Surfing in Okinawa

[woywoy 0]

Just wondering if anyone has surfed down in Okinawa before.

 

I have been hearing good things about places like Amamioshima among others and wondered whether anyone had checked out any of these tropical island paradises down there.

[crazyski 0]

Just got back yesterday, but didn't do any surfin'... Saw some people on the NW coast of the main island, and it looks like some waves were of pretty decent size (maybe 3m?). A beautiful place, though. Wish I could have seen it when it was warmer, since it was less than 15 degrees the whole time i was there.

[Plucky 0]

Never surfed it myself but did host some surfers from down there up here last summer. From what I could gather from them, the surfing is pretty decent and the water is warm. Typical reef breaks in fairly shallow water and open to a few different swell windows. Apparently there aren't that many great spots so the popular breaks can get crowded. If you have access to a boat, though, I was told you can find epic, uncrowded surf a kilometer or two off the island on some of the outer reefs.

 

Watch out for critters in the water - they tend to be a bit sharky and have more attacks than anywhere in Japan. Nah, it isn't that bad, see!

 

 

International Shark Attack Files

 

woops - legend didn't post with map. Here it is:

***and, that didn't work either. Just click the link above for the stats.

 

 

Here's some more info for you also:

 

From http://www.wannasurf.com

Okinawa Page

[woywoy 0]

The islands in between Kyushu and Okinawa are supposed to be good too. Amamioshima and Tanegashima are just two of them I have heard of. Who has been there?

 

I have been hearing many good things also about Hachijojima and Niijima south of Yokohama. Any reports?

[Ocean11 0]

Dunno about surfing pe se, but a friend of mine down there is doing a lot of kite boarding which is apparently a growing sport in Okinawa.

[RayInJapan 0]

I've never been to Amami but all in all, I'd say that surfing in Okinawa sucks. I spent 8 years there before coming up here. I will go back there after I'm done having fun up here - Okinawa is a great ocean paradise. But back to the surfing: Good map Plucky, makes it easy for me to talk about it. Prevailing winds during the winter/spring months are from the north, and are southern during the summer/fall months. That will give you an idea where waves are likely to develop. There are NO long rides in Okinawa. 5-10 seconds tops. Most of the island is surrounded by a shallow barrier reef so swells usually just well up and close out pretty quick. Tide changes are huge there - up to 2 meters depending on the moon phase, so the shallow reefs can be sticking out of the water for most of the day. There are a few places you can paddle to that, if the swell is just right, a good wave will form. But if that happens, every surfer on the island will probably be there too.

 

My personal experience with Okinawan surfers is that most of them are wannabees who paddle out when there are no/very small waves just to impress the girls. When passing typhoons kick up the really good waves, the waters are usually empty.

 

Anyway, suicide cliffs can be a good spot if the south or a good north east swell is present. Ikei island, if you have a boat to get to the reefs 5K off shore, is a great place when the swells are right. Naturally if you have a boat, the water is uncrowded. Tengan can also be good if a typhoon is passing on the east side of the island.

 

Keep in mind, about the only time the waves are worth anything is when a typhoon passes, and although Okinawa gets its share of typhoons, those times are infrequent overall so, back to my original statement, all in all, surfing in Okinawa sucks. The waves I've seen up here near Misawa are much much better than Okinawa - better in size, shape, and length of ride too.

 

OC - Funny you should mention that - just the other day I was telling Momo I bet it would be fun to kite snowboard across the open snow covered rice fields up here. Kitesurfing was picking up down in Okinawa, but the last few times I've gone down there its been sparse, maybe cause of light winds. I was a few minutes away from taking a kiteboarding class in April 02 when Momo talked me out of it cause we "didn't have the money". I'd still like to get into it one day - there are a few folks who do it up here too. I'm going back down to Okinawa 2-13 April for a 2 hour jet ski endurance race. Maybe I'll see some kiters down there.