To dive or not to dive in Okinawa

[n03]

Hi scuba friends,

I'm tentatively going to Tokyo with a friend over Thanksgiving this year and would like to make a longer trip out of it with some diving (with 1-2 weeks set aside for diving and going solo for this part). The question is whether it's worth spending some time in Okinawa or better head to Palau or Indonesia? Or another location that's good to get to from Tokyo in November?

The reason I'm interested in Okinawa is that it seems like a relatively unknown destination, and I heard from a Japanese dude on one of the liveaboards that it's exactly that - unknown, but supposedly really good. The clear blue waters seem interesting, as is the abundance of clown fish (my favorite fish) and schooling hammerheads (which I've never seen). I've been to Komodo and Raja Ampat already, and into macro photography, so I'm just wondering if I'll be utterly disappointed with Okinawa, or if it's still worth the trip.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[BoltSnap]

Contact these folks, they are top notch people there:

EXPLORING THE UNDERWATER WONDERS OF OKINAWA

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Some of my best warm water diving ever was in Okinawa, with gorgeous coral reefs, lobsters, reef fish, warm, tropical water. That was in 1968, and I would highly recommend it.

SeaRat

 

[TONY CHANEY]

It has changed a lot since 1999 most less 1968. It is not unknown and I would wager more open water certs are gained there than almost any place in the world. It really is fantastic diving but over the years the reef has been destroyed in some of the easy area dives. But it is a great diving vacation. If it were me, and I have over 200 dives on the “Rock”, I would go to Palau.

 

[rabe]

I have a friend that is an instructor over there, and from what I can see from her pictures, it's a pretty goddamn place...

 

[Octo1]

Have you considered Ishigaki? It's a much smaller and laid back island. Sep-Oct is supposed to be the best time for mantas there but they may still have them in Nov. I also dove Okinawa a few weeks ago but it was right after the typhoon and not "normal" conditions so I can't give a fair assessment.

 

[LittleNat]

I was there about 7 years ago and it was fantastic! Totally surprised me. Still consider it one of my favorite dive destinations.

 

[Land Fish]

I started hearing about coral bleaching in Okinawa a few years back when I was looking for places to go, and the latest report sounds grim Only 1% of Japan’s Largest Reef Still Healthy After Historic Bleaching Catastrophe

If anyone went to Okinawa this year, I'd love to hear about first hand experience.

Personally, I'd happily go back to Palau in a heartbeat (Blue Corner and Ulong Channel are calling me!) and I am going back to Raja Ampat later this year.

 

[Searcaigh]

Okinawa has been on my to do list for some time due to high number of nudibranchs found there