We landed in Okinawa with our hopes high that we would be able to soak in some sun and get some dives in. It was an hour drive to our hotel and we were all eager to get our suits on and hit the beach. Unfortunately for us we had just caught the tail end of a monsoon and the hotel was still in the midst of putting its beachfront back together. Our spirits don’t dampen easily though, the sun was shining so we grabbed some beers and went for a walk along the beach. The soft sand felt nice on our feet after months of walking and hiking a minimum of six kilometres a day. We watched as the heavy machinery dragged out the buoys and pushed sand around as the guys on seadoos dragged out the inflatable obstacle course and anchored it to the sea floor. We planned our next day as we sat and watched the sunset, thoughts of fly boarding, snorkelling and jumping around the obstacle course filled our minds and our dreams that night.

We did none of that the next day, instead, we played backgammon on the beach, soaked in the sun and drank our fill of beer until dinnertime. It felt great to not have to worry about planning, finding restaurants or attractions and figuring out how to get to and from places. For the first time in a long time Rach and I felt relieved of the title of ‘tour guide’ (for a moment anyways). We enjoyed the next few days relaxed and comfortable, the hotel had replaced all the beach chairs and we had our spot each morning where you could find us talking and laughing until well into the evening. When we got bored of sitting around and playing backgammon we would draw a target in the sand and toss small rocks, go for a dip or go jump around on the obstacle course. We had everything we needed right there and we were totally happy to take advantage of the convenience.

As the days rolled by the weather got nicer and nicer, we were informed that we came at the perfect time, the tail end of the monsoon, the clouds had cleared up and there was still just enough of a breeze to keep from being overwhelmed by the heat. Unfortunately the diving was poorly timed as the the monsoon tends to stir up the ocean floor quite a bit and ruins any semblance of visibility. We made the best of it and traveled out to another beach one day, the tide was low and allowed you to walk about a kilometre out into the ocean without the water going past your knees. There are tons of little caves with insanely clear water and bright blue fish that catch the sun and reflect it back at you as they whip around just below the surface.

The island itself proved to be very expensive to do anything, from taking a taxi to eating dinner anywhere outside the hotel you can expect to pay double what you would pay on the mainland. We found ourselves eating at the hotel most of the time not only because of the absurd prices but also because we enjoyed not having to leave our little comfort zone for a change. The week we spent there was perfect for us but we couldn’t wait to see what else Japan had to offer, we were getting restless by the fourth day and began planning out the rest of the trip, went back to editing videos and photos and writing more blog posts. Our break had been very much appreciated but we realized that we aren’t ones to sit around and do nothing for too long without going stir crazy.

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