We had such a fun weekend on Kume Island that we were a little silly on the ferry back to Naha.
Showing posts with label Kume. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kume. Show all posts
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Kume-jima Days 2 & 3: A Ra Hama Beach
Labels:
Beach,
Kume,
Sunset,
Travel,
Underwater
" Proceeding from Gima Village on Kume Island, you'll come to A Ra Hama Beach, a private beach surrounded by pine trees. From this spot, the sunsets are superb. The beach itself is a shoal and one can see many fish and shells among the algae, so snorkeling is recommended."
True to the quote, we found A Ra Hama beach quite delightful, both for its evening sunset viewing (Hotto Motto dinners optional but recommended), as well as for its morning snorkeling (especially after you get past the grasses growing in shallower waters near the shore). Hence, we ended Day 2 & began Day 3 at this lovely beach.Saturday, July 05, 2008
Kume-jima Day 2: Tatami Ishii
"Tatami Ishii on the southernmost beach is a group of lava type (andecite) rock formed about 500 years ago by the cooling of magma. Over 1000 of these 5-sided and 6-sided flat rocks with a diameter of 1 meter are lined up there like turtle shells. They spread east and west 250 meters, and 50 meters north and south, but are now partially hidden by sand so that one sees only part. It is extremely rare for these rocks to have a diameter this large and to be pillar-shaped."
We actually checked out this site the night before & at high tide (so it took us a while to find the rocks). But returning by daylight & at low(er) tide, we discovered much more success in inspecting the interesting geology.Kume-jima Day 2: Uegusuku-dake Castle Ruins
"A castle was built on top of Uegusuku-dake on Kume-jima Island and is the castle with the highest elevation in Okinawa Prefecture. During the reign of King Sho Shin the military of the Shuri royal government destroyed the castle. Within the castle Gusuku era earthenware pottery and Chinese celadon pottery have been discovered. The locals refer to it as Uigusuku. In 1974 it was designated a Historical Site by the Prefecture."
We quite enjoyed the daytime views from this peak. We even returned after dark & were thrilled to spot quite a few fireflies (a tip mentioned by the proprietors of the Firefly Museum) as well as a wondeful night-time sky chock full of stars!Kume-jima Day 2: Mi Fuga (& Female Rock)
"Mi Fuga is a seaside shoal seen from Gushikawa Castle. There is an odd rock called “Female Rock.” Tradition says that the infertile woman who prays there will have her prayers answered. Visitors have never stopped coming to see it."
Day 2: Circumnavigating Kume-jima
After a fantastic morning in the sun & sand on Hateno Hama, we were ready to jump in a rental car & see the rest of Kume-jima. We started with some soba at an outdoor restaurant on the east side of the island, before finding the Firefly Museum near the main town of Gima (SW coast), which actually turned out to have basically every OTHER animal found on Kume BUT fireflies (including snakes, frogs, fish, turtles, pigeons & a gorgeous owl that we got to pet).
After checking out Mi Fuga & Gushikawa Castle on the NW coast, we tried some yummy pineapple at a farm we drove past. We then found some great views from the Hiyajo Banta lookout on the north coast.
After checking out Uegusuku the first time (during the day), we drove past the large Churafukugi trees in the town of Maju in Nakazato village of NE Kume, before completing the circle back to Ou-jima.
Kume-jima Day 2: Hateno Hama (Faraway Beach)
Labels:
Beach,
Kume,
Ocean,
Travel,
Underwater
 We got up bright & early to try to hit the beach before the sun got going full force in the mid-day. Our destination was Hateno Hama, basically a large strip of sand peeking out of the ocean (technically, one of a group of atolls) just to the east of our accommodations on Ou-jima. |
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