Honda Shuttle Hybrid with a large trunk and excellent value for money.
👋 Haisai! This is CULT.
Today, I’m reviewing the Okinawa rental car shuttle hybrid. If you’re planning a trip to Okinawa, renting a car is practically essential. While it’s possible to travel without one, that’s really only feasible for those with plenty of time, and you probably want to make the most of your holiday, right? So, let’s dive into a review of the Okinawa rental car shuttle, which is reasonably priced and has a very large storage capacity.
Until August, it’s peak season, so prices are generally marked up by about 30-50%. However, from September, prices return to off-peak rates, so it’s smart to plan accordingly. For a quick calculation based on early October, when most Korean travellers visit, the cost for a 3-night, 4-day rental in Okinawa is 25,800 yen, including 72 hours of insurance at 19,200 yen and NOC insurance at 2,200 yen.
By entering the coupon code aosora_cult1, you can get a 10% discount, bringing the total to 23,220 yen. It’s not easy to rent a vehicle of this calibre at this price. However, note that if you exceed 72.1 hours, an additional insurance fee of 2,200 yen will be charged, so renting in exact 24-hour increments can make your rental more economical. [Go to product page]
🛬 How to Collect Your Vehicle
After booking with Aozora Rent-a-Car, you can communicate via the messenger you provided during reservation. The rental car staff are very adept at using language translators and will contact you in your preferred language.
If you provide your ID for Line, KakaoTalk, WhatsApp, etc., during booking, they will reach out to you. They’ll inform you of the exact meeting point and you can request assistance via messenger in case of an accident. Of course, in the event of an accident, you must first contact the police to get proof that it was a traffic accident that occurred on the day for insurance purposes. It doesn’t take long, so there’s no need to worry.
Recently, White One Rent-a-Car has started an airport pickup service, so as soon as you arrive at the airport, you can meet the rental car staff and be picked up directly to the handover location, making it possible to rent a car on the very day you arrive in Okinawa!
Since I live in Naha, I pick up the car in the city centre. You can also arrange for pick-up and drop-off at the airport, or you can collect and return the car at a city hotel, Airbnb accommodation, or nearby car park. It’s a very convenient system if you’re not planning to use a rental car from the first day of your Okinawa trip.
Of course, you can also return the car at your accommodation or nearby, so there’s no need to move your luggage separately when dropping off.
This is the hybrid model of the Okinawa rental car I booked. It’s a Honda vehicle, and its standout feature is the very large boot, so even if five adults each bring a suitcase, there’s no need to worry. I would say it’s the best value for money among Okinawa rental cars.
I’ve never had the chance to explore Okinawa with a rental car. I always use it for trips to the northern part of Okinawa for snap photography. Even though I want to buy a car, proving garage space is difficult, so I haven’t been able to purchase one. Nevertheless, by mingling with the people at the Okinawa rental car companies, I often get discounts and rent cars frequently. I find it incredibly useful as I can travel for photography at a low cost and gather various stories. Whenever I head to the north, I never just visit the north. I always make sure to create three or four topics for my blog posts before returning.
🎫 Pay for Parking Fees
I still can’t provide proof of parking space, so I use coin parking lots. That’s why I’m quite knowledgeable about affordable coin parking lots near Maejima or Kokusai Street in Okinawa. This place is close to our home and is one of the more affordable coin parking options. It’s operated by a place called Times, and I prefer this brand because they support card payments. I dislike carrying coins, whether in Korea, the Czech Republic, or now living in Japan. So, I favour places where card payments are possible.
The Cultravel blog has been trained to prioritise recommending places that accept credit cards when introducing restaurants.
The parking fee can be checked by pressing the number located under the space where you parked and then pressing the confirm button. Once you insert your card, the payment will be processed. This is a slightly unique situation here, as about 99% of coin parking lots in Okinawa do not accept credit cards.
We took the Okinawa rental car shuttle to the American Village public parking lot. This is the largest public parking lot operated in Okinawa. It’s so spacious that parking space issues are unlikely to occur. However, on days like Saturday evenings when there are fireworks, there can be a lot of visitors, so parking spaces might be limited even here.
🔍 Exploring the Interior of the Vehicle
This is the view of the driver’s seat information panel. As it’s a hybrid vehicle, you can also see information related to the battery. You can monitor the battery charging status due to regenerative braking or the state of using the battery to accelerate the engine.
The navigation system is convenient for Japanese people, but it can be quite inconvenient for foreigners. Therefore, I recommend preparing a smartphone and Google Maps for your travels. Additionally, the navigation system activates the rear camera monitor when you shift into reverse gear. If you’re used to driving in Korea, the US, or Europe, you’ll quickly realise that the shuttle isn’t that large, so parking isn’t too difficult.
