Seawall stories

Along the East China Sea was a long, paved pathway called the Sea Wall.  A great place for running, biking, strolling, scuba diving was also popular there and there were restaurants scattered around the densely packed neighborhoods.

These photos are a culmination of trips to the seawall during our three years there.  I love the golden hues of these photos because the seawall is where we always went for the most beautiful sunsets on island.
These photos tell a story...
I don't know these two, but they really epitomize Okinawa.

Fireworks on the beach for one of their Japanese holidays.  So cool!!!

These sunsets are burned into my memory.  I love this photo...check out the 3 rain storms over the ocean!

Beach Chapels

Okinawa is a resort vacation destination for all of Japan.  Which makes it the best beach locale for destination weddings...I'm sure this is the reason for the cute little chapels scattered along the coastline.  They pop up out of nowhere!

 Kind of eerie at night

Ikei Island

Beach Day!
The weather has finally turned around on the island...blue skies, warm sun, cool breezes.  Perfect beach days.  We decided to take the new grandparents out to Ikei Island where there are stunning beaches.  Here are some fun photos of our day at the beach.

Snorkel Sunday

 

We headed to Maeda Flats just near our house for one of the greatest snorkeling experiences ever!  This place is known in Japan and around Asia as a top diving/snorkel spot.

We've seen the divers out in the deep water off Maeda Point, but we had never gone to Maeda Flats, where there are beautiful beaches, formations in the shallow waters, and amazing snorkeling all the way out along the reef.  As soon as the reef meets deeper water, there is a sheer drop of 100 ft. 

 The water was so clear, you could see very far in all directions.  There were quite a lot of people diving and snorkeling while we were there.  Who can resist?

 While we were snorkeling, we probably saw 100 different species of fish.  Some were huge and swam slow, others neon, striped or spotted...some were so camouflaged you could barely see them.   Can you see them?


Adam took these pictures using our Olympus Stylus Tough camera.  If anyone is in the market for a waterproof, freezeproof, shockproof, crushproof, indestructible camera...this is a great one to look into!

Hermit Crab Beach

Hermit Crab Beach is what Adam and I named the secret little beaches on one of the Eastern Peninsulas of Okinawa.  We found this beach by accident, and we only saw one other person strolling the beach while we were there.  It was a secret beach!  On our hunt for White Beach, we followed the coastline and curved our way through farming fields on tiny little roads, and finally one of the roads dead ended.  There was a stairway leading down through the thick canopy of tropical trees.  We saw the white sand, and the formations, shells, and hermit crabs were everywhere!  We took pics, climbed the rocks and went for a dip in the gorgeous waters of the Philippine Sea.  We named it Hermit Crab beach because you could literally look around and see 10 hermit crabs crawling along the shells...some were so tiny, you couldn't see them until they crawled across the sand.

This will be a great place to snorkel when we get all our gear!

We had a great Sunday here.

3..2..1.. BLAST OFF

 

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At 9:40 in the morning, I fly to Washington DC, 2 1/2 hours later, I will be on a plane to Tokyo, 14 hours later, I will board a plane for Okinawa...3 hours later...this time two days from now (we are traveling into the future), I will be checking into the Shogun Inn on Kadena Air Base waiting for my husband to arrive a few hours after me.  Now is the time...And there is no better time than now!

Roku! 6! Go! 5!

Portuguese port

Roku means 6!  We decided that when we get a dog in Japan we might name him Roku...sounds cool.

5 more days and we will be flying to Japan...on the 27th we fly out, possibly flying separately, but still arriving in Okinawa around the same time.  YES!  So ready!

Hachi, Shichi!

Hachi 8

 

 Off the coast of Sorrento, Italy

Guanacaste, Costa Rica...a fabulous place

Shichi 7