Hi all I’m currently planning a month long trip to Japan somewhere end of February to start of April next year.
Currently the what is ok the travel plan is Tokyo->Hakone->Takayama->Kanazawa-> Kyoto-> Hiroshima-> Fukuoka->Okinawa-> Osaka.
Originally I had Nagasaki instead of Okinawa however l, because I heard that Okinawa had a nice beach to find sea glass, and because I wanted to explore many different corners of Japan I wanted to see if maybe Okinawa would be a viable option.
However I am still rather young and do not yet have a driver’s license.
So my question is: is public transport a viable way to make your way around Okinawa? Or are taxis (relatively) Cheap? Or are there any other ways of making your way around the island?
Many thanks in advance!!
21 comments
For the main island, Naha has the monorail for a few stations and buses. Then there are some long distance buses.
Best way to explore is via car, sorry to say. I did that and had a blast. I think there are some sightseeing taxis and fares are a bit cheaper but it’s still not going to be super cheap
The main islands city of naha has one monorail going from the airport to the city center ( and abit further) and a few bus routes. The operation hrs of the busses are nothing like youre used to on the mainland tho but taxis prices are around the same ( high).
A few days in and around naha will be fine without a car but the other smaller islands got nothing when it comes to public transport.
I personaly wouldnt reccomend an okinawa trip without a rental car.
Literally terrible. Coming from mainland japan, there is really no comparison. Buses are always late and take only cash or the Okinawa IC card. No pasmo, no Suica, etc. Expect the buses to arrive 30 minutes to an hour late at times. There are minimal trains and those trains take you barely any distance. Your best bet is to drive everywhere in Okinawa.
I went to Naha and Ishigaki.
There were excellent buses and even metro in Naha connecting the airport and city centre.
I am not sure if popular beaches are easily reachable by bus in Ishigaki, but probably yes – in any case distances are not long so it would be ok to use taxis.
Also I would recommend visiting different islands, so you would use the ferry more than the buses!
There is public transport but it doesn’t go everywhere and runs infrequent. Taxis are expensive.. you could try hitchhiking, I always get picked up quickly in the countryside and on smaller islands. It’s not easy but possible if you plan well and are aware you might not be able to go everywhere you want to.
Okinawa doesn’t have anywhere near as efficient a public transport system as the mainland of Japan. When we were there we found that renting a car was the o my way to get around the island.
They have buses, but the routes of the buses is limited. The island isn’t huge, but to get from bottom to top is about an hour and a half, and no public bus goes THAT far.
You might be able to jump on tourist buses for a bit extra that take you to the popular spots on the island. That or just stay in one city on the island instead of seeing the while thing. If you stay in one city the buses and walking should be just fine.
Public transport is terrible in Okinawa. The monorail gets you to a few places in Naha but anywhere out of that there’s few options. There are bus lines that go north but they dont seem very frequent. Cabs arent very cheap imo and I dont recall them being very numerous on the road outside of Naha, so it may be difficult even getting one. Strongly encourage renting a car.
Just jumping in with the same advice as everyone else. Public transit is terrible. If you just want a couple of days exploring Naha, walking/the monorail is fine. If you want to go literally anywhere else, you want a car.
Best is to drive in Okinawa, public transport is pretty terrible there, its nothing compared to mainland Japan.
As someone who just moved back to the states from Oki, I’d recommend just hitting up some Americans that live there. I’m sure they’ll be plenty of people to give rides. I did for a bunch of people when I lived there.
I stayed in Okinawa for a few days in the summer of 2018. I did what you did and was traveling through the major areas of Japan. The public transportation is abysmal after coming from the mainland. We walked most places and in the summer heat, what should be a close walk was insufferable.
I’d like to add a question to this, are moped scooters/vespas a viable option on Okinawa, or are cars the better (or only) option?
Lived there for summer back ‘18, in Naha the monorail is pretty good, but the rest of the islands buses run on “island time” it was very frustrating
Do check out Tacorice while there though
Went in 2012 and only took the monorail (Airport to where Shuri Castle used to be) so the week I spent there felt long after I kind of saw everything along that route. Only beach I went to had an elevated freeway running along the coast.
Even with distant relatives on the main island, I only saw them once but at least they picked me up in their car and treated me to dinner as well.
Would not recommend going to Okinawa without access to a car. Haven’t been to Nagasaki but Okayama, Oita and Nagoya are also nice.
I got my Japanese license Because of Okinawa. Hope that is answer enough
Go to the islands off Tokyo or Oita. Don’t waste 2+ hours on a plane and wayyy too money getting to/around Okinawa. There’s so much more to see in Japan. Sea glass is everywhere.
Abysmal. Island tour would not be possible if you can’t drive.
From Naha you could take the ferry to the Kerama islands, which are small enough to get around on foot or by bike and have wonderful beaches but I don’t recall sea glass there. I don’t think I would go just to the main island though.
Daniel San
Okinawa jikan (island time) is a thing. The buses are not reliable at all.
I have been in Okinawa without a rental car for a month. It’s definitely a hassle sometimes, but you can work around it. The main island with public transport is absolutely doable, but no near comfortable to Tokyo&co. You’ll have to rely on buses. Now they accept most IC cards and I never experienced late buses. The pace is really laid back, so the timetables are not that great.
Smaller islands are trickier without a car but doable. Kerama and Zamami islands are not that big. Zamami especially is easy to work around bc it has bike rental shops. 🙂 The difficult part is catching the boat if you want to do 1-day trips.