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Aguni Island
粟国島
In three words: Huge Schools of Fish
Recommended for: People who hate crowds, love the sea, and want to see real Okinawa in all its local glory. And scuba divers!
Size: About 7km²
Population: About 700
Boats depart from: Tomari Port, Naha, Okinawa.
In Brief:
This island is a real find for anyone wanting to avoid crowds, and be the only foreign traveler in sight. Usually this would mean having to sacrifice beauty, but not on Aguni. This island is packed with it. There are gorgeous coastlines, starry nights with a piercing milky-way, world class scuba diving, amazing bird life and more. Several dive shops will take you on the long trip to Aguni from the mainland of Okinawa on a day trip. Do yourself a favour and skip this, go to the island, support local businesses and have a much more authentic time in doing so.
Too touristy?:
Definitely not! You won’t find it in English guide books or travel sites. You probably won’t see a foreigner at all aside from the one English teacher who lives there. The Japanese tourists that visit are usually divers and star gazers but they too are few in number. The main diving season revolves around the spectacular schools of Bigeye Jackfish. This mainly occurs from in May and June. During this time Japanese divers fill out the place. But the diving in still beautiful and impressive outside of this spectacle.
getting there:
It is really simple to get there. Aguni Island has it’s own ferry that comes and goes once a day. It starts in Naha’s Tomari Port. It generally departs at 9:30 on weekends and bank holidays and at 9:55 on weekdays. It takes two hours. And then the return trips depart at 15:00 from Aguni Port on weekends/bank holiday and at 14:10 on weekdays. This is the rough schedule but there are irregularities so I recommend you check. Here is the official website. It is in Japanese and a little out of date (at time of writing this). So do get in touch with us if you would like some help.
getting around:
Being such a small and compact island a bicycle should be enough to get around. Trying to walk it all might get you heat stroke.
There are bicycles available to rent from the Sight Seeing Information Centre. About 18 electric bicycles are rented out of there. The prices go from 800 yen for three hours to 2,000 yen for 10 hours.
There is one car rental shop on the island offering an electric car for 1500 yen for 3 hours or 5000 yen for 24 hours. They only have six cars available and reservations are over the phone. They are a tough company to find in English. Contact us for help if you would like.
Food and Drink:
There are 4 and a half places to eat and drink on Aguni.
(1) There is a classic Okinawa soba noodle shop called Marusan (丸三飯店) which serves a fantastic (you guessed it) Okinawa soba.
(2) Nabi (なびぃー) serves hearty Okinawan meals to fill you up with goya and beer open for lunch and dinner.
(3) Parlour Touyou (パーラー豊幸) are an evening affair from 17:00 until 23:00. This outdoor izakaya will give you a chance to drink with the locals.
(4) Cafe Mahana is a cute and cheap cafe doing meals, sweets and drinks away from the village on the west side near the Mahana view point.
(And a half) The Minato Cafeteria is a little soba shop on the second floor of the port. The cute and very elderly woman who runs it only has big soba and small soba on the menu and only opens whenever she comes in. Keep up the good work grandma!!
Accommodation:
There are some 10 places to stay in Aguni. All of them generally fitting the bill of a minshuku (a mid level Japanese style room with futons and tatami). They come with breakfast and dinner as standard (but you can choose not to take meals), are family run, local and friendly places. There is one hotel with western style beds if that is a sticking point for you. They are located pretty much within walking distance of the port, but you will probably still get picked up on arrival and dropped off on departure.
Highly recommended is Fugestsu. It is really popular among Japanese divers and will often be fully booked in the high season so reservations in advance are recommended. They are close to the port, clean, delicious and very reasonably priced with two meals and your stay coming to 6000 yen per person. Also highly recommended is the Mishuku Kotobuki, which do a popular and cheap Okinawa soba for lunch eaten outside under parasols. And has very reasonable prices to stay from around 3000 yen per person without meals. These places are not on your English booking websites so please do contact us for help.
The Sights:
The Bigeye Jackfish - In May and June, as well as late April and early July. This is the rainy season in Okinawa and so at this time, when most other places are having a wet and rainy lull before the big summer months, Aguni Island has its boom and avid Japanese divers flock to witness this amazing event.
The Beaches - Uugu Beach has quiet clear, blue waters, white sand and coral and saline to snorkel with. It is shallow and good for families. On the west coast, Yahija Beach is not so much a relaxing, sunbathing beach, but has amazing red volcanic rocks and high cliffs, the sea really isn’t bad either.
The Salt Factory - In the far north, is Aguni’s most famous industry, salt. The big factory is quite old and is known for making some of Japan’s most delicious salt. If you visit you might be lucky enough to be given a tour by the friendly staff there.
The view points - Mahana and Taishouike view points give you gorgeous sights. Mahana is on the west and looks out over beaches, seas and other islands and is great for sunsets! Taishouike is centrally located on the island and gives you views of the village as well as the surrounding seas.
The Cave Temple (Tera) - In the north of Aguni is a religious cave, when you walk it automatically lights will switch on and guide you in. 200 years ago here lived a monk exiled from Naha. It is now a very religious sight for the locals.
The stars - Aguni has low light pollution and its isolation mean it has some of the clearest starry nights going. Get away from village lights to see even clearer. The local tourism association has large portable telescope which it sometimes used for star gazing tours.
Tours and Organised Activities:
There are 2 main dive shops on Aguni which get busy very during the high season but also offer diving outside of that with amazing visibility and wonderful sea life though-out the year. Their websites are in Japanese but we can help you help you to book your trip if you get in touch.
Outside of diving there are not really any organised tours. This is an island to dive, cycle, swim and snorkel and do nothing to recharge. Bring a book and spend some time in nature.
A 2-3 Day Itinerary:
Day 1- Arrive and check in. Find a lunch place and eat Okinawa soba or goya chumpuru (warning: bitter!) Go for an afternoon dive. Then have dinner at your accommodation and go drinking in one of the few places open in the evenings. Try the local liquor of awamori.
Day 2 - Take a full day of diving, this will probably be three dives in a day but you can chose to do less if you want. Then rent a bicycle for two days worth. Cycle to the west to look at the sunset from Mahana view point. Then stick around long enough for the starry nights.
Day 3 - Get your bicycle and finish the sightseeing of Aguni. You can take it slow as it is a small island without a whole load of sights. Try and do a full loop. Go to Uugu beach in the west, the cave in the north and the volcanic rocky beach in the west. This should tie up your trip before your boat leaves. Cars and motorised bicycles are also available to rent in Aguni.
Wildlife and Sea-life:
Schools of Jackfish this big are very rare and a special sight to see. They're also an incredible 220 species of bird viewable in Aguni, most of them migratory.