Go to Okinawa to see the Pacific Ocean, a couple's budget travel strategy

Since I went to Japan during the cherry blossom season last year, I have been thinking about Japan. Seeing that Mafengwo always has the last few round-Trip tickets to Japan for a few hundred yuan, I am more determined to apply for a three-year round-trip visa to Japan. To apply for a three-year visa, you must go to the three prefectures of the Northeast or Okinawa. Among the three prefectures of the Northeast, only Sendai is acceptable, but the transportation is inconvenient and the itinerary is too troublesome. In the end, I decided to go to Okinawa.



Since I went to Japan during the cherry blossom season last year, I have been thinking about Japan. Seeing that there are always round-trip tickets to Japan for a few hundred yuan online, I am more determined to apply for a three-year round-trip visa to Japan. To apply for a three-year visa, you must go to the three prefectures of Tohoku or Okinawa. Among the three prefectures of Tohoku, only Sendai is acceptable, but the transportation is inconvenient and the itinerary is too troublesome. In the end, I decided to go to Okinawa.

Okinawa Prefecture is known as the Hawaii of Japan. It includes the main island of Okinawa, the Kerama Islands near the main island, the more distant Miyako Islands and the Yaeyama Islands. It is the southernmost administrative region of Japan. Since the Miyako Islands and the Yaeyama Islands are far away from the main island of Okinawa, if you want to go there, you need to take a plane or ship from the mainland, Naha, the capital of the main island of Okinawa, or other islands. The cost is high, and there are fewer ships and flights. Therefore, most Tourists who visit Okinawa will choose to visit Naha, the capital of the main island of Okinawa, plus a small island in the Kerama Islands near the main island. However, it is precisely because of the difficulty of reaching that the Miyako Islands and the Yaeyama Islands have preserved the most original and beautiful scenery. If you have enough time and money, visiting these two archipelagos is definitely an experience you cannot miss in Okinawa.

☞Best Travel time
Okinawa is located in the subtropics, with an average temperature of 23 degrees throughout the year. It rains a lot in spring, is sunny and hot in summer, and occasionally has typhoons in summer and autumn. Generally speaking, late spring and autumn are the best travel seasons.

☞ Clothing Guide
Winter clothes are only needed from December to March, and you don’t need to wear thick clothes. A long-sleeved short coat and a sweater are enough. In other seasons, summer clothes such as T-shirts and shorts are comfortable. However, the ultraviolet rays in Okinawa are very strong, so sunglasses, hats and sunscreen are a must.

☞ Several shopping places

Outlets ★★★★

Transportation: Take the Yuri-Rail monorail to Naha Airport Station, then take bus No. 95 from Naha Airport to Outlets. The bus arrives at the No. 4 bus stop at the domestic line of Naha Airport. There is one bus every half an hour from Naha Airport, starting at 10 o'clock. It goes straight to one station without stopping in between. The ticket price is 250 yen for adults and 130 yen for children.




For budget travelers, outlets are still worth going to, where you can find bargains. Japanese clothes, originally priced at 6,900 yen, are now priced at 1,000 yen, which is so cheap that it makes you cry. There are also cheap Adidas shoes. You can spend half a day shopping.

Koroku Station: Aeon ★★★★

Transportation: Take the Yuri-Rail monorail to Koroku Station, and exit the subway to the second floor of the mall. There is a supermarket in the mall. I found pink bow snow boots for 1,000 yen at Aeon. The food court on the second floor of Aeon is not expensive and delicious. There are also 100 yen socks, which are beautiful and cheap. Pajamas for 900 yen.

Tax refund: Not all stores in the mall can refund tax. Only those with the word Aeon on the shopping receipt can refund tax. It is also divided into consumables and non-consumables. One is for refunding tax when the purchase is over 5,000 yen, and the other is for refunding tax when the purchase is over 10,000 yen. In general, it feels very troublesome.

Ryubo Station: 100 yen store ★★★★

You can see it right when you exit the subway, right outside Aeon. There are many food items, but the price of cosmetics is not competitive, probably because it is more famous, and there are a lot of Chinese people in the store. Most food items are 100 yen, but some food items are sold at 90 yen in supermarkets, which is more expensive than in supermarkets. It seems that there is a 10% discount on 100 yen food items on the 10th of every month.

International: Ryubo ★★★

There is a small MUJI store on the 8th floor. I bought ALBION health water here. After shopping in this mall, you have to go to the first floor to get a tax refund, but they only refund 6.9% of the tax, and 1.1% is the service fee. I bought a kettle here. The things sold in this mall are quite expensive. I spent a long time looking for the amount to get the tax refund, but I couldn't find it. Finally, I bought a ceramic knife and got the tax-free amount.

