Visit Kumejima – Beaches, Caves, Views, and So Much More
Kumejima or Kume Island in English is somewhat of a remote island that belongs to Okinawa Prefecture in Japan 🇯🇵. Kumejima can be accessed through air or by sea and makes for a perfect weekend getaway. “Adventure” best describes Kume Island. Visitors can explore a mysterious cave, enjoy all kinds of water activities, hike to castles, dine in at local izakaya’s and so much more. If looking to visit Kumejima, this post outlines everything you need to know about visiting Kume Island, from getting there to things to do and see.
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Taking the Ferry to Kumejima
Wondering how to get to Kumejima? If living in Okinawa, it’s actually quite easy. There are two ways to travel to Kumejima, either by air✈️ or by sea🚢. Naha Airport does have direct flights to Kume Island. Flights to Kumejima from Naha Airport are around 30-45 minutes and can cost ¥10,000 one way. Surprisingly there are also flights to Kumejima from Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
Although, I don’t really recommend flying here, because of the cost, I do realize vacationers are limited on time and there are no other options, especially if you are not in Okinawa.
For those that are visiting Okinawa or live here, I recommend taking the ferry to Kumejima.
The ferry from Naha Port to Kume Island can take anywhere from 3.5 – 4 hours. The ferry makes a brief stop at another island, Tonaki Island. The ferry feels super luxurious with comfortable seating arraignments and access to the deck. There are even rooms for travelers to lay down and rest.
For updated ferry times and prices, I recommend visiting the Kume Line website. I also religiously visit the Visit Okinawa website for a listing of ferries around Okinawa. This site has the routes and official ferry websites. The timetable and prices below are taken directly from the Kume Line website.
Ferry Timetable to Kumejima from Naha
From Naha Arrives at Kumejima
9:00 am 12:30 – 13:00
From Kumejima Arrives at Naha
14:00 17:00
Ferry To Kumejima Price
One-way Roundtrip
Adult – ¥3450 Adult – ¥6560
Child – ¥1730 Child – ¥3110
Best Way to Get Around Kumejima
Kumejima is a rather decent sized island. I’ve been to other islands off the coast of Okinawa like Zamami Island and Ie Shima. These islands were small enough, where I brought my bike aboard the ferry and cycled around the island.
Kumejima was bigger then I expected, therefore I am glad we decided to rent a car🚗. Surprisingly, there are car rental companies on Kumejima. We booked a car rental through Rentalcars.com. We found a nice Daihatsu Move at a rental company near the airport called Orix Rent-a-car.
The car rental was cheap and the little Daihatsu Move got us to every place we planned on visiting while in Kumejima. We filled the car up once before returning the car which costed us around ¥1600.
Apparently, there is a bus that goes around the island. We saw several stops, but although cheap it seemed rather inconvenient. The bus stops were far from the actual destinations and it seems like a lot of time would be wasted just waiting for the bus.
There are other options besides car rentals. We saw shops that had mopeds for rent and mini jeeps for rent, that looked like it could be fun!
For Car Rental Bookings, check out Rentalcars.com or Agoda.com.
Visit Kumejima - Things to Do and See
If looking to visit Kumejima, there is plenty of activities to do here to keep you busy for a long weekend. To me, Kumejima was an “Adventure” and offered so much more then I even expected. In one day, we explored a cave, visited several castles, saw beautiful tropical fish in tidal pools, and went to many other attractions scattered throughout the island. Here is a list of things to do and see in Kumejima that I recommend.
Brief Stop at Goeda Pine of Kume
On our first full day exploring Kumejima, we started off with a visit to Goede Pine of Kume🌳.
This gigantic pine tree is 6 meters tall and is 250 m² including the branches. Goeda Pine of Kume is over 250 years old. The branches spread across the ground instead of rising upward like traditional trees.
Surrounding the tree is a nice park with a walking trail, benches, and a restroom.
Drive the Forest Road, Popular for Sakura Trees
There is a road on the south end of the island called Camino Forestal de Arla, according to Google Maps. We drove this road from Bird’s Mouth to Ara Beach and it was a stunning drive.
At the time we went (July, 2023) the road was well maintained with gorgeous views around every bend. The road was lined with Sakura trees, although they weren’t in bloom in July, I could only imagine how gorgeous this road is during Sakura Season.
Drive the Mystery Road, Colina Fantasma
Colina Fantasma or the Mystery Slope is a fun place to make a brief stop if you have a car.
If you park your car on the road between the markers provided, put your car in neutral, and your vehicle will start to roll forwards even though it appears you are driving uphill.
Apparently, in 1990 a teacher put his car in neutral at this location, jumped out to pick some flowers and the car began driving itself.
