Snorkeling In Okinawa
When I was in Okinawa visiting my sister, she took me to her favorite place for snorkeling.
She said that she often goes to that spot or one nearby to unwind after a long day at work but doesn’t often go snorkeling there. High tide in Okinawa is early morning (that day it was at 5 am) or near when the sun goes down and visibility goes way down.
I had never gone snorkeling before so I had trouble putting on all my gear, especially the mouth piece.
Snorkeling was fun, except that I forgot one thing. I hate having my face in the water. It took me a number of tries to force myself to relax, even enough to float on top of the water and look down. My sister mentioned afterwards that the last time she had come, her friend had brought a lubricant she put on the goggles. Yeah, my sister didn’t realize how important that lubricant was until our goggles fogged up almost immediately. It didn’t help my fear of being underwater that things were blurry since I couldn’t wear my glasses with the goggles and I could only see clearly near the edges of the mask. However, I did see some little fishies that traveled close enough to be seen. I didn’t leave the cove that we were in for deeper water (I needed to be where I could stand up every time I got water in my mouthpiece or too much water in my goggles) where the better coral is so I didn’t see much besides small coral formations, rocks, and adventurous fish that seemed partially transparent underwater. Still it was rather nice to float at the top of the water and look down. I can see why people would get up early to snorkel or spend hundreds on trips to the best snorkeling spots in the world. I doubt I’ll ever do it again since my terror wil probably ruin the effect for my companions, but it was a fun experience.
After snorkeling we returned our gear to my sister’s car and went to the public restroom nearby. It was still early so we decided to explore the area and found a hiking path that led down to a picnic area and a lovely spot for pictures of lava rock that had eroded into various shapes with moss growing on it and water in the background.
All in all it was a lovely day although that night the typhoon hit that took out our power for a day, an odd thing on Okinawa where typhoons are so common. Due to the storm the rest of my trip was limited but it was fun to see my sister again and explore the beautiful island of Okinawa.
Tagged with: japan • okinawa • travel • traveling japan
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