Tropical Beach
👋 Haisai! It’s CULT here.
Today, I’ll tell you about a tropical beach that’s great to visit when driving around Okinawa with a rental car. Typically, tourists pick up their rental cars and head north after arriving in Okinawa. While there is Naminoue Beach in the city, the Tomari Bridge blocks the horizon, which can feel a bit stifling. This beach is the first one where you can see the horizon as soon as you leave the city. Located next to the wide Route 58, it’s very accessible and has commercial facilities, making it a convenient stop before continuing your journey.
📌 Location and Opening Hours
As you can see on the map, Tropical Beach is located in Ginowan City, where the southern region of Okinawa ends and the central region begins. I’ll share the opening hours and operation details while you look at the photo below [Google Map]
Opening hours vary by season, so please make sure to check them carefully before your visit. Lifeguards are stationed during opening hours, and in Okinawa Prefecture, swimming in areas without lifeguards is strongly prohibited. If you swim in areas without lifeguards or in unauthorized locations and an accident occurs, insurance will not cover it, even if you are insured.
Therefore, please ensure you enjoy swimming safely during the times when lifeguards are overseeing your safety 🛟
🏖️ Facilities at Tropical Beach
There is a free car park at Tropical Beach, but if you visit on a weekend afternoon, it might already be full, and you may need to park in a nearby paid car park. If you go at a slightly off-peak time or early, you can find a convenient spot to park.
Vending machines can be found almost everywhere. You might also notice Westerners around, as there is a US Marine Corps camp nearby, so you often see military personnel, and there are many Westerners on the beach itself.
These tent-style benches are available for a fee. I couldn’t confirm the exact price, but in Okinawa, such benches can usually be rented for between 2,000-3,000 yen per day. Here are the other rental prices. (per day basis)
Parasol 1,000 yen / Sunbed 1,000 yen / Swimming tube 500 yen / Children’s life jacket free of charge
In the central part of the beach, there are commercial facilities. Here, you can find essentials for swimming or visit the kiosk to order a simple meal or ice cream. The opening hours are the same as the timetable mentioned above. If you’re planning a barbecue party, you can inquire here.
And there are coin lockers available as well. They double as changing rooms. While these are commonly found at most beaches in Okinawa, the ones here are better maintained.
There is also a coin-operated shower, but the unique feature of Tropical Beach is that it also has hot water showers. Hot water shower facilities are usually not common. However, since the cold water showers aren’t too chilly, I don’t think it’s necessary to insist on hot water. For 100 yen, you get 3 minutes of water.
The footbath is available for free.
Even if you’re not swimming, for those who just want to dip their feet in the sea up to their ankles, this is a must. If you get into the car with sand on your shoes or feet, those grains of sand will be rolling around inside the car until the end of your trip. It’s subtly annoying and not good for your skin, so after dipping your feet in the seawater, I recommend rinsing them with fresh water.
🏖️ The View of Tropical Beach
This is Tropical Beach. It was the end of June, and it was low tide, so the sea had receded quite a bit. During such times, it’s even safer if you’re travelling with children. The blue buoys in the photo mark the jellyfish prevention net and the lifeguard’s safety control area. If you get stung by a jellyfish or an accident occurs outside that line, insurance won’t cover it.
As I always say, safety first, safety second, the most important thing is your safety 🙏
I climbed up onto the breakwater to capture the view of Tropkill Beach. Watching the sunset from the breakwater is also a nice option. Typically, in summer, the sun hovers near the horizon around 7 PM. If you happen to be travelling north or south along Route 58 around 7 PM, take a moment to enjoy the sunset from this breakwater.
You can enjoy a more open and refreshing view of the sunset compared to the American Village Sunset Beach.
Oh, what an adorable signpost! Where have you come from? I’m from Prague, Czech Republic, and it seems similar to Paris, France. I’ve travelled from about 8,500km away 🤗
If you’ve come to the sea, you must gaze at the stunning horizon, right? In the eastern part of Okinawa, you can easily enjoy the Pacific horizon, but the western part has a few more restrictions. This is because, historically, the western sea of Okinawa has been continuously affected by tsunamis due to earthquakes, leading to the installation of many tsunami prevention breakwaters in the middle of the sea. However, Tropical Beach is located slightly outside the tsunami impact zone, so when you look at the horizon, the breakwaters are less visible.
If you turn your gaze, you can also see the American Village. It’s approximately 4km away in a straight line. I’ll upload more about the Sunset Beach at the American Village soon!
When travelling from the south to the north of Okinawa, or vice versa, using a rental car, I often recommend taking Route 58 instead of the highway. How about stopping by Tropical Beach along Route 58 to enjoy the summer? It’s very accessible, and if there’s no parking space, you can simply head to Araha Beach instead. Although, Araha Beach does have less parking space. Okinawa has numerous beaches to expand your options, and I’ll introduce them all to you!
I’ll wrap up here for now, and I’ll be back with more Okinawa travel information. Matayasai 👋
