Here is a ranking of the most popular sightseeing spots in Okinawa that we recommend if you are planning a trip to Okinawa. These spots include beautiful and spectacular scenery unique to Okinawa and spots where you can feel the local traditional culture. If you are planning to visit Okinawa, please take a look at them.
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No.1 Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium [Motobu-cho]
The highlight is the 8.8-meter-long whale shark swimming in the “Kuroshio Sea”, one of the world’s largest aquariums made of giant acrylic panels! The whale sharks swimming leisurely with manta rays and migratory fish are must-see. There are also facilities outside the museum where you can watch a dolphin show and observe manatees and sea turtles, allowing you to experience marine life up close.
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is located in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island. It takes about two hours by car from Naha Airport via expressway, but it is worth visiting at least once.
The Ocean Expo Park, where the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is located, also offers many other attractions, including the Tropical and Subtropical Urban Botanical Garden, the Tropical Dream Center with over 2,000 orchid plants on display at any given time, and the Okinawa Folk Village.
| Access | Approx. 2 hours by car from Naha Airport (using expressway) |
| Address | Located in National Okinawa Memorial Park (Ocean Expo Park) 424, Ishikawa, Motobu-cho, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa |
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No.2 Kokusai-dori [Naha City]
The 1.6-kilometer-long Kokusai Street, also known as the “Miracle Mile,” is lined with about 600 stores. Restaurants serving Okinawan cuisine and stores selling souvenirs such as chinsuko and Ryukyu glass stand side by side.
Many stores are open until late at night, and various events are held on the street, so you can enjoy Okinawa just by wandering around Kokusai-dori!
| Access | [Car] 15 minutes by car from Naha Airport [Monorail] 12 minutes by monorail from Naha Airport Station |
| Address | Matsuo and Makishi area, Naha City, Okinawa |
No.3 Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Park [Itoman City]
The park is a vast war site park located on a hillside in Mabuni, Itoman City, the final battleground of the Battle of Okinawa. Within the park are the Peace Memorial Hall, which serves as a peace museum and art museum and conveys the importance of peace, the Cornerstone of Peace, which comforts the souls of all those who died in the Battle of Okinawa and other battles, both friend and foe alike, and the National Okinawa War Cemetery.
The Peace Memorial Museum also has an information library and a museum store where both children and adults can learn about the value of peace.
| Access | 35 minutes from Naha Airport |
| Address | 444, Mabuni, Itoman City, Okinawa |
No.4 Yomitan Pottery Village [Yomitan-son]
“Yachimun” is an Okinawan word for pottery. Yachimun, which has recently been attracting attention outside of the prefecture, is characterized by its chubby thickness and simple appearance, and attracts many people.
Yomitan Pottery Village is comprised of 19 pottery studios. If you take a walk around the site, be sure to stop by the direct sales shop and galleries. If you find a piece of pottery you like, be sure not to miss out on buying it.
| Access | approximately 1 hour from Naha Airport |
| Address | 2653-1 Zakimi, Yomitan-son, Nakagami-gun, Okinawa |
No.5 Okinawa World [Nanjo City]
This vast sightseeing facility, covering 9,760 square meters, is a spot where visitors can experience the nature, culture, and history of Okinawa.
There are various facilities such as “Gyokusendo Cave,” a special natural treasure, “Super Eisa,” a popular attraction, “Ryukyu Kingdom Castle Town,” where old houses designated as national tangible cultural properties stand side by side, “Ryukyu Glass Kingdom Workshop,” and “Habu Natural History Park.
Gyokusendo Cave, in particular, is one of the largest caves in Japan, with a total length of 5,000 meters. Currently, 890m of the cave is open to the public. (The remaining area is preserved for research purposes.)
In addition, the number of stalactites reaches more than 1 million, the largest number in Japan.
| Access | [Bus] Take a bus from Naha Bus Terminal [Car] 30 min. by car from Naha Airport |
| Address | 1336 Maekawa, Tamaki, Nanjo City, Okinawa |
No.6 Katsuren Castle [Uruma City]
Katsuren Castle is an impregnable castle that takes advantage of the cliffs and is known as the residence of the Asawari, who brought prosperity to Katsuren through overseas trade. The beautiful curving design of the piled up stone walls, and the clever use of the terrain, led to its registration as a World Heritage site in 2000 as one of the “Gusuku and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu”.
From the topmost “Ichino Kuruwa,” said to be one of the most scenic spots in Okinawa, visitors can enjoy a 360-degree view of the northern mountains surrounding Kanamu Bay and the emerald blue sea.
| Access | 90 minutes by bus from Naha Bus Terminal |
| Address | 3908 Minamikazehara, Katsuren, Uruma City, Okinawa Prefecture |
No.7 Umikaji Terrace [Tomigusuku City]
This commercial facility is located on a slope adjacent to the west coast of Senaga Island.
Stores selling Okinawan specialties, gourmet foods, sweets, etc. are lined up here.
Senaga Island Umikaji Terrace is located on a remote island called Senaga Island, which is connected to Naha Airport by a marine road about a 15-minute drive from the airport. Since that marine road is on the runway extension of Naha Airport, visitors can hear the powerful sound of jet engines and watch the sunset as it falls over the Kerama Islands.
| Access | [Car] Approx. 15 min. by cab or rental car [Bus] Approx. 20 min. from Naha |
| Address | 174-6 Senaga, Tomigusuku City, Okinawa, Japan |
NO.8 Himeyuri Monument and Himeyuri Peace Museum [Itoman City]
This is a memorial for the Himeyuri students who died in the Battle of Okinawa. It was erected at the site of the Ihara No. 3 surgical bunker where many Himeyuri students died. About 60% of the “Himeyuri Students” who were mobilized as nursing personnel to the Okinawa Army Hospital during the Battle of Okinawa lost their lives.
The Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum is attached to the site, and exhibits materials to learn about the tragedy of war and the preciousness of peace.
| Access | 40 minutes by car from Naha Airport |
| Address | 671-1 Ihara, Itoman City, Okinawa |
No.9 Cape Maeda (Blue Cave) [Kunigami-gun]
Located in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island, this tourist spot offers snorkeling and diving. Tropical fish, including clownfish, can be seen up close.
There is an observatory at the tip of the cape, where you can observe coral reefs and fish due to the high transparency and clarity of the seawater.
Descending the steps of the cape toward the cliffs at the far end, you will see the Blue Cave. The name “Blue Cave” comes from the fact that the inside of the cave looks blue due to the reflection of sunlight on the ocean floor.
| Access | Approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes by car from Naha Airport |
| Address | Maeda, Onna-mura, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa |
No.10 Nago Pineapple Park [Nago City]
At this theme park in Nago City, visitors can ride on the “Pineapple Go,” an automatic train with an image of a pineapple, and admire about 120 varieties of pineapples, both edible and ornamental, as well as tropical plants. A new attraction is a cute “pineapple SL” that takes visitors on a ride around the garden with a large insect objet d’art!
The “Dinosaur Adventure Tour,” in which dinosaurs suddenly appear in the tropical botanical garden, is also very powerful.
You can learn about Okinawa’s pineapples from materials at the winery, which reopened in 2020, and at “Sweets de Pineapple,” which offers a wide variety of original sweets made from pineapples. It is a fun spot where you can learn about pineapples and eat pineapple-based sweets.
| Access | Approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes by car from Naha Airport |
| Address | 1195 Tamemata, Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture |
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No.11 RyukyuMura [Kunigami-gun]
This is a sightseeing spot where you can enjoy old-fashioned Okinawa all at once.
Both adults and children can enjoy touring good old-fashioned Okinawan traditional houses and painting Shi-sa (Okinawan traditional Okinawan statues).
The “Michijunei,” a parade-style picture scroll procession held twice a day, is especially worth seeing. Ryukyuan folk songs, performing arts, and eisa shows are performed, and the finale involves the audience in a lively “Kachaasi” song and dance performance.
| Access | [Car] Approx. 60 min. by chartered bus, cab or rental car [Bus] Approx. 60 min. from Naha |
| Address | 1130 Yamada, Onna-mura, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa |
No.12 Manzamou [Onna-son]
Manzakage, one of the most spectacular viewpoints in Okinawa, is a grassy park spread out on a cliff of Ryukyu limestone. The name comes from “the grassland on which Manjikumo sits. The word “Manzakage” means a field. The open fields are beautiful, and the plants around the lawn are designated as a natural monument of the prefecture.
The rock that looks like an elephant’s nose is famous, and together with the clear and endless ocean, the view is uniquely beautiful in Okinawa.
| Access | Approximately 90 minutes by car from Naha Airport |
| Address | Aza Onna, Onna Village, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa |
No.13 Okinawa Outlet Mall Ashibinaa [Tomigusuku City]
With the concept of “an outlet mall focusing on European brands,” the store offers a wide variety of famous brands from Japan and abroad! You can find brand-name inventory and rare sample items at prices ranging from 30% to 80% of the list price.
The spacious grounds for leisurely shopping and the modernized architecture of ancient Greek buildings, combined with the blue sky, give the mall a resort-like atmosphere! Various events based on folk culture and seasonal themes are also held at Ashibinae Square.
| Access | 15 minutes from Naha Airport, 20 minutes from Kokusai Dori |
| Address | 1-188 Aza Toyosaki-shi, Tomigusuku-shi, Okinawa |
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No.14 Valley of Gangala [Nanjo City]
The valley of Gangara was once a limestone cave that collapsed hundreds of thousands of years ago and became a deep forest over the years. A wide variety of flora and fauna thrive there, as if protected by the “Great Lord Banyan Tree,” the sage of the forest.
The Valley of Gangara is also home to a sacred place where people have prayed for the birth and growth of children for hundreds of years, and the remains of a cave where the Minatogawa people, who are said to be the roots of the Japanese people, are being excavated.
| Access | [Car] 30 min. from Naha Airport, 8 min. from the Minami-fubara-minami IC of Okinawa Expressway. |
| Address | 202 Maekawa, Tamaki, Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture |
No.15 Kouri Bridge and Kouri Island
The Kouri Ohashi is a 1,960-meter-long marine bridge that connects Kouri Island and Yagaji Island. The bridge is popular among tourists for its spectacular view of the ocean on both sides, which makes it feel as if you are driving on the sea. On Kouri Island beyond the bridge, there is an Okinawan version of the “Adam and Eve” legend, in which a man and woman named “Uminai” and “Umikii” descended from the heavens and lived together, from which the human race prospered. For this reason, the island is called the “Island of Love” and is a power spot for romance.
Tinu Beach, with its heart-shaped rocks, is also a photo-worthy spot, especially for couples traveling together. This spot is especially recommended for couples traveling together.
| Access | 1 hour 35 minutes from Naha Airport |
| Address | Kouri bridge, Kouri, Nakijin-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa |
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