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Ride Okinawa

Winter 2026/27 · Okinawa, Kerama, Miyako, Yaeyama

The Ryukyu islands run south from Kyushu almost to Taiwan, and plenty of them fit in a day’s ride.

We measure every ride in our route library against open map and elevation data, and the planner strings the islands together into a trip you can book.

Plan a tripChoose an islandRide the islands
36 islands129 stays88 beaches and dive sites326 places to eat7 routes
A wooden sabani boat with a yellow sail floats in clear shallow water off Zamami while the jagged outline of smaller Kerama islands lines the horizon

Photo keizo okada · Unsplash

01

Eleven regions

Choose your islands

The main island links by bridge to a string of smaller ones. The Keramas are a boat from Naha; Miyako and Yaeyama are a short flight.
All islands
A Kerama deer chews a sprig of green leaves while long grass frames its dark eyes and wide ears near a beach in the islands慶良間諸島

Kerama Islands

An hour or less by boat from Naha's Tomari Port, the Keramas have water clear enough to earn its own name, Kerama blue. Humpback whales come to calve offshore through the winter, and the villages go quiet once the last ferry leaves.

久米島

Kume-jima

Kume-jima sits a short flight west of Naha with a long white sandbar off its east coast. The island rides well in a day, and the village of Nakazato keeps its stone walls and old houses.

宮古諸島

Miyako Islands

Miyako is flat, ringed by reef and linked to its neighbours by long bridges you can ride across in a morning. Maehama and Sunayama draw the crowds, and the island has its own soba, its own language and its own way of drinking.

Green slopes on the Hirakubo peninsula fall to a pale sand cove and a wide shelf of reef water along the far north coast of Ishigaki.八重山諸島

Yaeyama Islands

Ishigaki is the hub for a ring of islands with nothing else like them in Japan: the jungle and mangrove rivers of Iriomote, Taketomi's coral-sand lanes, the cattle pastures of Kuroshima. Boats leave Ishigaki's island terminal all day, and the furthest go to Hateruma under the Southern Cross.

与論島

Yoron

Yoron belongs to Kagoshima but sits within sight of Okinawa's northern cape. A road loops the whole island, and at low tide a sandbar called Yurigahama rises out of the lagoon.

From the air the coastal highway curves past the small pale sand of Naminoue Beach, and the dense white city of Naha stretches inland to the hills那覇・首里

Naha & Shuri

Most trips start at Naha's airport, a short monorail ride from Kokusai-dori. The old royal capital of Shuri sits on the ridge above the city, and the potters' lanes of Tsuboya run down toward the market where the city still does its shopping.

南部

The South

Sugar cane, limestone cliffs and the island's most sacred grove fill the south. This is where the Battle of Okinawa ended, and the peace memorials at Mabuni ask for an unhurried afternoon. Cafés perch on the Chinen headland, and Ojima fries tempura at the end of a short bridge.

Two monorail trains pass at Urasoe-Maeda station while the guideway climbs away through the hillside houses and green slopes of Urasoe中部

Central Okinawa

Chatan's seawall, Koza's music bars and the base towns along Route 58 show the American side of the island. Out east the Kaichu Doro sea road crosses the shallows to four islands that still farm and fish, and two of the finest castle walls in the kingdom stand on the ridges above.

読谷・恩納

Yomitan & Onna

The resort coast runs north from Yomitan's potters' village to the cliffs at Cape Manzamo, past hotel beaches and fishing ports. Divers queue at the Maeda headland for the Blue Cave whenever the swell lets them in.

Thick slabs of braised pork belly and strips of simmered kombu cover flat wheat noodles in a grey bowl on a red gingham tablecloth in Nago名護・本部

Nago & Motobu

The Motobu peninsula holds the aquarium, the fukugi-tree lanes of Bise and the soba road, with Kouri and Sesoko a bridge away. Cherry trees on Yaedake flower from late January, when the climb to the summit turns pink.

やんばる

Yanbaru

The forested north is a national park and home to the flightless Okinawa rail. Roads wind up the coast to Cape Hedo past villages that live on shikuwasa and fishing, and the climbs inland are the hardest riding on the island.

02

January to March

Plan around whales, blossom and the north wind

Winter is the season for humpbacks in the Keramas and cherry blossom on Motobu. The north wind decides which coast to swim and which way to ride.
Events calendar

Jan · Feb

Okinawa cherry blossom season

January to mid-February; the north of Okinawa Island blooms first and the bloom moves south

Jan

Churashima Okinawa Century Run

A Saturday and Sunday in mid- to late January, based in Onna (last confirmed edition 19–20 January 2019)

Nov · Dec · Jan · Feb

Cycle Ball Okiichi (Okinawa island loop challenge)

A self-guided app challenge from late November to mid-February, with one supported group loop in early February (2025–26 season)

Jan

Ishigaki Island Marathon

A Sunday in mid-January (17 January in 2027)

