Best Place to Live in Japan for Scuba?

[Vegan Shark]

I'm applying for a position to teach English in Japan right now, and although I don't get to pick where they send me, I do get to list my preferences. So what are the best towns and prefectures to live in for diving?

 

[japan-diver]

Okinawa would generally be considered the best place to be for diving easily.

 

[supergaijin]

There is diving all over Japan- basically the more south you are the easier it is to access. Okinawa is of course the most tropical.

That said, I found that it was often just as expensive to fly out of the country to SE Asia and dive for 10 days as face the costs of domestic travel/accom/diving costs while in Japan.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

Okinawa!

 

[Vegan Shark]

Okinawa it is, then! ...Watch them place me in Hokkaido or somewhere completely opposite

What are the diving regulations like in Japan? I remember my OW instructor ranting about his dive trip to Japan, how shops wouldn't let you simply rent tanks and weights and go off on your own, and instead required you to hire a guide too. And that people weren't allowed to buy their own tanks and use them. Any truth to this?

 

[Kevrumbo]

Chichi-jima - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ogasawara Travel Guide: Chichijima Island
Ogasawara High School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[japan-diver]

Travel within Japan has gotten a lot cheaper now that we have numerous LCC operating flight throughout the country. You can now catch a regular flight to Okinawa from Tokyo for less than Y6000. Hotels and diving are also very comparable in price to the rest of Asia. In Okinawa there is no problem with owning or renting a tank and just going diving with hundreds or great shore dives and even more boat dive sites.

 

[Golo]

[...]
That said, I found that it was often just as expensive to fly out of the country to SE Asia and dive for 10 days as face the costs of domestic travel/accom/diving costs while in Japan.

As I was living near a domestic airport in Japan, it was much cheaper for me to fly to Okinawa than anywhere else. Plus it was a short, direct flight (1.5 hours). Cost for hotel was also not that bad, I paid between 3500 and 4500 yen in high season per night for a single room with private bath, and you can get really good food for reasonable prices too. When I did my price comparisons, I found that it wasn't really significantly cheaper to go somewhere else in S.E. Asia, but as I only had a week to travel the time I saved going to Okinawa was worth the little difference to me. What I did was fly to Okinawa, check into the hotel, go to the dive shop and dive the same day.

Also, shipping gear is cheap, I paid 1600 yen to have my dive gear shipped from Okinawa to Kumamoto. Traveling with just carry-on is so much nicer.

Though I also have to say that I was only able to go on vacation when everybody else had vacation, so flight prices out of Japan were rather high.

[...]

What are the diving regulations like in Japan? I remember my OW instructor ranting about his dive trip to Japan, how shops wouldn't let you simply rent tanks and weights and go off on your own, and instead required you to hire a guide too. And that people weren't allowed to buy their own tanks and use them. Any truth to this?

I know people in Japan who own tanks and who go buddy beach diving. On Okinawa you can do tank rental for reasonable prices and go buddy diving. I know one place in Kumamoto who allows you to rent tanks, but it's the same price as a guided dive, and either is rather expensive. And you have to join their club and pay the annual fee. If you end up in Kumamoto then let me know and I will recommend you to another shop that doesn't do the typical Japanese 40 minutes limit dives. At least when I was diving with them, we ended up diving between 65 and 75 minutes a dive.