Hi — I’m Tabiiku. I travel around Japan with my daughter on the principle that experience is the best thing you can give a child. My daughter loves snorkelling, which means we have ended up in Okinawa more times than I had planned. Here is a round-up of the hotels I have written about, in order.
First: when to go
A lot of people assume July to September is the season for Okinawa. I am firmly in the camp that says avoid it.
- High typhoon risk. It is not only that a typhoon can stop you travelling — as one approaches, the swell rises and water sports stop running.
- Flights and hotels are expensive.
- It is the school holidays, so it is crowded.
There is genuinely nothing in its favour. Late June, or October to November, is the sweet spot. Okinawa is still warm in October and November and you can happily snorkel and do other water sports.
1. HOSHINOYA Okinawa (main island)
From Tokyo: 3–3.5 hours (2–2.5 hour flight, then about an hour by hire car)
Property: beautiful, spacious, has a pool — excellent
Service: outstanding hospitality
Food: good
What is good about HOSHINOYA Okinawa is first of all the size of the rooms, and the heated pool you can use all year round. The quality of the physical property is very high.
True to the Hoshino Resorts style, the activity programme goes well beyond snorkelling — horse riding along the shore, among other things — so you can have a very good stay without leaving the hotel and its activities at all.
Read the full review of HOSHINOYA Okinawa
2. Hotel Shigira Mirage (Miyakojima)
From Tokyo: 2.5–3 hours (2.5–2.7 hour flight, then 15 minutes by hire car)
Property: beautiful, spacious, has a pool — excellent
Service: lacks professionalism
Food: good
Shigira Mirage aside, I think Miyakojima is the easiest island in Okinawa to visit with children. The island is small, so everywhere is close to everywhere else, and the airport is close to the hotels. For a child who cannot bear a long transfer, that matters enormously.
As for Shigira Mirage itself: the site is vast, the beach is within walking distance, and if you hold a licence you can drive a cart around the resort, which my daughter found tremendous fun. There are around thirty restaurants, so we never ran out of options.
The one real shortcoming was the attentiveness of the staff, and I would like to see that improve.
Read the full review of Hotel Shigira Mirage
3. Halekulani Okinawa (main island)
It is a new property, certainly — but the service was underwhelming and so were the rooms. I do not expect to go back.
Read the full review of Halekulani Okinawa
Bonus: Junglia Okinawa
Opinion is divided on Junglia Okinawa, but I loved it. The key is preparation and being willing to pay.
If you go, you need to spend properly or you will not enjoy it. Assume you will not win the same-day ticket lottery. The attractions that need numbered tickets are precisely the ones that cannot process many people, which means buying premium passes in advance is essential. And the premium passes themselves sell out very quickly — once you have decided to go, buy those before you buy your entry tickets.
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