Media Review
As it was our first trip to Okinawa, we wanted to explore different ways of travelling in Okinawa. In my last post on the Okinawa series, I shared about how we booked a bus pass and Yui Rail monorail pass for a day so that we can explore Naha city on public transport. You can read all about that here. While public transport is easy and inexpensive, it is not convenient to explore anywhere beyond Naha city. In fact, the key attractions in Okinawa are all at least one hour’s drive away from Naha city itself. So, through Klook, we booked our car with Times Rental for three days so that we can drive out to explore different places everyday. I was so glad I did that – It was so much fun! Self-driving on vacations means you don’t have to follow a tight schedule or itinerary. Anywhere you drive to, you can stop if you find the place really pretty. Sometimes, surprise finds along the way during self-drives make the holiday even better!
So we booked our car from www.klook.com and a voucher was emailed to me upon confirmation. I opted to pick up and return the car from a location near my Airbnb and the whole pickup process was fast and smooth. The staff at Times Rental explained to us basic traffic rules and handed us brochures with mapcodes and information on places we can visit, along with contact numbers we can call should we meet with any difficulties or accidents. Basic insurance was covered for the car but we opted to top up an additional 3,000yen+ to up the coverage so that if we ran into any problems with the car, the repairs will be 100% covered. As it was our first time driving in Japan, we thought it safer to top up the coverage. But now that we’ve done it, I would say driving in Japan is extremely safe with almost everyone being polite and kind on the roads. We probably would not top up the coverage the next time round. =P
The staff very patiently explained everything we needed to know before bringing us to the car personally. He showed Isaiah how to operate the car and explained about the usage of the car’s GPS system. Our fuel and all toll charges are not included in the car rental, so we would need to top up the fuel tank to full before returning the car.
And we set off for our first road trip in Okinawa! I am all praise for the GPS system in Japan cars – It was super accurate and we felt very assured every step of the way, even though we were in Okinawa for the first time. The car was comfortable and stable as well! Best of all, the pickup and return were fuss-free and easy, so it definitely was a very pleasant experience for us. :)
I planned out a three-day itinerary for the three days we would have the car with us, and I will share that bit by bit on the blog soon. Here’s an overview of what you can look forward to:
Day 1: Minatogawa Stateside Town –> Ashibina Outlet Mall –> Senaga-Jima sunset
Minatogawa Stateside Town is a former Naval base when the Americans invaded Okinawa for a period of time. Everything here has some kind of American vibes and has since been converted into a quaint neighbourhood of shops, cafes & eateries.
It was nice to stroll around this place and enjoy some food along the way. But things are not exactly cheap here, so be prepared for that. More about this place in a separate post.
As we continued our drive, we passed by the ocean and had to make a pit-stop because the view was just gorgeous.
Our next stop was the Ashibina Outlet Mall where we literally went crazy in just one shop – GAP. =P We are not brand-conscious people in the first place so actually shopping at such places don’t excite us much, but the sale in Gap was so amazing we got matching sweaters for ourselves and our kids and several other tees for them. It’s definitely worth a visit if you are into brands such as Adidas, Underarmor, Levis, Gucci, Ferragamo, etc.
After getting our loot (so glad we have a car to keep our shopping bags in!), we headed to Senaga-jima to catch the sunset and have dinner and drinks. It was the best decision ever – The sunset was so gorgeous and we had a great time hanging out at the Hammock Cafe! More on this in a separate post.
Day 2: Cape Manzamo –> Churaumi Aquarium* –> Nago Fish Market –> Nago Pineapple Park* –> Okinawa Fruits’ Land* –> Mount Yaedake –> Kouri Island/Kouri Bridge/Kouri Tower* –> American Village
Day two looked super packed but we had so much fun! I was glad we booked the Churaumi Enjoy Pass, which gave us access to 12 attractions in Okinawa including the Churaumi Aquarium and we saved lots of money because of that! Those attractions marked with a star meant we used the pass to enter. The rest are FOC attractions. I will cover all of these attractions in my upcoming posts and I highly recommend getting the Churaumi Enjoy Pass from Klook because it provided us with so much convenience and cost-savings!
Day 3: Okinawa World & Gyokusendo Cave* –> Cave Cafe –> Mibaru Beach
The Churaumi Enjoy Pass would be valid for 5 days of usage so you can take your time to really explore the different attractions and not rush like me. Haha! But one of the attractions I really enjoyed was the Gyokusendo Cave, which was an interesting and unique experience for us. We have never explored a limestone cave before and we were so amazed at how nature made the caves what they are today!
Opposite Okinawa World is the Cave Cafe (which is actually the entrance of another ticketed cave (but not covered by the Churaumi Enjoy Pass) and I think it’s worth having a cuppa there, to complete the cave experience.
That wraps up our three-day itinerary where we self-drove everywhere in the rented car we got through www.klook.com. Thankfully, parking was complimentary in all the places we visited but we did pay extra for tolls on some days. Klook actually has many different services and packages available for booking, so hop over and check them out for your upcoming travels! Thank you Klook, for making everything so easy and convenient!
To read the rest of my posts on Okinawa, please go to: http://www.jbabiesinthedaisies.com/search/label/Okinawa