Jan · Feb

Motobu Yaedake Cherry Blossom Festival

Opens on the third Saturday of January and runs into early February

Jan · Feb

Nago Cherry Blossom Festival

The last weekend of January

Jan · Feb

Nakijin Gusuku Cherry Blossom Festival

Late January into early February

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

Okinawa Cycling Association monthly ride

One Sunday a month, meeting at 09:00 and finishing around 13:00; the start park changes month to month

The riding climate, month by month
03

The route library

Ride the islands

Each route is drawn over OpenStreetMap with a bike profile and measured against an elevation model, so the distance, climbing, surface and konbini gaps come from data.
Every route
Easy easy

Kaichu Doro and the four islands

Central

34.5 km · +272 m · 43% quiet roads

Easy easy

Kouri-jima and Yagaji loop

Kouri-jima

25 km · +261 m · 0% quiet roads

Easy easy

kurima-loop

Miyako-jima

12 km · +86 m · 100% quiet roads

Epic epic

Miyakojima triathlon bike course

Miyako-jima

121.7 km · +746 m · 19% quiet roads

Moderate moderate

Motobu Peninsula loop from Nago

Motobu

Route data building

Moderate moderate

Warumi and Kouri bridges from Nago

Motobu

42.5 km · +383 m · 63% quiet roads

Hard hard

Yaedake climb through the cherry trees

Motobu

Route data building

04

From minshuku to resorts

Stay on the water or in the village

All stays
ハレクラニ沖縄

Halekulani Okinawa

Onna · West coast

Luxury hotel¥¥¥

星のや沖縄

Hoshinoya Okinawa

Yomitan · West coast

Luxury hotel¥¥¥¥

ザ・ブセナテラス

The Busena Terrace

Nago · Motobu

Resort¥¥¥

ペンション チャーヴィラ

Pension Cha Villa

Zamami Village · Zamami-jima

Guesthouse¥¥

アカロッジ by ザ・テ

AKA LODGE by The Terrace Hotels

Aka Village · Aka-jima

Luxury hotel¥¥¥¥

星のや竹富島

HOSHINOYA Taketomi Island

Taketomi Village · Taketomi-jima

Luxury hotel¥¥¥¥

ホテルシギラミラージュ

Hotel Shigira Mirage

Ueno · Miyako-jima

Luxury hotel¥¥¥¥

百名伽藍

Hyakuna Garan

Tamagusuku · South

Luxury hotel¥¥¥¥

05

Beaches and dive sites

Swim, snorkel and dive the reef

All beaches
White sand curving along Furuzamami Beach on Zamami, with clear shallows over the reef and green headlands behind
Fine sand slopes into bright blue water at Furuzamami Beach, where a rock headland covered in scrub closes off the bay under thin cloud
Dark slabs of rock frame the white sand of Furuzamami Beach on Zamami, where the water shades from pale green to deep blue toward a wooded islet
Yellow and blue parasols shade loungers on the white sand of Furuzamami Beach in July while swimmers float in the calm water by the reef

Furuzamami Beach

Zamami Village · Zamami-jima

BeachSnorkel 5/5

コンドイ浜

Kondoi Beach

Taketomi Village · Taketomi-jima

BeachSnorkel 1/5

Nishibama Beach on Aka runs white below casuarina trees while the reef spreads pale green into deep blue water toward the hills of Zamami
Pandanus leaves frame the white sand of Nishibama Beach on Aka as a lone walker crosses the shallows below a band of deep blue water
Coarse coral sand slopes into clear pale water along Nishibama Beach on Aka, and low wooded islands line the far side of the channel

Nishibama Beach

Aka Village · Aka-jima

BeachSnorkel 5/5

砂山ビーチ

Sunayama Beach

Hirara · Miyako-jima

Beach

はての浜

Hatenohama

Eef Beach Area · Kume-jima

SandbarSnorkel 4/5

Pampas grass frames the long white curve of Aharen Beach on Tokashiki as it sweeps past the reef toward the rocky islet of Hanarejima
Under a grey sky the shallows at Aharen Beach on Tokashiki still glow pale blue over the reef, and parasols dot the sand below forested hills
A tall weathered boulder stands on the sand at Aharen Beach on Tokashiki, and a bleached log lies beside it under a deep blue sky
Two kayaks rest on a spit of white sand at Aharen Beach on Tokashiki, where shallow clear water meets the green hills behind the village

Aharen Beach

Aharen · Tokashiki-jima

BeachSnorkel 4/5

Forested hills open onto Tokashiku Bay on Tokashiki, and the shallow reef glows pale blue below a line of smaller islands on the horizon
Small boats sit at anchor in the calm turquoise bay at Tokashiku Beach on Tokashiki as people walk the wide pale sand below dark green hills
Swimmers spread along the sand and shallows at Tokashiku Beach on Tokashiki, where a steep forested headland closes the north end of the bay

Tokashiku Beach

Tokashiki Village · Tokashiki-jima

BeachSnorkel 4/5

Clear shallow water laps the white sand of Ama Beach on Zamami as the rocky outlines of small uninhabited islets line the horizon to the south
Beach morning glory creeps over the sand at Ama Beach while a few swimmers wade in the calm bay below a wooded islet with its own white beach

