Day 4: Busena Marine Park --> Nakamura Soba --> Cape Manzamo --> Mihama American Village
After a filling lunch, it was perfect that we adjourned to the nearby Cape Manzamo for a leisurely, scenic stroll. Now Cape Manzamo, or Cape Manza as the locals call it, is quite the famous tourist spot. I'm pretty sure that even if you have never heard of its name, you would recognize a picture of the elephant-like rock formation. It's so famous that on normal days, you'll have to time your visit else you'll be lost in the hordes of tourists brought there by the swarms of tourist buses.
Well, that's pre-Covid days. During our time in Okinawa, places that were still open were quite empty, which was a bliss since I really don't do well with crowds. Awesome opportunity for really nice pictures.
Except part of the grounds were closed as they were building an observatory. I took a picture of what it's supposed to look like and I believe it opened in October 2020 (OMG! 2020 is over!).
I recalled mom getting excited over the "this is how it will look like" photos and expressed that she would like to be back just for the observatory. The observatory supposedly has restaurants, a food court and souvenir shops. There is an admission fee of 100 yen but you are allowed to re-enter multiple times on the same day.
Unfortunately, we had to maneuver around the construction. Thankfully it was just a short walk-around to get to the magnificent views.
Grateful to my parents who waited patiently while I took many photos. The views around were just gorgeous with the East China Sea all laid out in front of you. My parents agreed that it was just so picturesque, which probably explains why they were so agreeable to hang around patiently.
Definitely a must-stop if you are in Okinawa.
Tourist Information
Website: http://www.vill.onna.okinawa.jp/about/information/1484719566/1484720229/
Address: Onna-son, Kunigami-gun 904-0411
