Miyakojima in Three Days: Miyako Blue Seas and a Tour of the Beaches

I spent two nights and three days on Miyakojima, so here's a report on how it went!

Getting to Miyakojima

There are direct flights from Tokyo to Miyakojima, but they were quite expensive, so this time I flew with low-cost carriers and connected from Tokyo to Okinawa (Naha), then Okinawa to Miyakojima.

Miyakojima has two airports: Miyako Airport and Shimojishima Airport. If you use an LCC, you'll land at Shimojishima Airport, which is a little way out from the main area.

Here are the details of the flights I took.

[Outbound (Day 1)]

• Tokyo – Okinawa (Naha): GK337 (Jetstar)
• Okinawa (Naha) – Shimojishima: BC547 (Skymark)

[Return (Day 3)]

• Shimojishima – Okinawa (Naha): BC546 (Skymark)
• Okinawa (Naha) – Narita: MM508 (Peach)

*I had other plans on the way home, so I stayed one night in Okinawa before flying back to Narita.

The overall schedule looked like this.

Day 1: Mostly travel. Arrived on Miyakojima in the evening, had dinner and checked in Day 2: A full day of sightseeing Day 3: Sightseeing in the morning, flight in the afternoon

In reality, though, there was nowhere near enough time. If you're going to Miyakojima, I'd recommend staying longer.

I think you'd enjoy it much more with at least two or three full days that you can freely spend on the island.

Day 1

Rental car

After arriving at Shimojishima Airport, the first thing I did was pick up a rental car. I'd heard beforehand that a rental car is the way to go if you want to move around the island flexibly, and I personally found it essential since it also makes short trips easy.

Miyakojima also has a lot of intersections without traffic lights, and apparently there are many accidents, so when I picked up the car they went over the accident-prone spots and safety points with me several times.

17END

My dinner reservation was at 8 p.m. and I had some time, so first I drove to "17END" and "Toriike Pond," right next to Shimojishima Airport.

17END is a long pier right beside the airport that stretches far out. The ocean here was genuinely beautiful, and I was moved to see "Miyako Blue" so soon after arriving! I did want to walk all the way to the end of 17END, but the heat got to me and I gave up about a third of the way (haha).

Toriike Pond

Toriike Pond is on the way to 17END and consists of two ponds. Apparently they're connected underneath, and it felt very mysterious — a little thrilling to look at. It reminded me a bit of the cenotes I've visited in Mexico. It's surrounded by rugged rock, and the walkway continues past Toriike, but there's not much beyond it besides grassland and rocks, so I think just seeing the pond itself is enough.

Miyakojima's sudden showers and rainbows

Apparently sudden downpours (evening showers) are common on Miyakojima, and it rained on me quite a bit that day. Rain would suddenly come down while I was driving, but it was usually a sun shower, so I got to see big rainbows again and again. It was also my first time driving underneath a rainbow. If you're going to Miyakojima, I'd recommend always having an umbrella or rain gear with you.

Irabu Bridge

After that, I crossed a big bridge called Irabu Bridge from the Shimojishima Airport side over to the main island of Miyakojima. The ocean you can see from this bridge is also beautiful, but it was raining at the time so I couldn't get a photo. It seems there's a rule against stopping your car partway across the bridge.

Sunset on Kurima Island

I stayed on Kurima Island. I drove over and checked in. I could see the sun setting from the beach on Kurima Island, and this too was magical and beautiful.

Dinner: Shimagohan Attakaya

For dinner I went to Attakaya, about a 10-minute drive from Kurima Island.

When I went it was fully booked and the parking lot was full, so I'd recommend making a reservation in advance and arriving a little before your reservation time to secure a parking space.

It's a place that takes real care with its food, serving Okinawan home cooking with as few additives as possible. You can of course eat traditional dishes like sea grapes and rafute (braised pork belly), and there are homestyle dishes like clay-pot rice as well — everything was delicious.

For dessert there were purple sweet potato dumplings, Miyakojima-grown mango, and warabi mochi, and I got to fully enjoy the food of Miyakojima. The drinks menu was extensive too, from various alcoholic options (shochu, awamori) to medicinal herb tea, chai, moringa, and enzyme juice — lots of tasty options that are kind to your body. The staff were wonderfully attentive and kind, so it's a place I can strongly recommend.

Starry sky

At night I got to look at the stars. There were scattered clouds so it wasn't quite a sky full of stars, but since you can barely see any stars in central Tokyo, it was more than enough for me.

Day 2

I hadn't scheduled anything for Day 2, so I decided to tour Miyakojima while making my way around the beaches.

Ryugujo Observatory

First I went to Ryugujo Observatory on Kurima Island.

