A Weekend in the Water
I had a couple of low key days as John and Eunice both had to work and I am still too scared to venture out on foot or a bicycle due to the heat. I was able to spend some time with Amelia - one of my new friends here - and help her deliver a cake for her business. We also ended up having lunch at American Village with one of her friends. If I haven’t mentioned American Village yet it’s exactly what the name says. It’s a shopping district with restaurants that is meant to be like an American seaside tourist spot. I even helped her bake one of her cakes later that evening…although I mostly played with her pups and ate parts of the cake not being used.
It was a special day for John and Eunice as they found out the sex of their baby. They're going to have a boy and I couldn’t be more excited for them. They are going to be awesome parents. There was supposed to be a special dinner reveal, but the secret wasn’t kept too long after they found out so they just told everyone.
The weekend weather was perfect for a trip to the beach. We had a bit of a late start - that’s island living though - and then went to try and buy something for photos to reveal the baby’s sex. It was fun walking around “the bunny store” (not sure if that’s the real name…) looking for some kind of clothing or toy to identify the baby as a boy in a photo.
Our beach for today was on one of the smaller islands - Ikei - off the main island of Okinawa. It’s a very pretty drive as we crossed over a couple of other islands to get there. There are mostly fields with the occasional home or cafe on these islands. We had to pay ¥500 (~$5) a piece to get to the beach. This is the first time I have ever paid to use a beach. I’m not sure I approve of it. Once again the sand was incredibly hot. We brought a small tent to provide some shade, but unfortunately we left the most important part…the canopy. So we retreated to the water, which was just perfect.
One of the main missions of our trip to the beach was to get the perfect photo for John and Eunice to reveal the baby is going to be a boy. We took a bunch of photos with a lot of different poses. Fortunately I am a patient and professional iPhone photographer. The one they picked out for social media was good though and worth it. Plus it’s fun to do things like that with friends. Other than that it was a wonderful afternoon of just relaxing and talking and floating in the cool water. As the sun began to set off in the distance we headed back to find some food. The first place we went to had just closed up. Fortunately this was on another small island so even with this disappointment we were treated to new views of the ocean and little islands.
Our next stop was King Taco. They are apparently famous for something called taco cheese rice. It’s basically taco meat on rice topped with shredded cheese. Definitely not my favorite meal of the trip but edible. It was a long day so after we got home we all had some well-deserved sleep.
The next day I was finally able to go diving in the famous Okinawan waters. It was another perfect day for being outside. Our first dive spot was Onna Point - the Toilet Bowl. It took us a couple of tries to find the right road as the GPS sent us down this random trail in the wrong direction. The correct road was one of the junkies roads I have ever seen in Japan with massive potholes. The actual dive spot was a little sketchy getting in. And even worse getting out. You have to climb along this sharp rock formation right on the edge of the water. Getting out you have to climb back on this rock so gloves are required. The tide was a little low and it kept dropping while we climbed out and we were left dangling on the rock. At least a couple of us struggled getting out and got cut up.
The dive though was amazing. Water warm enough to not need a wet suit. Deep blues. Schools of fish floating right by us. Some of the group saw sharks a little ways off. This was also my first time diving without a guide although one of the group is a diving medical officer in the Navy. I also went my deepest yet at close to 80 feet.
Because of the low tide and the struggle to get out we decided to go to Cape Maeda for the next dive. This might not have been the best idea. There was a ridiculously long line to get parking. We spent almost an hour and a half trying to go maybe half a mile. We should have just parked and walked with out gear. Then the water itself was full of people snorkeling and diving. It reminded me of Hanauma Bay on Oahu. However, it was another great spot to see some fish and just relax in the ocean. We were treated with more large fish and hung out in a little cave that had much colder water than what we had been swimming in.
We finished up a perfect day with lunch at the seawall followed by ridiculously big and delicious shakes. I got a large because the medium looked too small. But since I don’t let good food go to waste I downed it and had no regrets. We finished up with more good food - this time at an Indian place. After that my bed was calling me and I answered.
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