Comments (26) (Taka Diving Service) Nathan Kaempfer Thanks for the hot dive tip it was a great source. So the full report, flew into Miyako at sunset, stayed at a hostel near their "Kokusai Street" (3000Y/night), rented a car (3000Y/day), picked up tanks (1000Y/tank if referred by Taka Dive Shop otherwise 2000Y/tank) actually very difficult to find tanks we had to go straight to the wholesale gas company (most people do the all inclusive boat dives 12000Y/day which includes lunch and three tanks), we drove south towards Kurima Island as locals said best place to beach dive. It is a 1K swim from the west facing beach to get to deep waters. We opted to stay in the shallow near the finger style reefs near the beach as they are full of life (Eels, lobster, sea turtle, tons of life). Then we drove to Boragawa Beach almost all the way to the light house on the southern cape. Definitely recommend this dive, it was extremely low tide so we walked the reef out and jumped in (careful many crown of thorns here) but the reef is from 5-10ft below surface to 65 ft at low tide. There are networks of "tunnels" and cracks in the reef that made this an incredible dive allowing you to stay at 50 - 65 ft and cruise near the sandy bottom. Felt a lot like cave diving in many places. Then when you are finished get rid of the tanks and swim east along the shore line (you can kayak or walk if the tide is low enough) and there is a famous cave right at the same beach that has limestone formations and a fresh water stream/waterfalls inside. The rock is like velcro so you can cilmb in and up no problem. You have to swim into the cave and at high tide you might not be able to spot the opening very easily. There are many locals taking tours there so you can follow them. Then we drove the rest of the island and I left that night. I recommend getting involved in the local drinking tradition. Don't ask me why there is a German Cultural Center out their either. Good times, good livin! (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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Comments (26)