Ever since this event, people from around the world who visit Kumejima have been fascinated by this mystery slope. The name, Obakezaka (Haunted Slope) was given to this location.
Explore Yajiyagama Cave
By far the coolest cave in all of Okinawa is Yajiyagama Cave. Yajiyagama Cave was such an adventure and a must when planning a visit to Kumejima.
This cave is free for visitors to enter. Just note that it is not guided or anything, so enter at your own risk and respect the warning signs, animals, and burials. There are protected bats that live in this cave.
Bring a flashlight and walk from the entrance of the cave to the end, there is a maintained trail. Take note, the cave does end but visitors must back track and exit the same way.
There is a parking lot at the cave entrance and a path that leads down to the cave. First, I couldn’t help but notice the urns all over the cave that were broken exposing human bones. At the exit of the cave, there are several broken urns with visible skulls. I am not sure what the history is behind the burial mounds here or how old they are but found it fascinating and a tad eerie.
Mifuga Rock
Mifuga Rock is a prominent rock formation located right next to the coast. It is said that Mifuga Rock is a symbol for women and can bring good luck.
Mifuga Rock is unique because it’s a massive formation with a giant hole in the middle. There is a parking lot here and visitors need to briefly walk from the parking lot to Mifuga Rock. Unfortunately, you cannot walk through the opening as it opens up to dangerous sea conditions.
Pay a Visit to the Sea Turtle Museum
Who doesn’t love sea turtles? Kumejima has a museum or aquarium dedicated to sea turtles. The picture above is from a wild sea turtle I saw swimming at Ara Beach.
On Ojima Island you can find the Kumejima Sea Turtle Museum. It is a small museum with information on sea turtles both locally and from around the world. There is also an aquarium here with real sea turtles. It seems like the Sea Turtle Museum does a good job at conservation and the protection of sea turtles on Kumejima.
Relax and Enjoy the Many Beaches
I would argue that most visitors visit Kumejima for the pristine and remote beaches and want to simply enjoy a stress free and relaxing vacation.
Kumejima has plenty of beautiful beaches that are worth visiting. Of course, there is Eef Beach right by the resort. I walk Eef Beach every morning. Eef Beach is a white sand beach and you can walk several kilometers here. When I visited, water conditions were not ideal, so I did not get into the water as I originally planned.
Tokujimu Natural Park and Beach could have been a beautiful beach with clear water if it weren’t for the trash that washes ashore here. It’s not Kumejima’s fault that trash washes ashore but I feel a lot more can be done to clean the beaches here. Most plastic bottles I saw on the beach came from China.
Ara Beach, my favorite and one of the prettiest beaches I’ve been to in Okinawa was picture perfect. Of course, we visited Ara Beach on the last day right before dropping the rental car off. It took a little effort to get to Ara Beach but it was worth it. We had the beach to ourselves. This beach was remote and pristine. We even saw a happy sea turtle swimming around the water.
See The Castle Ruins
For a small island, there are quite a few castles on Kumejima. There are about five castles on the island, all ruins. The two castle ruins I visited were Gushikawa Castle Ruins and Uegusuku Castle Ruins.
Gushikawa Castle Ruins are on the way to Mifuga Rock. It is estimated the castle was built at some point between the 14th and 15th centuries. A sign at the castle ruins said the castle was origincally built by Madafutsu Aji. Like many castles in Okinawa, the building material was made from coral limestone.
Uegusuku Castle Ruins sit high on top of a mountain overlooking the entire island. I believe Uegusuku Castle is the highest located castle in the Ryukyu Kingdom.
History for this castle dates back to 1372 when King Satto of Chuzan arrived on Kumejima.
Spot Tropical Fish at the Tidal Pools
Growing up, when visiting places near the ocean one of my favorite past times was to walk around tidal pools with my dad, spotting unique marine life. To this day, I still love exploring tidal pools and Kumejima has the best tidal pools in all of Okinawa. On Google Maps, on the northern end of the island is a marker called Home to Tropical Fish. This is an extensive area with tidal pools and rivers reaching the coast.
The tidal pools were absolutely gorgeous with beautiful fish everywhere you look. Some of the tidal pools, more like rivers were deep and filled with beautiful coral. We saw tons of tropical fish, a lion fish, and Jill claims she saw an octopus.
Take in the Views at Hiyajo Banta Cliff
Some of the best views on Kumejima are from an observation deck at a rest stop called Hiyajo Banta Cliff.
This facility appeared newer and had a toilet, small rest area with a restaurant, and a multi story observation deck.
The views from the observation deck were out of this world. Lush green forests, white puffy clouds, and blue ocean as far as the eyes could see.
