[mic21 Special] Dive Travel in the Kerama Blue! Experience 50m Crystal-Clear Visibility – Okinawa Kerama Islands Diving Trip

The Editor has heard from many friends that scuba diving in Okinawa is boring — packed into a single cave shoulder-to-shoulder with snorkelers and divers, making for a truly miserable experience underwater. It's just like flocking to a single tourist hotspot during peak season: not only does the quality of the trip suffer, but you never get to experience the authentic local culture either. In early 2020, the Editor was invited by mic21 Naha — the world's largest dive shop — to visit the waters of the Kerama Islands during the quiet off-season in the depths of January. Let the Editor take you along on an Okinawa island diving adventure through words and photos!

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First, if you're not very familiar with diving in Okinawa, why not start by browsing the many Okinawa dive travel articles collected on the BlueTrend website? They'll give you a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know. Don't forget there are plenty more articles to explore — make good use of the search function!

Okinawa diving-related articles:

An Honest (and Unfiltered) Take on Diving the Kerama Islands, Okinawa:

Before diving into the main content, here's a quick summary of our impressions from this trip — combined with feedback from friends who have dived Okinawa — to help you plan your own visit. Okinawa is very close to Taiwan, and budget airlines have made the flights remarkably affordable. Frankly speaking, the total cost of a trip to Okinawa (in both money and time) is comparable to — or even less than — taking the Taipei–Kaohsiung high-speed rail and then a bus all the way to Kenting. No wonder so many people feel that Okinawa is a better deal than Kenting.

On top of that, the overall quality of travel in Okinawa is more comfortable than most destinations within Taiwan. Yes, the baseline cost of living is higher, but if it fits within your budget, Okinawa offers that "going abroad" feeling while delivering a noticeably elevated travel experience — making it an excellent destination choice. It's no surprise that the number of Taiwanese visitors to Okinawa grows year after year.

That said, this comparison is strictly between Taiwan and Okinawa, without factoring in diving and Southeast Asia. While the Okinawa main island and its outlying islands do occasionally yield big sightings (setting aside the Hammerhead Sharks at Yonaguni and the manta rays at Ishigaki for now), encounters are far from the near-guaranteed experiences Southeast Asia offers. And Southeast Asia still wins decisively on ultra-affordable dive fees and generous service standards. So when it comes to diving in Okinawa, the mindset should be different from Southeast Asia — where diving is the sole purpose of the trip. Instead, think of it as: come to Okinawa to unwind, and fit in some diving on the side. On a five-day Okinawa trip, dedicate one or two days to dive sites and spend the rest exploring Okinawa's land-based attractions — that makes for a much more well-rounded itinerary.

Let's Go Diving in the Kerama Islands, Okinawa!

The Kerama Islands lie roughly 40 minutes by boat west of the Okinawa main island. Most operators depart around 8

a.m., completing two dives in the morning and one more after a lunch break, returning to the main island between 3

and 4

p.m. Keep this in mind when planning your transportation and activities before and after the dive day. mic21's shop is located in central Naha; if you have a rental car, you can park it at a designated parking lot and walk to the meeting point. If you don't have a car, you can arrange hotel pick-up in the Naha city area directly with the shop.

mic21 沖繩慶良間潛水潛水旅遊 — Meeting outside the Okinawa mic21 store at 7
in the morning

Taiwan vs. Japan: A Different Diving Culture!

And with that, we were ready to head out to sea. Here we'd like to share a few small but telling differences between Taiwanese and Japanese dive culture we observed on this trip — worth keeping in mind before you go.

Be punctual: The Japanese are famously on time. To avoid inconveniencing others, make sure you arrive at the meeting point on schedule!
In Taiwan, you need to fill out a departure declaration form before heading out to sea, and at some ports you even have to check in with the coast guard (a formality?). In Japan, the paperwork is simply a self-health-assessment form.
During the boat ride, dive instructors and dive guides have no seats! This may have started during peak season when limited seating was reserved for customers, but over time it became the norm — all guides and instructors simply stand for the entire journey.
Some dive boats in Okinawa don't use elastic bungee cords to secure scuba tanks the way Taiwanese boats do, so pay extra attention when setting up your gear.
Okinawa dive boats don't drop anchor. Instead, the dive guide or crew freedives down to tie off the mooring line by hand.

Diving the Kerama Waters

A sailing friend once mentioned that the Kerama sea is ideal for winter sailing, because the islands form a ring that shelters the interior waters. The crossing from the Okinawa main island can be a bit bumpy when the northeast monsoon is blowing, but the moment you enter the waters inside the island chain, it becomes as calm as a lake. In summer the crossing is even smoother — so if you're prone to seasickness, you can breathe easy!

The three dive sites we visited on this trip were Tōma, Tōma No. 2, and Turtle Paradise. Because this was something of a combined group — there were also Open Water certification students on board — the site selection was on the safer, gentler side. To sum up the character of all three sites in one phrase: 50m crystal-clear visibility! Thanks to the Kuroshio Current flowing through the area, the waters around the Okinawa outlying islands are extraordinarily clear. Even in winter, water temperature holds at around 21–23°C — a full 3–4°C warmer than the Northeast Coast waters of Taiwan. That said, marine life at these three sites is not particularly abundant; they are best suited to beginner training and macro photography. However, given their flat topography, superb visibility, and minimal currents, the Editor actually thinks they would be fantastic for freediving development!

One important note: mic21's standard dive day does not include lunch. It's a good idea to bring instant noodles to eat on board. However, if your group is five or more people, mic21 can help arrange bento boxes — and if you're joining another dive operator, always confirm the meal situation in advance so you don't end up hungry at sea! There's one post-dive ritual that Japanese dive culture takes seriously: the post-dive debrief. This isn't about critiquing what anyone did wrong in the water — it's a chance for everyone to share what they saw and experienced during the dives, helping the whole group learn more about the ocean. It might be something Taiwanese dive shops could incorporate more intentionally, as a way to elevate the overall dive experience they offer.

Starting in March, Olive — mic21 Naha's Taiwan representative — will be launching a series of dedicated Okinawa dive packages, including two-day/one-night, three-day/two-night, and four-day/three-night options, with a minimum of five participants to run. An exclusive Okinawa diving itinerary is no longer just a dream! Get in touch with Olive or follow her on IG: diver_olive.

海編"布魯陳"

我是布魯陳，平常喜歡帶著大相機下海找生物，如果你有海洋議題歡迎找我聊聊，約我吃飯更歡迎！