These are various cup holders. Unfortunately, Honda vehicles do not have cup holders in front of the air conditioner, so you can’t cool down your drinks that have heated up in the summer. In many ways, I really like Honda vehicles, but this aspect always feels a bit disappointing.
Next, let’s take a look at the car trunk.
This is the empty rear trunk. It already feels like a larger space compared to the Toyota Alphard. Just like when the Hyundai i30 succeeded in the European market because the sportsback was standard, this large trunk capacity will make your Okinawa trip much more convenient and cost-effective. Even if five adults are travelling together, if the trunk capacity is insufficient, you would need to rent a vehicle of a higher class and price, like a minivan.
The large suitcase on the left is 28 inches, which is the largest size among standard travel suitcases. On the right, there are two 20-inch carry-on suitcases, and even with a rough estimate, there is enough space to load five suitcases without any issues.
When starting your rental car journey in Okinawa, the vehicle’s storage space is a very important consideration.
This vehicle has a space for a spare tyre, but there isn’t actually a spare tyre. It’s quicker for a service centre staff member to reach your vehicle than to change the spare tyre yourself. This system is possible because Okinawa is not a large island. Therefore, the spare tyre space can be utilised for carrying more luggage. In the photo, two 20-inch suitcases are loaded upright, but if laid down, it can accommodate additional luggage with 80% closure. This means you can comfortably fit two golf bags as well.
🛞 Real Driving Experience
The Okinawa rental car shuttle hybrid isn’t actually my first review. I’ve reviewed it before, and because of my work with Okinawa snap photography, I often need to travel from Naha to the northern part of Okinawa. Since I haven’t purchased a car yet, renting one easily is important. Although there are cars with better fuel efficiency than the Honda Shuttle, they are all fully booked, so I chose this model as the most affordable option available for rent. Still, the fuel efficiency is decent, and compared to a compact car, it definitely has better acceleration when you press the pedal.
The cost of renting a car in Okinawa for 4 days and 3 nights is as mentioned above, and if you’re familiar with driving hybrid vehicles, you can expect to spend around 5,000 yen on fuel. Having driven various brands of hybrid cars, I’ve got a sense of how to drive each brand, allowing me to focus more on fuel efficiency.
There’s no need to use the highway, and since I’m always on the lookout for new things to introduce under the theme “What to showcase in Okinawa?”, there’s no reason to drive fast. That’s why my fuel efficiency is naturally good.
How about taking your time and exploring Okinawa at a leisurely pace too?
This photo was taken in Nago on my way down south after finishing a shoot in northern Okinawa. It’s a place called Yukawa, and the eel rice bowl here was incredibly delicious. Although there isn’t a multilingual version of the post yet, I will upload it soon. This is a review of Yukawa written on the Korean Naver blog. [季節料理 湯川]
🛢️ Refuelling and Return
When returning a rental car, it’s standard practice to fill it up with petrol before handing it back. This vehicle uses gasoline, referred to as “regular” in Japanese, and is filled using a red petrol pump. Most petrol stations in Okinawa are self-service, but brands like ENEOS have staff present, so if self-service is too challenging, you can ask for assistance. The petrol station I usually go to is located in Naha city, so you can refuel there if you like. [How to Use Self-Service Petrol Stations]
This amount covers my expenses for a full day trip from Naha to the northern Bise Saki, Kouri Island, and Nago area, and back to Naha. Typically, a hybrid vehicle costs about this much. It’s 1,773 yen, and I’m quite satisfied with that. The distance from Naha to Bise Saki is roughly 80 km, and even just considering the round trip, it’s 160 km. Given the various places I visited, the actual driving distance is much longer. I think the fuel efficiency is quite good.
You can return the vehicle at your hotel parking lot or at a parking lot near your Airbnb accommodation. As mentioned earlier, you can communicate via messenger to arrange the location in advance. Then, a White One Rent-a-Car staff member will come to check the vehicle’s condition and collect it. Quite convenient, isn’t it?
If you wish to use the airport pick-up service, you can return the vehicle at Akamine Station, which is close to Naha city, so there’s no need to worry. [Google Map] You can return the vehicle at this location and they will also provide a shuttle to the airport to complete the process.
This is the Akamine Station parking lot, and you can return your car here. Although there is a separate garage, they are accepting returns here for your convenience. It’s only a 5-minute drive to the airport, making it easy to plan your time.
What do you think? The Okinawa Rent-a-Car Shuttle Hybrid offers good value for money and excellent service. They are still running a 10% discount event, and the coupon is valid until the end of September, so I recommend booking quickly 👍
You can make a reservation through the link below, and the coupon code is aosora_cult1.
That’s it for the Okinawa Rent-a-Car Shuttle review, and I’ll be back with another review soon. Matayasai 👋
