Day 1: Naha International Airport --> Cape Hedo --> Daisekirinzan Park --> Okuma Private Beach and Resort
So I deliberately scheduled a really short Day 1 because I knew we would be wiped from the red-eye flight to Okinawa. And I deliberately chose a beach resort. You know, once rested, we might be bored enough to want to explore more. So what better than a beach resort right?
Except that plan fell through a little. I'd write more about that in a bit.
I was quite relieved to catch sight of the resort after a 30-minute drive from Daisekirinzan. By then I was developing a headache and so was really glad that some rest and respite was in sight.
Check in at the resort was relatively easy even if (almost all) the staff we encountered at the resort did not have a very good command of English. Just enough to get by with the usual check-in procedures. Any other requests was a challenge, including trying to get them to reserve dinner at one of their restaurants.
After reception had tried her best to explain the facilities of the resort to us, she called for a mini van to ferry us to our room. We understood why shortly and I was thankful for it. I had booked one of their triple bed Main Cottage. While the Main Cottage was a short stroll from the hotel lobby, I really wouldn't want my parents and me to drag our luggage to and fro. It would really have been annoying.
If you take a look at the map we were given below, I've circled our cottage in red. It looks pretty far away from the front lobby (circled in blue) on the map right? But in reality it was a short stroll through pretty gardens and cottages; we typically took less than 5 minutes. Trust me, my parents and I walked that route up and down a few times just the 1 night we stayed. Pretty sure my mom would have complained like hell if it was a long trek. Instead, she quite liked the resort and asked if we could return in future.
The lack of English aside, I was pretty impressed with our receptionist's driving skills. To get us to our room, she drove on lanes that was exactly the width of the mini-van and there were some pretty tight corners since the lanes looked more like they were meant for walking.
I've included a short clip below to let you have a sense of how the resort looks. Took it while on a buggy carrying our luggage back to the front lobby for checking out. We were on a buggy and already you can tell some of the corners were relatively tight. You can even check out the kind of mini-van I'm talking about at the end of the clip. Seriously these peeps have impressive driving skills.
And that's where we spent our first night in Okinawa: 21 Main Cottage, Okuma Private Beach and Resort.
Each floor houses about 4 units (if I don't recall wrongly) and fortunately, we were allocated a unit on the ground floor. I am not hauling all that luggage up those stairs. Ok, to be fair, someone would probably have helped but still, stairs are a concern for my mom. Actually, there may have been an elevator but honestly I was just so glad to reach our room that I failed to checked. Forgot to the next morning as well, so I really can't comment there. But you may wish to make it known in your booking if you do not want to be allocated rooms on higher floors in case there isn't elevators.
We were really pleased with the room. It was really spacious and clean. Pretty well maintained too given the huge number of cottages around. The only cleanliness issue we had was with the air-conditioning. It kept blowing out huge pieces of black dust.
I loved the living room space. We could lay out all 3 of our luggage and still have more than enough comfortable space to walk or lounge around. Perhaps I was really too tired, or the headache really knocked me out, but I managed to have a good afternoon nap on the sofa. My parents too.
The beds were located right behind the sofas and they were decent sized and comfortable. I slept really well that night.
I believe because of the Covid-19 situation, the crowd at Okuma Private Beach and Resort was super thin. We basically had the entire building to ourselves, so I honestly have no clue how sound-proofed the walls are, but man that place was really peaceful and quiet come nightfall. Mom even commented that we're city dwellers and so, she was not used to the darkness and silence.
The washroom was very spacious as well. Sinks were located outside along a corridor. Toilet was the typical Japanese kind with all those buttons and a built in bidet.
What was interesting though, was the bath. The tub was actually sunken into the floor! Which mean it was a huge step down into the tub and another huge step to get out of it. And the only grip you had was to hold onto the door to the bath. I was concerned for my parents, especially my mother and reminded them to be careful, especially when wet. Thankfully there were no accidents.
Anyway I apologise for the luggage and bags you spot in the photos. I was in a hurry to grab photos of the room because my parents were hollering to get out to grab lunch.
We had lunch and dinner at different restaurants at the resort. Lunch was a buffet at the Surfside Café. Thankfully we made it just in time before the buffet closed. The mains were decent but I've got to say, the highlight of the buffet has got to be the desserts. I loved those tiny cakes and pastries so much! And that tiny cup of jelly was so refreshing, I went back for a second and contemplated a third. Even mom, who always nagged at my gluttony, agreed that it was worth a second cup since it was small enough! Ha!
After lunch, we took a leisurely stroll back to our cottage. Heh. A really long stroll since we detoured here and there. Unfortunately, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we didn't get to really explore the resort as much as I would have otherwise liked. Firstly, we were really quite tired and the stroll took the last of our energy reserves. Yes, even shopping couldn't perk us up enough.
Secondly, the place was so quiet and empty, it felt like the zombie apocalypse has descended on us! This is one of the first trips ever, where almost everywhere we went, it was so quiet, I could easily take pictures without anyone photo bombing it! I have never seen an empty beach until March 2020. And I'm telling you, an empty beach is scary. It was like Jaws was in the waters or alien critters were going to jump out of the sand to devour anyone who dared to step on the pristine white beach.
Ok. Maybe I do have an over-active imagination courtesy of Hollywood.
Other than the lack-of-people creepiness, the resort is actually quite picturesque. There are a lot of good photo points all around the resort and I had a good time taking photos. On the map that we were given by the resort, they also had a QR code that when scanned, would point you towards where you can get your Instagram OOTD shots. I can't be bothered about OOTDs but I definitely got some photos I liked.
We also shopped for souvenirs at the few stores there. Most of the stores featured regional specialties such as glassware, Okinawan textiles and clothes, and local food stuff. We also approached the Aroma Therapy Salon to ask about the price of getting a massage. It was quite pricey so we decided not to and instead to head back to our room for a good rest.
By the time we woke up feeling refreshed and re-energised, it was already dinner time. Since we couldn't get to reserve the teppanyaki restaurant in advance, we settled for traditional Japanese/Okinawan cuisine at the restaurant Iju.
The appetizers were really good. Our first taste of Okinawan tofu and we quite liked it!! Even dad who isn't a tofu fan at all.
Dad's fish and mom's pork set. Both of them weren't exactly impressed with their mains.
My beef set which was decent enough. And we also ordered a basket of tempura for sharing. However, we didn't expect our portions to be huge! Thankfully, mom had the foresight to get dad to just order a fish instead of the full set. We shared our appetizers and rice with him and even then, we were still extremely full by the end of the meal.
Breakfast the next morning was again a buffet spread back at the Surfside Café. Dad was disappointed that the desserts from lunch the day before were not offered. Nevertheless, he was appeased with the breads which were so soft and flavourful! I also had my first taste of the infamous spam onigiri that Okinawa is famous for. Well, spam just makes everything good! Mom liked the Okinawan noodles and went back for a second bowl as the broth was just comforting and delicious.
And that was our last meal in Okuma Private Beach and Resort. Once we were done, we returned to reception to get help to carry our luggage back. However, I think reception forgot and I had to make another phone call from our room to get the buggy to come around. I got to say, I was quite amazed that the buggy could carry us and our 3 huge luggage.
All in, we were quite pleased with our stay at Okuma Private Beach and Resort. Definitely one to consider if we were to return in future.
Tourist Information
Okuma Private Beach and Resort
Website: https://okumaresort.com/
Address: 913 Aza Okuma Kunigami, Okinawa 905-1412
DID: +81 980-41-2222
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