Shore & Night Diving

Beach Dives: All the critters and coral without the boat ride

Okinawa has some of the best beach diving in the world.  From the soft coral reefs or the Miyagi Coast to the sheer walls found in Onna and Yomitan.  Everything from small nudibranchs to sea turtles is just a short snorkel out from the seawalls and beaches that ring Okinawa.  Okinawa’s shoreline is made up of spectacular rocky coasts, white sand beaches, and cliffs allowing for fantastic shore diving. Sunabe Sea Wall dive site is closest to our shop and has mountains of soft coral in bright pink, blue, and yellow colors. Diving excursions to Maeda Point, famous for its underwater cave and clear blue water, are just 15 minutes away. We also take trips to the southern area of Okinawa (Nanbu) and many other locations further off the beaten path.

Sunabe Seawall is home turf for the Reef Encounters Crew. Along the entire coast of Sunabe dive sites, dive shops and, of course divers abound. Sunabe is no doubt the mecca for diving on Okinawa.
Just over the jacks lies miles upon miles of soft coral waiting to be explored. The diving here stays within 18 meters/60 feet with most of the good parts up in the shallows. The soft coral is the main attraction – it looks like a huge field of blossoming flowers of pink, orange, yellow and purple colors. Along with the large helping of tropical fish found here, small creatures like nudibranchs, tube worms, anenome crabs and shrimp are overflowing.
Whether you are in the area for diving, shopping, sight seeing, or doing the local thing, come and check out our dive shop to say wazzzaaa! There are some great eateries in the area that you will most likely sample if you are coming out diving with us – Hamaya Soba, Fabu Curry, CC Chicken and Waffles, Seaside Terrace, Uroko’s, Beer House Rize, Tacos Ya and more.  With numerous hotels and guest houses in the area its a perfect place to base your diving vaction on Okinawa. Good times above and below both night and day.  Sunabe is our #1 night diving point.

​One of the most popular dive sites on Okinawa,Maeda Point has a nice wall that drops down to about 60 meters/160 feet at some points. The “Blue Cave” of Maeda Point (pictured) is very popular with snorkelers and divers alike. Recently, there has been a huge renovation of the site area and the steps down to the dive site. A restaurant, seating area, toilet and showers, spacious parking lot, etc. have all been added to make this a great site for shore diving. Onna Village dive sites can also be accessed by boat.
Here is a map for Maeda Point. The cave is located to the left of the steps – not too far. This is an excellent point for beginners and snorkelers but is vastly over rated for experienced divers- the sites a bit further north such as Dream Hole and Horseshoe Cliffs are much better.  This point can also get very crowded in the summer months or any day that the weather is nice.

South of Naha lies the area of Okinawa knows as “Nanbu” – which means the south section. Getting further away from the big city brings you into the countryside where life is slow and sugar cane grows everywhere. Dive sites on the southside are characterised by long walks over sharp, jagged rocks out to the dive site.  Once you make it out however, the diving is truly spectacular. 
Channel Crevice is a very popular dive site in the Nanbu area.  The entire southside has an outer reef, with shallow lagoon between the beach the reef. Getting out to the dive site means swimming through a natural passage between the lagoon and the outer ocean.  Checking out the ocean landscape, rock formations, and searching all the nooks and crannies and swim thru’s make this site very popular.