Okinawa Japan, The Ancient Ryukyu Kingdom
Thousands of reef fish can be seen swimming on Okinawa’s extraordinary reefs, a variety of unique Nudibranchs, colorful Sea Fans, a blue caves with beautiful sunshine coming through, schooling Hammerhead Sharks, families of humpback whales, Manta Rays, four kinds of turtles, wrecks from World War II, Dream Hole, underwater air domes, caves, Big Schools of Jacks, Underwater Ruins… these are the only part of the list that Okinawa offers. Don’t miss diving in Okinawa, if you are visiting Japan!!
We are the only full service scuba diving center in Okinawa, Japan -catering to both non-Japanese speaking divers. Al of our staff is fluent in English and we also speak: Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese and Spanish fluently. We also have staff that can communicate the basics in Korean and Tagalog. In operation since 1996, we have been serving the dive community in southern Japan for over 20 Years. Come dive with us and experience the magic and beauty of the underwater world only to be found around Okinawa. We are also the recognized experts on diving the underwater monuments of Yonaguni!! Reef Encounters is also the only English speaking NAUI Instructor Training Facility and Technical Dive training facility in Japan.
Okinawa – the easiest exotic dive spot to access.
Japan Domestic Flights
Getting to Okinawa is quite easy. We have direct flights to Naha available from just about every major city in Japan if you are already visiting the country. Numerous flights arrive daily from Tokyo (Narita and Haneda airports), Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya and others. You can arrange for an international connection with your airline while booking your flight or you can book directly with one of the many local airlines or low cost carriers in Japan. Japan Airlines (JAL)and All Nippon Airliines (ANA) fly numerous routes and connect with all major carriers. Also airlines such as Peach, Vanilla, Jetstar, Solaseed, Dragon Air, and Hong Kong Airlines all fly into Naha from both international and domestic sites.
One important thing to note- Okinawa is a small island located far to the south of mainland Japan so there is no rail connection to Okinawa from the mainland. There is ferry service but it takes over 24 hours from Kyushu to Okinawa by ferry, air tickets are now comparable in price with ferry tickets and its much faster by air to get here.
Fight times from Tokyo is 2 hour 45 minutes.
International Connections
Naha also have numerous international flights daily and also charter flights. We have numerous daily flights from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai, and Beijing. We also have chartered flights available from Singapore, Seoul and other cities on a regularly scheduled basis. Hong Kong Airlines, Peach, Dragon Air, China Eastern, Asiana and China Air all have regular flights direct to Naha. Hong Kong with numerous flights per day is becoming a preferred international connection for many of our European guests. Flight time from Hong Kong is 2 hours 25 minutes, from Shanghai is only 2 hours, 3 hours from Bejing, 2 hours 15 minutes from Seoul.
For those Military Folks/University students on Okinawa
Local military personnel can arrange for pickups from all base gates to include northern bases such as Schwab and Hansen. Also university pickups at OIST can also be arranged for groups wanting to do classes or boat dives. Contact us for details
Local Okinawa Transportation
Once you get to Okinawa you must get up to the Chatan area to go diving. Okinawa is quite a large island so staying near the dive shop is suggested for those coming diving with us. We are located in Chatan about 45 minutes to 1 hour ride from the airport in Naha depending on traffic. To get to Chatan a taxi will cost about Y4500-Y5000 from the airport. There are also buses which run from the airport directly to Chatan. Bus 120 departs from the airport and take about 1 hour to 1.5 hours depending on traffic to get to Chatan and cost about Y800 for the ride. Bus 20 can be taken from the Naha bus terminal and costs about the same. If you are staying in Naha both of these buses can be caught running up Route 58 in the morning to go diving but you will have to catch the early morning bus (0600) to get here in time to join the boat dives. Reef Encounters offers free pickup from most local hotels/guest houses in Chatan and American village area for dives daily.
Contact Us
Where
Chatan-cho, Okinawa
Japan 904-0113
Telephone
Emergency contact number
090-1940-3528