As the name suggests, it's built to look like Ryugujo (the dragon palace of Japanese legend), and you get a sweeping view of the Miyakojima sea from up high. Spread out in front of you is Yonaha Maehama Beach, said to be the most beautiful on Miyakojima, and the contrast of white and blue is superb — a really lovely spot. If you want a panoramic view of the ocean, this observatory is a must. Miyakojima has several other observatories too, so I'd really recommend taking in the ocean from above.

There were a lot of spiders bigger than the palm of my hand on the ceiling here, so watch above and below you when you visit.

Kakigori Kairi

After that I went to Kakigori Kairi, a creative shaved ice shop also on Kurima Island.

We ordered the brown sugar shaved ice and the strawberry and mango shaved ice. The staff's top recommendation is the Miyakojima mango shaved ice (depending on the season). If it's on the menu, do try one made with Miyakojima-grown mango.

Yonaha Maehama Beach

Next I went to Yonaha Maehama.

There's a free parking lot in front of Yonaha Maehama, but it holds only about 50 cars (I think?), so you may want to go early when it's not busy, or be prepared to wait a while in summer. We arrived around 11 a.m. and it was full, but a space opened up after about 15 minutes. Cars do come and go fairly steadily, so I think you'll get in if you wait.

I've been to all sorts of beaches, on Miyakojima and elsewhere, and I thought this one was far and away the most beautiful. The contrast of blue and white was superb, and the way the waves broke on the shore was magical — I felt like I could watch it forever. You can swim here too, so playing in the water is a good option. We had other places we wanted to see on Miyakojima this time, so we enjoyed the beach briefly and moved on.

Higashi-Hennazaki

From there I drove about 40–50 minutes to Higashi-Hennazaki.

There's a lighthouse here, and it's a spot at the easternmost tip of Miyakojima with a sweeping ocean view. I think it cost about 300 yen per person to climb the lighthouse, but this time I skipped it and walked around instead. Because this is open ocean, you can see a long way out to sea, and watching the big swells roll in was great. I also got to see views straight out of a postcard.

I'd heard it's beautiful at sunrise, but I couldn't make it at that hour this time, so I'd like to come back when the sun is coming up. If you can get there early in the morning, do give it a try.

Snorkeling at Aragusuku Beach

I didn't sign up for a snorkeling tour this time — I wanted something we could do easily on our own — so we went to Aragusuku Beach, about a 10-minute drive from Higashi-Hennazaki.

Here you can snorkel right from the beach and see all kinds of marine life, and I'd heard you can meet sea turtles, which is why I chose it.

There's parking here as well, but the free lot holds only about 30 cars (I think?), so again capacity is tight and you'll need to wait. I also got the impression that spaces here take longer to free up. If you don't mind paying, there's a large paid lot further in that holds several hundred cars, so you're almost guaranteed a space — but at 2,000 yen a day it was fairly expensive. We went in the late afternoon, so we waited for a space in the free lot.

In front of the parking lot and down at the beach there were snorkel rental sets, parasols, and tents, so you can enjoy snorkeling even if you haven't brought anything.

The rental set where I rented — a life jacket, snorkel, fins, and a parasol — was 10,000 yen for four people, so about 2,500 yen each.

The right-hand side of the beach is the area with lots of marine life, and the left-hand side is where the turtles are. Both have red buoys floating over the highlights, so use those as your marker when you go in.

When we snorkeled, on the right side we saw clownfish, coral, and all kinds of fish, and when we went to the left we saw two sea turtles. You can get quite close to them, so I'd really recommend it — you can see turtles without joining a snorkeling tour. There are lifeguards too, so I think it's a safe place for children to play.

One of the turtles came up to the surface to breathe, and it swam straight toward us without paying us the slightest attention or trying to avoid us, which really startled me. It was the closest I've ever been to a wild sea turtle, and I was genuinely moved. Getting this quality of experience without joining a tour left me very satisfied.

Dinner: Kafuku

We went back to the hotel for a shower, and for dinner I wanted Agu pork shabu-shabu, so we went to a restaurant called Kafuku in the center of town. There were a few other shabu-shabu places, but this was the one where we could get a reservation.

Here we could compare Yanbaru white Agu and black Agu side by side and have yukke, and it was delicious. It's a hot pot style where you wrap plenty of green onion and vegetables in the pork — really good. The course was 7,000 yen per person for the tasting comparison plus drinks, so it's on the pricier side, but the space was calm and relaxed, so it's a good choice when you want a slightly nicer meal.

https://kafuku.foodre.jp/

A Miyakojima festival

There happened to be a Miyakojima festival on that day, so the town center was lively with lots of food stalls, and we got to see fireworks too.

