10 Places To Visit In Onna

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Filter (10)
Beach (2)
Cultural Village (1)
Aquarium (1)
Viewpoint (1)

1. Cape Manzamo

1 km from city center

Viewpoint

A shelf of raised coral cut by the sea into the shape of an elephant's trunk, with a short clifftop path looping around the grassland above it. This is the one true landmark in a village otherwise made of resorts, which is why it is on every Okinawa itinerary. It is no longer free: entry has been 100 yen since October 2020 and viewing stops at sunset, so guides promising an open 24-hour cliff are (Read More)five years out of date.

Top Attraction

10 km from city center

Diving & Snorkeling

Where Manzamo is for looking, Maeda is for getting in the water. Stairs run from a raised coral headland down to the sea, and just along the cliff is the grotto that operators sell as the Blue Cave, lit from below by sunlight coming through the entrance. Snorkelling trips run all day in season. Entry is closed whenever the sea is rough, which happens often in winter and on north winds, so check th (Read More)e day's conditions before committing.

Top Attraction

10 km from city center

Cultural Village

Traditional Ryukyuan houses moved here from across Okinawa and rebuilt around a village green, with eisa drumming and dance through the day and workshops in pottery, weaving and shisa painting. On a coast where everything else happens outdoors and in good weather, this is the one stop that works in rain and the only place in Onna that deals with culture rather than scenery. Open daily, 09:30 to 17 (Read More):00.

1 km from city center

Beach

A long crescent of white sand in the sheltered bay directly below Cape Manzamo, and the best swimming water in the village. It is run by the resort that fronts it, so day visitors pay a fee in season and the facilities are geared to hotel guests. Come for the calm, shallow water rather than for solitude, and pair it with the cape above for a half day that needs no driving.

6 km from city center

Beach

A small paid cove north of the resort strip, and the one beach on this coast set up for staying all day rather than an hour. Barbecue pits, camping and a roped swimming area come with the entry fee, and the reef holds the water flat enough for children. It is smaller than the hotel beaches, so arrive before ten in August if you want shade.

6 km from city center

Shopping Market

A working farmers market on Route 58, not the souvenir arcade the name suggests. Village growers sell mango, pineapple, dragon fruit and shikuwasa at prices the hotel shops cannot match, and the stalls at the back do sata andagi and blue-sea ice cream. Busiest between ten and two, and the fruit thins out well before closing.

7. Day Trip to Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

22 km from city center

Aquarium

The largest aquarium in Japan and the single biggest draw in Okinawa Prefecture, about an hour north of Onna on the Motobu Peninsula. The Kuroshio Sea tank holds 7,500 cubic metres of water with whale sharks and manta rays in it, seen through an acrylic wall two feet thick. Alongside it are the world's largest living coral exhibit and a deep-sea gallery of bioluminescent species. Adults 2,180 yen, (Read More) open 08:30 to 18:30, no advance booking needed.

23 km from city center

Forts & Palaces

The 14th century stronghold of the Hokuzan kingdom, which ruled northern Okinawa before the island was unified. What survives is 1.5 km of serpentine stone wall running along a ridge above the East China Sea, and it is the finest castle ruin in the north. Time it for late January and early February, when the cherry trees along the approach open before anywhere else in Japan. It pairs naturally wit (Read More)h Churaumi on one northern loop.

28 km from city center

Island

A small round island reached by a two kilometre bridge that runs straight out across shallow turquoise water, and the drive across is the attraction rather than anything at the far end. On the north shore is Heart Rock, two sea stacks that line up into a heart from the right angle. Small enough to circle in half an hour, so treat it as the second stop on a Nakijin day rather than a destination of (Read More)its own.

15 km from city center

Day Trip

The village immediately south of Onna holds three things worth the short hop: Zakimi Castle, a UNESCO-listed 15th century gusuku with the oldest surviving stone arch in Okinawa and no admission charge; Cape Zanpa, a flat headland with a white lighthouse and heavy surf; and Yachimun no Sato, a quarter of potters who left Tsuboya in Naha for space to build climbing kilns. Closer than any of the nort (Read More)hern trips.