matter. A few energy drinks and a little more than an hour later I was enjoying the beautiful rugged cliffs from both Cape Hedo as the rather odd Okinawa Rail observation platform. As the name suggests, the platform is shaped like the native Okinawan bird.
While we approached Cape Hedo along the western coastline, we returned making a detour along the eastern one. Driving between dramatic coastlines and American army bases, it kind of felt unreal. We twice stopped to take a break on a few of the many impressive beaches.
Cape Hedo is part of the Yanbaru National Park and I’m sure I will return to discover some more of it.

Jungle pathway to the Fuu Falls.

One of many secluded beaches in the north.

Sunbathing on Cape Hedo.

Huge climbable bird. The view from here is also amazing.

And then there was this time.
First of all we drove around Kouri Island. It’s in fact only a short bicycle ride away from our friend’s hotel, but as I arrived with a terrible cold I lazily let my friends guide me by car.
The weather was fantastic and we stopped for an ice cream at the local roadside station (or is it beachside station?) Sorahashi.
I actually wanted to see the quite famous Heart Rock, but my local guides assured me there would only be throngs of people with this beautiful weather, and they guided us instead to the neighbouring beach. It was nice with only a few people, but again my guides told me to go beyond where we were. Eventually we walked through a tunnel of vegetation to a secluded beach with soft white sand and rock formations that might be as interesting as the Heart Rock. I have no idea about the name of this beach, but if you want to reach it, walk passed the recently opened café Tokidoki and take the only path through the vegetation that you see.

Visiting Kouri Island was not our main goal though. For this third visit, we planned a day to take our bicycles on the ferry to nearby Ie Island, cycle along the coastline and the plains of the island after having viewed them from the only peak, the small Mt. Gusuku.
Unfortunately, this time we weren’t so lucky with the weather. Ominous clouds gathered above us as we started to cycle for Mt. Gusuku. We got up alright (it’s only 15 minutes of stairs), but once arrived at the top rain started falling. We still had a view on the farming fields below, but the ocean was as grey as the clouds above us. The rain started falling harder and we were already soaked when getting back to the small souvenir shops halfway the mountain.
In this rain and with my cold only getting worse, we decided to head back to the port and go back to the Okinawa main island without circling Ie Island. It proved to be a mistake as only an hour later the rainclouds made way for beautiful blue skies. Whatever the case, I got back into my bed a little after noon to only wake up for dinner.
It was not how I imagined this first of hopefully many island hopping, but I’m sure that with the right weather, Ie Island is a pretty and relaxing place to spend the time.