If your into history your going to need atleast 2 weeks on OKI, we went last year and just missed a typhoon...so sea conditions were fit for surfing. so being a hindiana jonesy type, the wife and I went tear-assing to the WWII sites..and in a week, put a mere pencil scratch on the history portion...this trip cause all we did was dive, and stayed only a week so I screwed myself on more WWII stuff...we used Torri station for our stuff this time. we tried to use another shop, but they were very unorganized this trip, they canceled a boat dive the AM we showed, and we got a refund...the shore dove. I recommend reef-trekers cause they do both English and Japanese, got their own boat to go to other locations, and can do deep and tech stuff, the owner has alot of energy, if you bring him coffee, take like 2 steps back...we stayed on base (kadena sho-gun) usually we bounce around alot cause we have friends out there, but I just got back from deployment, and the military friends were deployed, and okinawaiian friends were really busy. I had a short notice on going...if you stay in chatan town you can get to the shops easy. if you have a car, check with Nago boat charters as well, we went to one other island to go free diving called. minna, there's like 100 residence, and the reef was awsome...now if you go, your only suppose to go to this beach that's 3 feet deep, the side we went on...there was no way any non-adventurous types were going....and was 30 foot....till the edge of the drop off...was going to come back and dive but we hit a deep shore dive called toilet bowl, saw a few black tips racing around at 150 feet...
for land stuff, you have to check out the other islands...there's alot of stuff left from WWII. wanted to see erny pyles memorial, cause i read like 6 okinawa battle books on deployment...obsessed...a bit...cause there was intense fighting, both my grandfathers were there, one stayed for 3 years after...and he dove alot cause he was UDT. then he went back in 62 after he retired from the navy...and dove for like a month cause he was helping clean up old bombs and stuff....since we shore dove the crap out of the west shore... due it was easy and convenient...plus my biggest limitation in diving is getting hungry, and the need for ice cream after any dive...so blue seal is everywhere!!!!!!
We were in Chuuk in 04-05 following deployment, we did s many dives as you could in 5 days. Have you been there? i want to go back...cause that was a life time experience...I'm a submariner and seeing a japanese sub, and sub repair ship was awsome...if you have questions
e-mail me at
grandizer52@yahoo.com
plan on going back in sept but going to bring more equipment this time wink wink
laytahs
steve
