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!

LD Adventure, Day 2: Arakawa Dam

Invigorated by the delicious coffee, we decided to check out Arakawa Dam for the first time. We inspected their tent camping & bathroom facilities (seems like a good option) before checking out the dam itself & depressingly low reservoir level. We followed the road across the dam & found ourselves meandering through agricultural plots (a common feature of northern Okinawa).

LD Adventure, Day 2: Hiro's Coffee Farm

UPDATE: This cool little place just got a write-up in Stars & Stripes!

After packing up camp at the Higashi Beach (& getting a friendly American 4-wheel vehicle driver to pull us out of the sand), we continued north along the east coast on Hwy 70. Our first stop was at Hiro's Coffee, an awesome little coffee farm (we aren't the only ones that think so), where we had some delicious fresh brewed organic hot coffee. As we waited for the beverages, we were entertained by the free ranging chickens (were 1 or both roosters?). The very friendly owner struck up a conversation with us & graciously agreed to appear in our photo collection! It was so yummy & delightful that we even purchased a bag of dark roast beans (which we're currently enjoying using in our espresso maker), despite being natural penny-pinchers that too often end up supporting the coffers of the coffee giants.

The flier that came with our bag of beans:

Hiroshi Adachi, owner & proprietor of the establishment & a delightful man:

The menu - short & simple & pretty:

Despite the name, those are just coffee plants:

Slideshow of full photo set:

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Being entertained by the chickens (hens or roosters?) as we waited for our delicious coffee:

LD Adventure, Day 2: Morning Snorkeling

As usual with camping out, we woke up fairly shortly after the sun had risen to a point that its light convinced us it was time to have some more fun. After a breakfast of leftovers, we geared up & enjoyed a little snorkeling for several minutes until the gals spotted a very cool jellyfish (that Josh chased to get some good video) & a very long sea snake. That was the end of the snorkeling at that beach.

The striped fish swimming along with the jellyfish seemed to be a protector of some kind, as he lunged at my camera a few times before returning to his spot beside the tentacles:

Labor Day Adventure: Day 1

We came up with a plan to explore the northern reaches of our fair island (not nearly as small as many people think) & camp out for at least 1 night with friends Ana & Robin. The van was basically loaded to capacity!

We began our Labor Day weekend adventures with Ana & Robin by driving north on Hwy 58 up the west side of the island & cutting across from Onna-son to Ishikawa & then continuing north on Hwy 329. In Kin Town, we explored a few beaches, got some bug spray & a water refill at Camp Hansen, visited the agriculture, paid a visit to a shrine & had a picnic Family Mart lunch at a park boasting a natural springs.

A huge banana spider on its web in the yard of the shrine:

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One of the day's highlights was a kayaking excursion through the Gesashi Mangrove Forest near Higashi Village. We took our inflatable kayaks but soon realized that the bike foot pump we borrowed wasn't going to be fun to use to pump them up. While Josh worked on one orally, a fellow inflatable raft owner in the parking lot offered us a space manual pump that he wasn't using. And much sooner than otherwise, we were on the water & enjoying the serene beauty!

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As the daylight waned on us, we began exploring beaches around Higashi Town in search of the best one for pitching a couple of tents.

Hermit crab witha really cool shell moseying along:

Eventually we found a gorgeous beach with soft sand & plenty of room for a van, 2 tents & 4 adults. We highly recommend this beach to anyone else out there that can handle a night without toilet facilities or running water!

Keramas Dive: Tokashiki SE (Drift)

The final dive of the day was a drift dive. Papa-san dropped us off a bit further north (but not much) than the previous dive (not far from the location of our first dive) & we let the gentle current carry us south. We had fun at the end of the dive playing with our "safety sausages" (really some cheap pool floats that read "GO TEAM").

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