Ama Beach

Zamami Village · Zamami-jima

BeachSnorkel 4/5

06

Eat and drink

Eat soba at lunch and drink awamori after dark

All places
Stewed pork spare ribs and round yellow noodles fill a dark glazed bowl of clear broth on a wooden table at Takenoko on Taketomi
Ride stop

Soba Dokoro Takenoko

Taketomi Village · Taketomi-jima

Soba¥

Glossy stewed pork spare ribs on the bone sit on thick wheat noodles with green onion in a bowl at Yanbaru Soba in Motobu
Ride stop

Yanbaru Soba

Motobu

Soba¥

Egg-soaked wheat gluten stir-fried with luncheon meat and green onion fills a white plate at Shirasa on Kouri, with sata andagi in a dish behind

Shirasa

Kouri Village · Kouri-jima

Seafood¥¥

The white two-storey building that houses Shuri Soba sits on a quiet corner in Shuri Akata-cho under a blue sky, with a red awning over the shop front

Shuri Soba

Shuri · Naha

Soba¥

Ride stop
座間味村漁協 阿嘉直売所

Aka Fisheries Co-op Store

Aka Village · Aka-jima

Seafood¥

Ride stop
明石食堂

Akaishi Shokudo

Ibaruma · Ishigaki-jima

Soba¥

Ride stop
赤嶺パイン園

Akamine Pine En

Kumejima Town · Kume-jima

Other¥

Ride stop
蒼い珊瑚礁

Aoi Sango Sho

Yoron Town · Yoron-jima

Soba¥

What to order: Okinawan food explained
07

Culture and history

Walk the kingdom's castles and the potters' lanes

All culture
Late afternoon light falls on the walls and gates of Shuri Castle while the city of Naha spreads out to the horizon below
Two stone shisa guard the arched opening of Kankaimon gate, where a wooden tower sits on top of the curved limestone walls of Shuri Castle
The red lacquered Seiden of Shuri Castle faces a courtyard striped in pale and red tiles under a deep blue sky
Shureimon gate stands on the approach to Shuri Castle in Naha, where red lacquered posts hold up two tiers of orange tile roof against a summer sky
UNESCO

Shuri Castle

Shuri · Naha

Gusuku

UNESCO
斎場御嶽

Sefa-utaki

Chinen · South

Utaki

UNESCO
今帰仁城跡

Nakijin Castle

Nakijin · Motobu

Gusuku

沖縄県平和祈念公園

Okinawa Peace Memorial Park

Itoman · South

Memorial

A deigo tree in red flower leans over the pond at Shikinaen beside a small arched bridge of grey limestone and a grassy rise
The low red-roofed villa of Shikinaen lies mirrored in the still garden pond under a clear blue November sky
The hexagonal Rokkakudo pavilion with its grey tile roof sits on a tiny island in the green pond of the Shikinaen royal garden in Naha
A limestone bridge with steps over its arch crosses the Shikinaen pond, and the wooden royal villa sits on the lawn across the water
UNESCO

Shikinaen

Naha

Garden

Three stone burial chambers of the Tamaudun royal mausoleum line a raked courtyard of white coral gravel under a clear blue sky in Shuri
A wooden gatehouse with a red tile roof sits on a stone platform at the east side of the Tamaudun grounds, and tall trees shade it from behind
Late afternoon sun throws long shadows across the forecourt of Tamaudun toward the first gate in its outer limestone wall
An open stone gateway at Tamaudun frames the inner wall and the left burial chamber of the royal tombs, and tall trees stand behind them
UNESCO

Tamaudun

Shuri · Naha

Tomb

Trip planner · 旅の計画

Give it your dates and it books the boats in the right order.

The planner builds a day-by-day trip from our own database: island hops on the real ferries and flights, stays at your price, beaches on the sheltered coast and, if you ride, ride days that finish with the wind behind you.

Plan a trip
08

Practical guides

Sort out the details before you fly

All guides

guide

How do you bring your own bike to Okinawa?

All seven domestic airlines we checked fly bikes into Naha, and JAL, JTA, RAC, ANA and Skymark carry one inside your free allowance. Here's what each charges, how the monorail and buses treat a rinko bag, and where to leave the empty box.

guide

How do you hop between Okinawa's islands?

Boats from Naha reach the Keramas and Kume-jima, Ishigaki's Ritou Terminal sends high-speed boats across the Yaeyamas, and Miyako and Ishigaki are a flight from Naha. Here's which boats carry a bike and what the winter north wind does to the timetable.

guide

How does cycling differ on Okinawa's outer islands?

Miyako's bridges and capes take the full winter north-northeasterly, Taketomi's village lanes are coral sand, Iriomote asks for 40 km/h to protect its wildcats, and of the two Yaeyama ferry companies only Anei Kanko loads an unbagged bike on its high-speed boats.