We are off to visit another island in the Ryukyu chain: Kume-jima, or Kume Island. We have no idea what to expect on Kume. Ryan hopes the snorkeling and spear-fishing will be excellent. I heard that it's possible to see hoopoes on this island, but I have no idea about the time of year. Also, I read that Kume is home to their own species of firefly, which I know a fellow U of F grad might enjoy. Again, no idea what time of year is ideal for seeing these insects, but we are off anyway.
The weather is really warm, so we opted to stay in a hotel rather than camp. We still have our vehicle loaded with snorkeling and fishing gear, kayaks secured to the top. Oh yeah, and our clothes and toiletries are in there somewhere. After a four-hour ferry ride with a brief stop at Tonaki Island (another trip for the future), we disembark and make our way to Eef Beach Resort.
The hotel room is very nice and more spacious than I expected. I'm told Japanese-style hotel rooms bring new meaning to "cozy," but this one must have some western influence. Two beds is the norm, although we've usually encountered two twin beds. I'm not sure if Japanese couples sleep together, or just when they need to. Anyway, the room was neat, clean, and the balcony was equipped with a clothesline which we found very handy as our weekend progressed.
First stop: a sea turtle museum and nearby rock formations, both of which have geocaches. The sea turtle museum was a bit sad and reminded me of the Churaumi Aquarium in that the turtles seemed frantic to get out and the enclosures had little/nothing to make it seem like a natural habitat and less of an enclosure. It's a bit said, really, especially because zoos in the US really strive to keep their animals engaged and minimize the fact that it is a finite amount of space. At least, zoos worth supporting with the purchase of tickets do this. We took our tour and then headed outside to see some interesting rock formations, which we located in only one other place on the island:
Next, we thought we'd drive around the island to get a lay of the land. Islands make for easy exploration because there is a limited area in which you can go. You're not going to get lost. At some point, regardless of which direction you're headed, you're going to hit coastline and have some idea of where you are. Google Maps on the iPhone (Ryan) and Android (Erin) help as well. Mostly, we were on the lookout for good places from which to launch the kayaks and/or get in the water with our snorkeling gear. On the northeast side of the island, we found a two-story lookout and rest area, complete with a convenience store.
We headed to this area and there are indeed two natural enclosures in which fish get trapped when the tide recedes. The rock is super sharp, as Ryan found out and can show you the evidence if you look at his leg. The fish came towards us when we reached the edges of the pools, which makes us think that they are used to being fed. While this is good for viewing and taking pictures underwater, this also makes the fish easy targets for aquariums and, if they're large fish, spearfisherpersons. When we looked behind us past the sugarcane fields, we saw the highest point on Kume-jima, which was also the site of an old castle:
We continued on our journey around the island. On the west side of the island, close to the airport, we happened upon a beautiful beach. Unfortunately, the winds were blowing directly into this little bay, making snorkeling and kayaking out of the question. Too bad, because it was the easiest access we found in terms of hauling the kayaks and parking the car.
Kume is much larger than Zamami and offers plenty of terrestrial distractions as well as aquatic. This is a good thing, as there aren't many places outside of our hotel to launch kayaks or trek out with pole spears in-hand. Of all the islands we've visited so far, Kume offers the least amount of beach/water access, despite its size as the largest island other than Okinawa. We drove on to the sourthern tip of the island to hike a trail that offered pretty views of Bird's Mouth Rock, an interesting formation clearly visible from the ferry as we approached the Kume port.
Like most hikes in Okinawa, it is probably clearly marked in KANJI, which helps us NONE. We drove as far as we could, following the road signs which thankfully were in English, and ended up in a small parking area. We first tried some grassy trails, which lead to pretty vistas of the rock shoreline but no Bird's Mouth Rock.
There were also some paved sidewalks, but they seemed to be headed in the wrong direction. I saw a lovely photo opportunity, but I think I was alone in this point of view.
Finally, we found the correct trail. Let me say that at this point, we'd had an early start to the day, rising before 0600 to finish packing last-minute items and head down to the port. Ryan does not especially enjoy alarm clocks during the week, and I've received more than one evil eye for suggesting that we employ them on weekends. Early start to the day, a four-hour ferry ride, driving around an island, hopping in and out of the car, and finally ending at a trail that looks to be mostly uphill. Also, it's HOT. Not just warm or summertime hot, but I mean hot, humid and a breeze that feels like someone blowing hot air on your neck but it hits your whole body hot. We tried to get some selfies on this trail, but the glare from our sweaty faces make them inappropriate for this blog. Anyway, we trudged on and were happy the trail was not very long, because it WAS all uphill. We made it to Bird's Mouth Rock.
We found a restaurant for dinner, but the entire menu was in kanji. Hmmmm. Thank goodness "sashimi" was on the menu, and to ask for assorted sashimi, you add "mori awase" after it. Beer is easy: BEE-ru. We ate and drank to our heart's content and made plans to explore the waters of Kume-jima first thing in the morning. One of Ryan's favorite things to do is to get in the water. Most weekends, it not a question of what are we going to do, but where. I was thankful for the opportunity to hike, drive around, and get a feel for our new island before diving in. Now that we know where we are, it's time to get down to business and show our snorkeling game faces.
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