Kommentare (17) (Japan) Okinawa, Japan was the site for the second largest beach landing in history only second to Normandy, France. The difference is that Okinawa, was almost entirely US Forces verses Normandy, France had combined allied forces. More US Navy ships were sunk in the battle of Okinawa, than any other Navel skirmish. This is due to the nearly 7000 Japanese Kamikaze suicide pilots that dive bombed the US fleet. As divers we are still finding the remains of this battle just off shore. We find everything from coke bottles from 1945 to 1000lb Japanese sea mines. Last week I found 2 X bombs/torpedoes/extra gas tanks, that were 8' long x 24" wide with fins that were found off of the west coast of IE Island/Okinawa Prefecture/Japan. The battle of Okinawa (Operation Iceberg) started 1 Apr 1945. The Marines landed north of the Hija River (green bridge on HWY 58 and/or the red bridge) and the US Army landed south of the Hija River. I have taken the original invasion map and I have overlaid it over modern google earth. The link to see this product is on scuba board.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/zen-divers/269353-okinawa-wwii-landing-sites.html (Kadena Steps/Kadena Seawall) This dive site is one of my favorites. Easy to get in and out. Very diverse as far as fish and coral life. Lots of eels as well as sea snakes. A lot of instructors favor this site as it's easy to navigate and has a sandy bottom. The soft corals here are beautiful and the fish are friendly and not afraid of divers. The clarity can be affected by excessive rain fall and windy conditions. Look closely in cracks and crevices for small macro life including cleaner shrimps and small crabs. There are also usually a lot of nudibranchs to be found. The coral garden across the top of the reef is spectacular. The anemone fish around this area are not afraid of divers and can be aggressive. Unless you have gloves on keep your hands away from them. If you hear a snapping sound look around for the anemone. These guys swim around snapping thier jaws when divers get too close. During the winter months we were able to hear whale songs from the visiting Humpback whales in the area. Although we could not see the whales and had no idea how far away they were, we definetely heard them and it was amazing!
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