Day 3

My flight on Day 3 was at 2 p.m. and time was limited, so we decided to fit in a cafe and a bit of sightseeing.

Pani Pani

At 10 a.m. I went to a cafe called Pani Pani on Kurima Island.

It shows up a lot on Instagram and is very popular — when we passed by around lunchtime there was quite a line — so we decided to go first thing. We arrived just before 10 a.m. and were the first ones there, so we had the place almost to ourselves.

I had a dragon fruit and banana smoothie. They also have proper shaved ice, they take their coffee seriously with house-roasted beans, and you can buy beans to take home, so the quality as a cafe is high — and the space is lovely, so we could really relax. Pani Pani is personally one of the cafes I'd most recommend.

Nakayukui Shoten

An acquaintance had told me it was "absolutely unmissable if you go to Miyakojima," so I went to Nakayukui Shoten, a sata andagi shop on Irabu Island.

Their specialty is "beniimo satapanbin." Satapanbin is the Miyakojima dialect word for sata andagi, and you can choose it plain or topped with ice cream, with a limit of two per person. When I went, plain was 120 yen and the ice cream version 450 yen, and you could pick whichever Blue Seal ice cream you liked. There's a large open parking area beside the shop that looks like it fits about 30 cars, so unless it's unusually busy I don't think you need to worry about parking. When we went there were only a few groups in line, so we got ours right away.

This sata andagi was genuinely delicious. I bought just one with ice cream at first, but it was so good that I went back to buy more. It's a simple sata andagi, and that simplicity is exactly what makes it good — I was so impressed I may not be able to go back to store-bought sata andagi, so I recommend it.

Sawada no Hama

After that we drove to Sawada no Hama.

Sawada no Hama is one of the sightseeing spots in the Shimojishima area. Rather than a beach, it's an expanse of shallows that goes on and on — even far out the water only comes up to about your ankles.

I think it's a good spot for children who are interested in living creatures to explore the shallows. There were so many sea cucumbers that we walked very gingerly to avoid stepping on them (haha).

There's only space for a few cars right in front of Sawada no Hama, but a few hundred meters away there's an area with a baseball field and a park. It's within walking distance, so you should be able to park in one or the other.

One thing to note: there's no running water, so nowhere to rinse your hands and feet. Bring water with you — I ended up rinsing off with the water from my flask.

A send-off at Shimojishima Airport

We flew from Shimojishima Airport back to the Okinawa mainland. As they saw us off at the airport, the staff drew pictures of shisa and whales on the ground, which was heartwarming. The airport has a souvenir corner and somewhere to sit once you're through security, but it isn't large, so you don't need to set aside much time for looking around.

As I said at the start, there was nowhere near enough time to take in Miyakojima properly. With more time I would have snorkeled more, watched the sunrise and sunset at a leisurely pace, and spent days just gazing at that blue ocean. So I'd recommend booking plenty of nights.

Miyakojima food roundup

Here's a roundup of the places I visited over these three days. My one regret is that I didn't get to eat Miyako soba at all, but apparently there are several famous shops, so I'm definitely going next time. People say the Miyako soba places get especially long lines in summer, so keep the season and time of day in mind.

My take on Miyakojima

On Miyakojima the sea really is blue and beautiful everywhere you look, and I completely understood why they call it "Miyako Blue." Time moves slowly across the whole island, so I'd recommend spending it at an easy pace.

Here's what I noticed on the ground — things to watch out for and information worth knowing.

Things to watch out for

Bring cash

Quite a lot of places are cash-only, so it's better to bring plenty of cash. There are ATMs, but not many, and convenience stores are concentrated in the town center — so I'd recommend getting cash before you arrive, or as soon as you spot somewhere to withdraw it.

Thorough sun protection

When I went at the end of July the sun was very strong, and I got burned just from stepping outside briefly. People on the island cover up completely.

• Don't leave too much skin exposed
• Apply sunscreen properly (if you're going in the water, please use one that doesn't contain substances harmful to coral)
• Bring a parasol, a hat, and plenty to drink
• When snorkeling, your back gets a lot of sun, so rather than worrying about how you look, cover up with a full-body rash guard

Recommendations I heard from locals

For snorkeling, the Yabiji area is the one

Apparently its beauty is on a different level, even for Miyakojima. If you want to see clearer water and snorkel, they recommended taking a tour out to Yabiji. I couldn't make it this time, so I definitely want to go next time.

Miyakojima is a place to come back to

"Miyakojima isn't somewhere you enjoy in one visit — it's a place you come back to again and again and enjoy slowly," they told me. Rather than rushing around all at once, I think it's better to leave something for next time and take it slow.

That's my report from two nights and three days on Miyakojima! I hope it helps anyone heading there.