Diving at Hedo: East of Oku

Our final dive of the day with North of Nago & Cap'n Chuck was just to the east of Oku Port (where we stopped to grab the 3rd tanks for each of our group of 7 divers) & included some wonderful underwater scenery & life. There were huge cuts, crevasses, caves & channels thru the rocky formations & all kinds of life from the 80-90 foot sandy bottoms to the 15-20 foot tops of the reef. Unfortunately, being technically our 4th dive of the day, we were quite worn out (Josh with a head ache & Betsy with motion sickness) & the fast approaching night (we got in only shortly before sunset) limited our dive to just half of an hour (one of our shortest ever). Hence, the small amount of photos we snapped. We did see a young turtle just before the end of the dive, but the lighting was too poor for the camera to capture his image before he decided to leave our presence very quickly (a skill & decision that will hopefully serve to afford him a very long life). Thanks for facilitating some great diving, Chuck!

Photos taken east of Oku:

View Album

Get your own

Diving at Hedo: The Dome

The highlight of our dive day was the Hedo Dome just SW of Hedo-misaki a bit north of the Ginama port (which is the last part of Hwy 58 that's up against the water before entering a tunnel & coming out up on cliffs near Hedo Point). We entered the cave system around 50 ft below the surface of the water above, and in about 10 minutes or less, all 7 of us (Josh bringing up the rear) were inside the air pocket at the surface of the water inside of the dome (technically ending our 2nd dive of the day). There we were able to turn off our air regulators & breathe in fresh air. We spent about 25 minutes inspecting the dome from that surface before descending underwater again (dive #3, technically) & slowly investigated more of its nooks & crannies before making our way out. The stalactites & stalagmites were quite impressive, both above & below the water's surface in the caves (indicating they had at one point all been above). Very little life was seen in the cave or in its brackish water (which indicated that a source of fresh water was meeting the sea) although we did see some crustaceans fairly well into the cave. We highly recommend this dive to any divers that spend any amount of time on Okinawa!

Photos from Hedo Dome:

View Album

Get your own

Diving at Hedo: The Point

For our first dive of the day with Cap'n Chuck of North of Nago, we left the port in Oku & made our way just off the Hedo Point visitor's center cliffs. We descended just as it started raining nice & hard (we're sure that Cap'n Chuck must have had a lovely time trying to stay dry on the boat). We had a lovely first dive ever in the far northern reaches of Okinawa & it was grand indeed!

Photos from our dive at Hedo Point:

View Album

Get your own

More info on checking out Hedo-misaki:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7113.html
http://www.virtualginza.com/okinawa.htm?diving.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedo-misaki
http://www.straycompass.com/video_page.php?recordID=1

LD Adventure, Day 2: Pacific Snorkeling

After our refreshing picnic lunch, we stopped along the NE coast (once Hwy 70 came down from the hills) at a nice beach with a great bay for snorkeling (we had been there before). We were impressed to discover that toilet facilities (including a shower room) had been erected near a mobile unit (some sort of organization headquarters perhaps?) beside which we parked. A 2nd area of parking & beach access, right beside 2 large Shisa Lion-dog statues, lay just down the road a few more meters. The waters were lovely, despite the shallow tide, & we saw some very cool marine life. Robin got her first full snorkeling experience (the early morning few minutes shouldn't count) on Okinawa while Ana, Betsy & Josh had yet another!

VERY long & snakelike sea cucumber (or holothurian), Synapta maculata, feeding on the sandy bottom (Betsy stepped on it & almost soiled her suit, thinking it was a snake; can you blame her?):

Large & very ornately colored lionfish swaying back & forth in the incoming tide's surge:

Large school of small fish that blended impressively well with the sea grasses growing heavily in certain shallow areas:

Pair of bright, bobbing Clownfish & their large anemone home:

Small juvenile black boxfish with white spots escapes my scrutiny into a large coral:

Pair of Wedge-Tail Reef Triggerfish (Rhinecanthus rectangulus) roaming the area:

Dog-faced or Black-spotted Pufferfish (Arothron nigropunctatus):

Squid, a pretty rare sighting for us:

LD Adventure, Day 2: Picnic Lunch

After checking out dams & views & hiking at Aha Falls & lifting the van's front tires out of a hole, we were ready for a nice picnic lunch in a small village (Sosu?) along the NE coast, where they were doing some land reclamation in the bay using some large heavy machinery.

Just before our lunch stop Josh was turning the van around in the yard of a community building & simultaneously reading a map, he managed to find the only 2 broken drainage ditch covers with the front tires of the van. That got the van firmly stuck in the ditch! So while Betsy drove in reverse, Ana, Robin & Josh lifted the front wheels with all their might. Fortunately, it worked & the van was successfully freed. Here is a photo of the mock re-enactment for the camera:

LD Adventure, Day 2: NE Coastal Views

We saw several lovely pieces of the NE Okinawa coastline, including an exploration at the large windmills (where we stopped on our bike ride around the area a few months back & saw the whale crest). We were getting pretty hungry for lunch though!

LD Adventure, Day 2: Aha Falls

After inspecting the recreational facilities at Aha Dam, we drove thru Aha Village & up the hill, taking the left-hand turnoff (indicated by the "Ahano" white & blue road sign) onto the narrow road (actually a circular way). We should have taken the first paved turn but instead took the 2nd dirt trail (which is were I think the sign is located) & had to skillfully squeeze by a few fellow expats leaving the locale. But we found the parking area & ropes leading down to the river & falls. And we enjoyed the views & coolness of the water (ok, so only Josh actually enjoyed the coolness of the water).

Betsy & Ana race down the zipline at the ropes course area:

Robin got a turn too:

LD Adventure, Day 2: Aha Dam

After appreciating the facilities at Arakawa Dam, we turned off at the next dam sign to inspect Aha Dam, a place Betsy & I had been before. This time we didn't walk around the scenic area overlooking the water (near the buildings), but we drove over the dam & followed the road up into the hills overlooking it. And we found this great recreation facility. They had a nature trail (2-300 yen per person) that we considered but voted against & instead inspected the "ropes course" (a big, fun glorified playground) & the campgrounds. We also noted that they boasted kayaking (around the reservoir?) & there was a cafe in the main building. Definitely a reasonable camping weekend option!