Travelling to a new country for the first time is always exciting, don’t you think? :)
Okinawa has always been on my bucket list since young, after I fell in love with a Japanese drama series – Beach Boys. I watched it umpteen times and I’ve always dreamt of stepping onto the land of Okinawa. Finally, after xx years, I did! And I love the place – everything from the pace of life to the food, people, nature… Okinawa is a very chill place that would make you feel relaxed no matter where you go, and that was exactly the kind of vacation I need before I dive into another busy & hectic year ahead!
Because it was the husband and my first time to Okinawa, I thought it would be fun to explore the place using different means for varied experiences. A quick google search came up with comments that Okinawa is best explored by self-driving, and there are limited options if you do not rent a car. The truth is that Naha (the main city of Okinawa) is very small and has a monorail system called ‘Yui Rail’ that takes only 30 minutes of journey time from end to end. We decided to take on the public transport challenge for one day, and explored Naha on monorail and buses. To do that, I sought for help from www.klook.com to get all the useful passes that would make it convenient and easy for tourists like us to get around. So glad they have everything I need!
We got the Okinawa Main Island Route Bus Pass & Monorail Pass which gave us unlimited bus rides for one day and monorail rides for 24 hours. The passes saved us time from having to purchase tickets for every trip, and we can literally hop on and off anytime and anywhere we want. Saved us lots of money that way too! I definitely recommend for those planning to explore Okinawa on public transport. There was waiting time for the public transport of course, but we also saw sceneries and views we otherwise would have missed if we had driven everywhere.
Collecting Our Klook Passes
Our flight to Okinawa landed at 8.30am at the International Airport, so we took a short 5-minute walk to the Domestic Airport (connected by sheltered bridge walkway) to collect our passes from the JTB office (Located at 1F), which opens at 9am.
If you are early and the office is not open yet, I recommend that you try the Spam & Egg onigiri from this famous shop on the same level as the JTB office, just a few shop spaces away. It was SO GOOD!
We collected our passes quickly once the office opened, and the friendly staff explained to us the usage and gave us maps for navigation etc. The bus passes are dated, so you have to decide which day you would like to use the passes. But the Yui Rail monorail passes are more flexible – It is valid for 24 hours after first tap-in.
Our public transport day was scheduled for the next day and the plan was to take a bus from Kokusai-Dori (main shopping street where our hotel was) to Shuri Castle vicinity and explore the place for half a day before going on a Yui Rail monorail station hopping trip to explore the various places of Naha. The monorail system brings you from one end (Airport) to the other end (Shuri) so you can literally cover the whole of Naha city in one day and conveniently so via the monorail. And so that was what we did!
I love taking local buses to have a taste of local living! It’s part of the fun of travelling for me. :)
Shuri Castle is one of the key icons in Naha and definitely worth a visit if you are a first-timer in Okinawa. The free access area was vast with lovely views and greeneries, but if you wish to understand more about the history, you can pay to enter the main castle. However, hearsay is that all the decor inside are not the real artefacts but replicas only. We didn’t pay to enter, but just loitered around the castle grounds to take in all the peace and serenity of the place.
Nearby to Shuri Castle is the Kinjo-cho Stone-paved path which is worth checking out. It is an ancient limestone pave and good walking shoes is recommended if you are going for this because there are lots of uphill walking.
By the time you are done with all the walking, you should be quite hungry so it’s a perfect time to settle for some good Okinawan cuisines at a beautiful restaurant nearby called Ashibi-una. I’ll be sharing about this restaurant and the awesome food we had in a separate post. :)
We spent the afternoon hopping on and off different monorail stations to explore Naha, and that’s when our monorail passes came in handy! If you are planning to do this in Naha as well, here’s my recommended itinerary!
Yui Rail Monorail Tour
1. Omoromachi: DFS Galleria, shopping mall
2. Onoyama Park: Large park with many events
3. Oroku (North exit): AEON Naha Shopping Centre, 100yen shop (Daiso)
4. Akamine (South exit): Manga Souko - Mall that sells 2nd-hand goods, Shuttle bus pick-up point to Senaga Island
It was relaxing taking the monorail from one end to the other, and when we saw interesting things or shops, we got off to explore. It was so convenient with our monorail passes! One of the main highlights for us was the trip to Senagajima (Senaga Island) and we love the place so much, we went back a second time just to catch the sunset! Getting to Senagajima without a car is very convenient. Just take the monorail to Akamine Station (South Exit) and wait for the free shuttle bus which comes every 30 minutes from 8:30 to 21:00 daily. The journey takes about 15 minutes. That was what we did!
Senagajima is super beautiful with lots of restaurants and cafes! You can even opt to stay at the Onsen Hotel on the island! More about Senagajima in a separate post. Stay tuned for that!
So, you see… exploring Naha on public transport is definitely doable, and it’s made easy and convenient with the bus & monorail passes from www.klook.com. No matter where you are travelling to, Klook always has something that can make your trip planning easier and the entire experience seamless and hassle-free. Plus, if you don’t know what you can do in a specific place, you can get many ideas from their website. I know it because I’ve used their services many times on various trips! Check them out now for your next trip here –> www.klook.com
To read the rest of my posts on Okinawa, please go to: http://www.jbabiesinthedaisies.com/search/label/Okinawa
Disclosure: The J Babies was sponsored Okinawa bus & monorail passes by Klook for honest review purposes. No other compensation was received. All opinions and photos in this post are solely ours.