Visit Ojima Island and See the Tatami Rocks
Ojima Island is a small island connected to Kume Island by bridge. There are a few attractions on the island to include the Sea Turtle Museum, a few lookout spots, and the Tatami Rock formations.
The tatami rock formations are free to visit and are located right behind the campground.
The tatami rocks are named this because they kind of look like neatly organized tatami mats. In fact, these rocks were formed by a geologic process where the magma cooled and hardened. Over time through erosion, they got their unique shape.
Walk to the Seal Gachi Bridge, the Bridge to Nowhere
I am not completely sure what the story is behind the Seal Gachi Bridge. To me, it appeared to be a bridge that led to nowhere as there was nothing on either side of the bridge.
It’s best to visit this bridge during low tide unless you plan on swimming. But during low tide, you can actually walk to the bridge and over to the other side.
I recommend visiting the bridge to nowhere just because it is a unique attraction and the water colors are just beautiful.
Recommended Places to Eat Around Kumejima
Kumejima, surprisingly had a lot of restaurants scattered throughout the island. If you are into Okinawan and Japanese cuisine, you can find it all here! We went to Izakaya’s, a Shokudo, Soba restaurant, and a seafood restaurant. There are so many restaurants on Kumejima, we had troubles trying to narrow down the restaurants we wanted to pay a visit.
There are a couple of Family Mart Convenience Stores on Kumejima and an A Coop for actual groceries. Family Mart was ideal for small snacks and drinks.
We did the research and went to restaurants listed below and they did not disappoint! I would say, you won’t find McDonald’s or any chains really here. All restaurants were very local. Thankfully we were greeted and welcome by everyone!
寛ぎ屋南美花 (Izakaya)
This was the first restaurant we visited while in Kumejima. We chose this Izakaya based on the location, it was literally behind the place we stayed and had good reviews on Google.
Izakaya’s are Japan’s version of a pub or tapas. You come here to drink and get small dishes. These are some of my favorite types of restaurants in Japan because the food is always local and fresh. It is fun to try smaller plates of various dishes.
While at this Izakaya, we had Taco Spring Rolls, Goya Champuru, and Karaage. Paired with an ice cold Orion Beer, this Izakaya was definitely worth it, everything we had here was phenomenal.
Shima-Monkey (Izakaya)
Shima-Monkey was probably our favorite restaurant on Kumejima. Shima-Monkey was more of an Izakaya and had a huge menu. For starters, we ordered their potato salad which was fantastic. It came in a bowl with all the mixings and we mixed it together, simply perfect! We also ordered fried cheese, Mozuku Tempura, which is a kind of fried seaweed. Jill claims Shima-Monkey had the best Mozuku Tempura. We also ordered Fu Champuru and Chicken Nan Ban. Everything we ordered here was delicious, we would both come back to Shima-Monkey.
がーでんきっちん&かふぇ城 (Shokudo Restaurant)
がーでんきっちん&かふぇ城 was a local shokudo restaurant we stopped in for lunch. This Shokudo is located on the northern part of Kumejima, near the tropical fish tidal pools.
This Shokudo was as local as it gets and the owners were super friendly. Both Jill and I ordered the daily special which was Goya Champuru. Goya is a bitter melon and considered to be a “Super Food” because it has a lot of health benefits. Champuru is an Okinawan stir fry.
Their Goya Champuru was great. The set meal also came with small sides to include rice and a small bowl of Soba.
Yuki (Okinawan Soba)
In town, not far from the ferry terminal is a Okinawan Soba restaurant called Yuki. We choose this restaurant based on location to the ferry terminal and they were open for lunch.
I ordered their Soki Soba which isa soba that uses spare ribs in their dish as the main meat. I found their soba to be very good and the price was right at under ¥1000 for a large bowl of soba.
Visit Kumejima - Is it Worth it?
I love exploring the islands off of Okinawa’s mainland. Every Island I’ve visited whether it be Zamami Island or Iriomote Island they all have a sense of adventure and Kume Island is no different. We had so much fun exploring Kumejima, seeing the castles, walking through Yajiyagama Cave, and eating at local Izakaya’s.
If visiting Okinawa, taking a ferry to Kumejima was easy and relaxing. So was Kumejima worth visiting? I believe so and highly recommend a visit to Kumejima.
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Plan Your Trip: 🗺️✈️🇯🇵
Booking Accommodations ⛺️🛖
For booking recommendations on the best deals and locations, check out Agoda or Booking.com
Activities and Tours 🏖️🚁
Find fun activities and things to do through Tripadvisor. If you are looking for tours and day trips, Viator and Get Your Guide have a lot of great options.
In need of a car rental? 🚗🚘
I recommend checking with Rental Cars.
Train Travel 🚂🚊
For the JR Pass, tickets can be purchased on the JR Pass site.
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