Omoromachi Station: 3A Department Store (NAHA MAIN PLACE) ★★★

I don't know why everyone recommends this mall. Maybe the expectations are too high. I went there and found it very ordinary. I bought an Apple laptop here for 109,800 yen. Hey~ Here you can get a tax refund directly if you pay a certain amount. The supermarket has a special tax-free checkout counter. If you put things in a red shopping box, it means you plan to get a tax refund, and they will pack and seal them for you directly. If you put things in a yellow shopping box, it means you don't want to get a tax refund, and you eat them in the country. I saw someone bought a basket of Thermos water cups. This supermarket is not as cheap as the legend says. I bought sanitary napkins in this supermarket, and I specifically picked the ones that cost 299 yen. Sashimi and sushi are on sale at night. In fact, it's only 100 yen cheaper.

☞ Naha Smile Hotel

Take the monorail from the airport to Miebashi Station and walk for 10 minutes to arrive.


Miebashi Station


On the monorail



It's easy to find. There is a 24-hour takeaway and a supermarket downstairs. Although it's a three-star hotel, the room is very clean and the quilt is changed every day. Free breakfast coupons are given when checking in. It's in the restaurant on the 2nd floor from 7am to 9:30am every day. The breakfast is very rich and different every day. Here are the breakfasts of three days. In addition, each person was given a bottle of nutritional medicine when checking in, similar to Red Bull.




Three-day breakfast

Day 1

Our one-day tour has several pick-up locations. I checked Google and found one location is just behind the hotel. Japanese people are very punctual and don't be late. Arrive 10 minutes early. Our itinerary is Manzamo (20 minutes) - Kouri Bridge (40 minutes) - Aquarium (3 hours) - Pineapple Park (I forgot how long it took because we thought it was boring and left early).

1. Manzamo



See the wonders of nature and feel the raging waves of the Pacific Ocean. Fairy tales are all lies. Before I went there, I searched for stills from "It's Okay, That's Love," and there were scenes of Manzamo.





The above places are not allowed to enter. Tourists are not allowed to enter. I wanted to take a photo like the stills. Manza Mao only gave us 20 minutes to visit, which was only enough to walk around, and there was no time to take good photos.





2. Kouri Bridge



Many famous movies and commercials choose this place as their first choice for location shooting, the scenery is very beautiful.






I only had 40 minutes to enjoy the view, and I only took these few photos in 40 minutes. If you go there by yourself, it's worth spending half a day here.

3. Okinawa Aquarium

Okinawa Aquarium is the second largest marine park in the world after the Georgia Ocean Park in Atlanta, and it is full of excitement all year round. It also includes attractions such as Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Ocean Expo Park Dolphin Show Theater, Emerald Beach



When I was looking up guides, I actually refused to go to the aquarium. We went to Okinawa just for the three-year round-trip visa. I thought the aquarium was a place for children, but after going there, I was completely shocked. It was so beautiful. It was 10,000 times better than the Beijing Aquarium. You can actually stay here for a whole day. I didn't go to several places in the aquarium because of time constraints.

Tickets for the aquarium. Actually, you don't need tickets to watch the dolphin show. You can take a free photo when you first enter. You can take a photo with a wreath or a headband. After taking the photo, you will be given a small note to pick up the photo at the exit. Small photos are free, but large photos cost money. We didn't take large photos.







This is the most photographed place in the aquarium. Although there are many photos of this place on the Internet, the feeling of seeing it in photos is completely different from that of going there in person. The scene is quite shocking. The passage on the lower left of the photo has good light and is very suitable for taking pictures. You can take more photos there.




This is a small beach in the aquarium. We didn’t go to other beaches because we didn’t have enough time.


I just want to look at the sea quietly.


The sea in Okinawa is so blue.

3. Nago Pineapple Farm

There is nothing much to say about Nago Pineapple Farm. Here is a picture of my visit. When you go there, you just take a car for a ride and then they sell all kinds of pineapple food and wine, which you can try.



Day 2

The bitterness of a tourist going to Japan is that you have to buy things for various relatives and friends. So the last two days are spent in a shopping frenzy.


The Zootopia advertisement at Xiaolu Station showed how popular this movie would be.


My husband is a professional bag checker, and I can tell from his expression that he is proud of his job.

Day 3

There are a lot of stores selling souvenirs in Kokusai-dori, and the prices are not cheap. You can buy souvenirs in supermarkets or 100-yen stores. You still need to compare prices at drugstores on Kokusai-dori. People say that drugstores on Kokusai-dori are expensive, but they are actually not that bad. Kao diapers are sold for more than 1,400 yen in a drugstore on Kokusai-dori, and 1,500 yen in a supermarket at 3A department store.




Tomari Port




Behind our hotel is Tomari Port, where you can take a boat to various islands. But the round-trip boat fare is not cheap, so as a budget traveler we gave up. We just visited the only place in the city to see the sea, Naminoue Shrine. There is a famous Naha Tomari Port Fish Market near Tomari Port. The price is more reasonable than Makishi, and there is the only restaurant that can eat seafood rice, which is also very popular and not expensive.