Kerama Islands
The Kerama Islands are a group of more than twenty small islands in Okinawa Prefecture, in the Okinawa region, some thirty to forty kilometres west of Naha, protected together as Keramashoto National Park.
- Region
- Okinawa
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
Small green islands set in water so clear that its colour has a name of its own.
The Keramas lie on the horizon from Naha, a scatter of steep green islands and rocky islets around sheltered channels. Only four are lived on, Tokashiki, Zamami, Aka and Geruma, home together to fewer than two thousand people, and the others are left to the sea birds and the wind.
The sea is the reason to come. The water around the islands is so clear, and so intensely blue over white sand, that it has its own name, Kerama blue, and the reefs of the channels are among the richest in Japan. They are protected twice over, as a national park, created in 2014, and as a Ramsar wetland. On land the islands are quiet: small villages of low houses behind stone walls and hibiscus, lookouts on the hills, and the small Kerama deer, a natural monument, grazing the slopes of Aka and Geruma.
The islands have a long history with the sea: in the days of the kingdom, the men of Kerama were known as sailors on the ships that carried tribute to China. Today the Keramas are the nearest of the outer islands to Naha, close enough for a day and quiet enough to stay.
see and do
What to see in the Kerama Islands
Zamami
The best known of the islands, its village gathered around the harbour, with beaches of white sand on either side and lookouts on the hills over the channels and the islands beyond.
Furuzamami Beach
A long curve of fine white sand on the east coast of Zamami, a short drive from the village, where the reef begins a few metres from the shore and the water shades from pale green to deep blue.
Ama Beach
A sheltered bay near Zamami village where green turtles come in to graze on the sea grass of the shallows, and may be seen from the water's edge.
The lookouts of Zamami
Takatsukiyama, the island's highest lookout, with the channels on every side, and Kaminohama, facing south over Aka and Geruma, where the evening light turns the sea gold.
Tokashiki and Aharen Beach
The largest of the Keramas and the nearest to Naha, with Aharen Beach, a broad arc of white sand in the south of the island, facing the channel and the small islets beyond it.
Aka and Geruma
Two small islands joined by bridges, with narrow village lanes, the white sand of Nishibama on Aka, and the Kerama deer on the hillsides above the sea.
experiences
The best of the Kerama Islands
A private boat for the day
A boat with its own captain from Naha or the west coast, out through the channels to a beach of your choosing, with lunch on board and the afternoon on the sand.
The reef through glass
A glass-bottomed boat over the coral of the channels, where the reef, its fish and its turtles pass beneath your feet without a toe in the water.
Whales in the channels
Humpback whales come to the waters around Zamami in the winter months to calve, and a boat with an experienced skipper goes out to watch them from a respectful distance.
The islands after the last boat
A night on Zamami or Tokashiki, when the day visitors have gone and the village is quiet, with the sunset from a lookout and a sky of stars over the channel.
plan your visit
The Kerama Islands on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- A day from Naha is enough for one island and its beaches. A night lets the islands be seen quiet, after the last boat has gone.
- Getting there
- By high-speed boat from Tomari Port in Naha: about thirty-five minutes to Tokashiki, and about fifty to Zamami by way of Aka. A private charter from Naha or the west coast of Okinawa Island takes about the same.
- Pairs well with
- The Keramas are a day out from Naha or the west coast of Okinawa Island, and sit easily before a flight on to Kumejima or Miyakojima.NahaOkinawa IslandKumejimaMiyakojima
journeys
The Kerama Islands on a private journey
We bring guests to the Kerama Islands on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
The Kerama Islands: questions answered
Where are the Kerama Islands?
In Okinawa Prefecture, some thirty to forty kilometres west of Naha, across the water from Okinawa Island. They form Keramashoto National Park.
How do you get to the Kerama Islands?
By high-speed boat from Tomari Port in Naha, about thirty-five minutes to Tokashiki and fifty to Zamami, or by private charter boat from Naha or the west coast.
Can you visit the Kerama Islands as a day trip?
Yes. The boats are quick enough for a full day on Zamami or Tokashiki and a return to Naha in the evening, and a private boat can visit more than one island.
What is Kerama blue?
Kerama blue is the name given to the colour of the sea around the islands: an intense, clear blue over white sand and coral, so distinctive it has become a name of its own.
Which Kerama island is best to visit?
Zamami for its beaches, lookouts and village, and Tokashiki, the largest and closest to Naha, for the long white sand of Aharen Beach. Aka and Geruma are smaller and quieter still.
Can you see sea turtles in the Kerama Islands?
Yes. Green turtles graze the sea grass at Ama Beach on Zamami and may be seen from the shore, and they often pass beneath glass-bottomed boats over the reef.
Can the Kerama Islands be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, the Kerama Islands included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
okinawa
More in Okinawa
The Kerama Islands, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to the Kerama Islands, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.