Kyushu & Okinawa advice

Hi all,
Thank you so much for being such a major outlet of information for us! We are travelling to Japan, it will be my second time and my boyfriend's first! (I am trying to catch the Japan bug and have all our future vacations in Japan...)

What do you think of the below trip?
How about some insight on the Trans Kyushu route with a rented car? any amazing Ryokans in the area you guy's can recommend?
Please please give us some advice on Okinawa : should we be splitting our four days and visit two islands or just stay in one little heaven? (we're very much into beaches and sea activities like Snorkeling, diving and surfing)

Also, can somebody recommend a clean, trust worthy and legal airbnb in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa ?

10/9/2018 -14/9/2018 Tokyo
14/9/2018 From Tokyo to Kanazawa
15/9/2018 Kanazawa and Travel to Osaka afternoon
16/9/2018 Universal studios and sleep in Osaka
17/9/2018 - 19/9/2018 Kyoto
19/9/2018 Kyoto and Travel to Hiroshima afternoon
20/9/2018 Hiroshima+ Miyajima travel to Fukuoka afternoon
21/9/2018 - 23/9/2018 Trans Kyushu route
24/9/2018 - 27/9/2018 Okinawa


Thank you!!

No one has some insights?? :)

There are a lot of vague spots in this. For example - how are you getting to Okinawa? Which airport?

Note that Kyushu is a reasonably large island and with slow maximum speeds, it takes ages to drive anywhere. Two days in Kyushu does not allow you to do that much - with Nagasaki probably being my pick of locations.

For Okinawa - do you want to scuba dive or snorkel? If you do, then the main island is not the best choice. Note that Okinawa prefecture is huge in size and it can take ages to travel around the different islands via ferry. It's also Typhoon season so thats something to also consider for Okinawa....

Thank you mfedley for answering! I will now start to read you report on Okinawa and I am sure it will be informative.
There are a lot of vague spots in this. For example - how are you getting to Okinawa? Which airport?

That is yet to be determined. We thought probably from Fukuoka, but we did not buy the airfare yet, as we are still debating where exactly in Okinawa we should spend our time. Hoping to decide based on your recommendations :)

Note that Kyushu is a reasonably large island and with slow maximum speeds, it takes ages to drive anywhere. Two days in Kyushu does not allow you to do that much - with Nagasaki probably being my pick of locations.

We allowed for three full days and three nights in Kyushu, maybe that is not so clear from my message. Why is Nagasaki your pick? I was thinking of visiting Takachiho, Kurakawa and Yufuin. Too ambitious?

For Okinawa - do you want to scuba dive or snorkel? If you do, then the main island is not the best choice. Note that Okinawa prefecture is huge in size and it can take ages to travel around the different islands via ferry. It's also Typhoon season so thats something to also consider for Okinawa....

I snorkel and surf whilst my boyfriend dives, so we will be happiest to have the option of doing all three. Otherwise, any combination of dive and snorkeling, or diving and surfing would be great. We already understood we will need to take a flight to a more remote island, that is why we waited to see exactly where we should base ourselves. We were considering taking a flight directly to Ishigaki from Fukuoka, or to Naha ans spend our time in Zamami.

Re typhoons, unfortunately this is when we can have a leave from our jobs. We are planning on arriving there towards to end of September and hoping to be lucky and avoid them. What is the chance of avoiding them around that time?

I'm sorry but I am piggybacking on your inquiry as I'm hoping to give it a bump! lol

I am also considering visiting Okinawa for my 2nd trip to Japan and around the same time period, so I'm interested in what the experts have to say.

Yes yes, please do :) I can tell you that we are leaning towards spending our Okinawa days in Ishigaki solely..

Same for me, also piggy-backing. We have 7 nights for Okinawa, after reading a lot are now thinking 2 nights main island, 5 Ishigaki, but also still in doubt wheter to skip the main island, add more time etc. I find it difficult to find good info on that (in contrast to e.g. Kyoto and Tokyo), where a lot of example itineraries can be found.

RE: Okinawa

Note that there is a lot to do on Okinawa Island. Ishigaki is nice but I would not spend 5 nights there unless you are planning on completing lots of snorkelling - with Iriomote being the better of the two.

A possible option might be 3 nights Okinawa and 4 nights Ishigaki/Iriomote/Taketomi.

In general, I've found it helpful to have a specific timetable to give when asking for advice on this forum. This allows us to provide explicit advice but Okinawa experience is here but in a lot less depth than most places in Japan.

I recently visited Okinawa for 2 weeks so click on my name to see my reports.....

end of September and hoping to be lucky and avoid them. What is the chance of avoiding them around that time?
We visited Ishigaki and the Yaeyama islands in mid-Oct a few years ago. We planned the trip months in advance, hoping to catch a better weather and importantly to avoid typhoon season. Unfortunately, upon arriving at Ishigaki, we heard an approaching powerful typhoon. Our five-day stay was cut short to three, we still managed to visit some of the islands, and felt lucky to be able to escape before the typhoon hit.
What I am trying to convey is " be prepared to expect the unexpected".

3 days in Kyushu is not enough, especially when you want to add in outside water sports.

Thank you! Where would you recommend we concentrate our time there then?

@ Noa:

Did you think about Amami-Oshima as an alternative? It's not part of OKA, but might be an option for you to dive and surf. It would probably help to speak at least some Japanese, specifically for the diving. We went there last October and had a blast, though we had to cancel our Diving because of a cold.

Otherwise, at least for diving, I'm a big fan of Ishigaki. Don't know about surfing though. And Iriomote/Taketomi shure are very nice.


@ Dutch:
I can only give some advice on Ishigaki, as I've only stayed in Naha for two nights at the Beginning of a longer trip but I would say the amount of time you should give yourself for Ishigaki really depends on what you want to do: If you go diving, you can easily (Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of Ishigaki and therefore probably biased) spend five days or more over there (we spent six full days with two days diving, one day Iriomote, one day Taketomi, two days exploring Ishigaki, and felt we were rushed); if you don't, you could also fill these days but depending on how fast you travel and what you expect (Relaxing at the beach/on the Water vs. seeing lots of stuff - as pointed out above, there really is not that much to see in terms of monuments etc.), I agree you might get bored. Having said that, I'm positive you could get a pretty good Impression of the Yaeyamas in 7 days; also, I would think about how much travelling between Islands affects your daily planning - e.g., do you feel it takes aways the whole day or half a day of the day itself? I usually don't count the days I travel at all.

J.

Hi Julio!

Thanks so much! we did in fact opted for full four days in Ishigaki, we are flying straight from Fukuoka! I would appreciate any advice :) Where to eat, where to sleep, what are the best beaches, where to dive and snorkel!

Thanks!