Zamami

Zamami-jima is a mellow off-season destination. The town has the feel of an ex-fishing village converted to the (mostly Japanese) tourist trade. Diving is the draw, but the beaches and scenery are lovely in their own right.

Getting there/away:

Take the ferry from Tomari port. The Queen Zamami fast ferry leaves at 9a and 3p, arriving about 1 hour later. It costs approx 2700Y each way. Parking is available at the Queen Zamami terminal for about 2500Y for the weekend. Lots of Japanese people take taxis and the taxi line on return is a bit long. The slow ferry leaves at noon and arrives at 2p. Cars and bikes go on the slow ferry. The ferry terminal phone is 0988684567. The website is www.vill.zamami.okinawa.jp and has some English labeling.

Getting around

Get an English map and listings of dive operators and accomodations from the information desk at the port.

Accomodations

Lots of family-run places in town. Most offer tatami (4500Y pp includes breakfast) or western rooms, shared toilets, with breakfast (500Y) and dinner (>1000Y) optional. We stayed at two different places, both had clean rooms and facilities, friendly hosts, and fantastic large Japanese style breakfasts. The fancy resort in town is the Shirahama, which is not terribly fancy. Camping and log cabins are available not far from Zamami village; a log cabin suitable for sharing costs 20000Y a night. Info is available on the Zamami website.

Summer weekends are reportedly busy, and with hoardes of tourists the place may lose its charm.

Food

The second floor place by the port offers nice homestyle Japanese meals for less than 1100Y; Orion draft is 500Y.

An izakaya by the river has serious ambiance, funky music, and a bar-food buffet (edamame, stir fried tofu, fish and veg tempura, etc) for 1000Y, which includes all you can drink awamori. Beer is 500Y extra. There is no English script outside, just a paper sign on the door that offers something for 500Y and something else for 1000Y.

Both places open for dinner at 6p.

Lunch can be sourced from the 105 store on the main drag, which sells bento boxes and onigiri for your travels to the beach.

Fun

Diving is pricey compared to opportunities on Okinawa-honto; probably it's best to arrange a dive and stay package. Likewise, kayak trips are not cheap.

We rented a 2 person scooter from the shop in front of Shirahama resort (4500Y/6hr, 5500Y all day to return by 8p) and had a great time motoring around the road that circumnavigates the island, checking out vistas and beaches and dirt paths. There is another scooter rental shop on the main drag, not far from the convenience store, with exactly the same prices. Bikes are 500Y/hr, 1 person scooters 3500Y/6hrs. If you want a 2 person scooter, you need an International motorcycle license.

Furuzamami beach really is lovely, but if it is crowded there are other nice ones accessible by scooter. Furuzamami is 1.6km from town, an easy walk up and down a hill if the weather cooperates. Bring mask and snorkel - the coral is in bad shape but the fish are pretty. They have beach umbrellas, loungers, and snorkel equipment for rent, and inflated prices.

With transport, you can circumnavigate the island, go to all the observatory points, and check out the beaches. On the east coast you take the road out the peninsula until it dead-ends, and then walk down the trail heading north. This ends up on a beautiful beach fringed in pine trees, which provide shade. The cove is calm and has a sandy bottom, so isn't good for snorkeling but is great for wading. Walking south along the beach you cross over to another beach which is a popular dive site. On weekends we have seen 10 dive boats parked in this cove. We snorkeled it and had a great time. We thought the far eastern part of the cove was most interesting; it boasts several large sea anemones, a speckled eel, lots of fish, much of it in 10-20ft of water.

Early in November there is a festival on Saturday night at the ferry terminal which is a blast. The local school girls perform Hula, the local matrons do traditional Okinawan dance, and there were a couple drum performances and a live Okinawan rock band. The community groups sell food and alcohol to support their causes. The crowd is mostly local, with a few lucky gaijin and Japanese tourists thrown in.