One Day Bus Tour - Okinawa, Japan

Mostly, the tourists travel in Okinawa by car rental and take the bus. Today, I will review one day trip by bus tour. Why did I choose bus tour in stead of public transport? The travel cost of some route is cheaper than public transport. There are many bus tour companies and plans. Please see the company list and website as below:

Jumbo Tours
Website 

JAPANiCAN  (Japan-ni-can)
Website

Okinawa Bus
Website

Club Tourism Yokoso Japan Tour
Website

The tour programs of each company are similar but the price is different and some programs already included admission fee and lunch. I will describe only the overview of each sightseeing spot in this tour and provide more detail in the next article. 




I chose Jumbo Tours "A Course". The bus photo is as below 

 - Nago Pineapple Park Tour
 - Kouri Island
 - Warumi Bridge (View from the bus window)
 - Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
 - Okashigoten Onna
 - Cape Manza

You can book the tour in advance on website. On website stills has others tour courses. 
A course price is 6,000 yen (adult). The tour does not include the meal but include the admission fees. You must select the bus stop where you would like to board the bus. When finish booking the tour, you need to wait for the confirmation from company by e-mail before making a payment (credit card). After payment, you will receive the online ticket. Please print it and give it to staff on the day. The coupon shows your name and name of tour course. 

I boarded the bus at Kenmin Hiroba (Okinawa Kencho-mae) where is the first stop. Take the monorail to Kencho-mae Station and go straight. You can get on and get off the bus at different bus stop. For example, I get on the bus at Kenmin Hiroba and when finished the tour I get off at Hotel Royal Orion. 

The departure from Kenmin Hiroba is at 8:00 a.m. so please arrive prior 15 minutes before departure time. 

Kenmin Hiroba (Ref: Jumbo Tours)

No reserved seat. First come, first serve. The seat is comfortable and has enough space for leg room. Bus is clean. Staff provides a small plastic bag for a trash. If you have luggage, you can store it in the trunk of the bus. You can leave the tour at other points as well, as long as it does not require a change of the route and inform the company upon booking or speak directly to the bus attendant. For example, you get on the bus at Naha (the first stop) and leave the tour at Aquarium.

A staff gives an audio guide and an earphone (not earphones). Select the language and switch off when not use in order to save the battery. You muse return an audio guide after finish the tour.

A Staff gives the sample of snacks (pineapple manju and Beni-Imo Tart/ Sweet potato) to every passengers. If you like it, you can buy at souvenir shops. A staff provides the discount coupon.

The first stop is Nago Pineapple Park. Nago is located in the northern part of Okinawa Island. It is a small pineapple park. A staff gives the admission coupon and we can ride a self-driving cart. On the way, we can see pineapple tree and flower garden. There are big souvenir shops near the exit gate. You can try some pineapple juice and snacks, also buy the souvenirs. FYI, other tour companies may switch the tour plan between Nago Pineapple Park and Okinawa Fruits Land based on even or odd day.   

Nago Pineapple Park Review

The second stop is Kouri Island. Beautiful beach! 

Third stop is Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. Spends 3 hours here. Don't forget where the bus stop is because there are many bus stops. I walked 15 minutes from bus stop to Aquarium. A staff took the passengers to aquarium. The tour already includes aquarium admission fee but not for lunch. I had lunch here. You can check from aquarium map where the restaurant is. Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is very big. There are also other attractions; Tropical Dream Center, Oceanic Culture Museum, Native Okinawan Village and etc.    

Review

Forth stop; Okashigoten Onna which is souvenir shop. There are other branches i.e. Naha Kokusai Street. You can buy the souvenir and popular Beni-Inmo Tart (Sweet Potato). A staff already gave the sample of tart on the bus. If you like it, you can buy it here and use the given coupon. The price of tart between Nago shop and Naha shop is the same. A staff recommended to go to toilets here in stead of the next stop.

The last stop is Cape Manzamo. There are many tourists here especially in the evening so it is hard to take the photo. A rock looks like an elephant's trunk. A staff told us that the toilets here are not clean. After that, went back to Naha. A staff asked that which bus stop I would like to get off. I chose Hotel Royal Orion where is near Makishi station. You can continue going shopping or take the monorail to your hotel.