Ikei Surf Spot

No one, not even John Denver, appreciates the morning sun on their shoulders more than Yamaneko. As the sun peeked above the roof of our neighbor's house, I opened the shades of the tatami room to let more light in. The arms of the couch became the sweetest spot in the room.

Ryan and I discussed our options for this beautiful day, and a bit of time in the water was on the agenda. We agreed upon a spot we'd visited before but never braved: a popular surfing spot on the east side of Ikei-jima. We'd visited this spot before, but the waves were too rough for us to attempt to enter the water. On this day, we took a walk along the path to check out the conditions before squeezing into our wetsuits. The tide was low enough that we could walk out close to the break for an easy entry - score! We agreed that we probably only had 1-2 hours of snorkeling time around this low tide, otherwise the water would come in so that we had a dangerously shallow and long swim across the reef rocks to the shore. Shallow water is not at all bad on a calm day. Waves crashing down on you while you are only in 12-18 inches of water is not fun.

As we turned to return to the car, I saw a Whistling Green-Pigeon, perched nicely on a bare tree, just waiting for me to photograph it. According to my field guide, they are common in parks around Okinawa and are described as relatively tame. Whatever! I have had a heck of a time finding them. I first saw one, in flight, at Benoki Dam near the northern part of Okinawa. This is only the second one I've seen since moving to Okinawa, and the first one to offer me a good, long, look. Oh, happy day!

When the bird flew away, I joined Ryan at the car. He was nearly finished donning his gear, so I was holding up the snorkeling party. I got ready as quickly as I could and we made our way down to the water. This is the Pacific Ocean side, so not too many soft corals but lots of rocks with crevices to hide big fish. We did see some good-sized groupers, but they were at depths far below my access. Ryan seemed to have no trouble swimming down to say hello and take a stab at dinner. 

No luck on this day in the food department, but we both had a fantastic time swimming around and enjoying ourselves. I took a special interest in the bright yellow fish, which seemed more numerous here than at other spots. They remind me of underwater Prothonotary Warblers. Rather than flying lemon drops, these were swimming lemon drops.