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. This trip was Okinawa in December: Halekulani Okinawa, and the new Junglia Okinawa theme park. One of those I would go back to tomorrow. The other I would not.
Getting from the airport
The hotel is about an hour from Naha airport by car, and because we wanted to get to Junglia we needed a car anyway. I would use a car share service — Times Car Share is good value.
Day one: Bouken no Kuni
Our snorkelling was cancelled because of high winds, so we stopped at Bouken no Kuni, about forty-five minutes from the airport.
There are three main things to do:
- Fishing for fish and crayfish with a rod (you release them on the spot)
- A treasure hunt digging stones and shells out of sand — fifteen minutes, with a magic key that gets you a special stone
- A three-dimensional maze that takes about twenty minutes to complete
It fills one to two hours. I would treat it as somewhere to go when you have time to spare rather than a destination in itself.
Halekulani Okinawa: rooms and facilities
The lobby is open and airy, and the Christmas decorations were lovely. Overall, though, the service came in slightly below what I had expected.
Check-in took a long time, and the staff did not seem confident about the details. The standard room is small, with an unusual layout that puts the bathroom right up against the sleeping area.
We tried pickleball, which is a bit like a beginner-friendly form of tennis. Bring or rent shoes — the courts are new and the paint transfers onto your soles. My daughter loved it and we played again on both of the following days.
Halekulani Okinawa: the food
First night: House Without A Key. The all-day dining room. My daughter had the udon from the children’s menu; we had sea grape salad, popo (a local spring roll) and roast Agu pork loin. There was live Okinawan folk music while we ate.
Second night: KINGDOM, the steakhouse. The room and the food were both good. The service was noticeably inattentive.
Breakfast. You choose between a buffet and a set menu. There is a lot of Okinawan food and all of it was good.
Junglia Okinawa: how to do it properly
I loved Junglia — but I want to be clear that preparation and paying up front matter enormously. Turning up with no plan and no premium pass is not going to be a good day.
Buy premium passes for these first: Sky Phoenix, Titan Swing, Treetop Trekking / Sky End Trekking, Bungee Glider, Human Arrow.
Same-day numbered-ticket lotteries for these almost never come off, and the premium passes sell out early. Once you have decided to go, buy the premium passes before you buy your entry tickets. We bought three, chosen around my daughter’s height of about 135cm.
Fine to buy on the day if it is quiet: Finding Dinosaur, Dinosaur Safari, Yanbaru Friends.
How long things take: queue plus experience came to roughly thirty to forty minutes each, so an hour per attraction was plenty. On busy days people report waits of an hour and a half.
Other notes: the Bird’s Nest restaurant let us straight in at 11:00 on the dot. Dinosaur Safari was about ten minutes first thing without a pass. The tram was around five minutes. The buggies had sixty to ninety minute waits all day and the premium passes were sold out.
I would say the premium pass here is better value than Disney’s DPA. Even on a quiet day the extreme-activity area lottery essentially never comes off, and everything else needs close to an hour of queuing.
One thing to plan for: there is almost no shade anywhere and you are in direct sun the whole time. Summer must be brutal. In December we were comfortable in short sleeves.
The staff were the standout. Genuinely professional, careful with directions, and the high-energy performances they put into each attraction turn them into something more than a ride.
Verdict
I am not planning to go back to Halekulani Okinawa. But this trip confirmed something I already suspected: autumn and winter are the best time to visit Okinawa. And Junglia is well worth it, as long as you are prepared to plan ahead and pay for the passes.
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