Shore diving

[gkis]

Hello divers,
We are a couple of retirees in our mid 50s running away from the cold Canadian Winters, looking for the ideal place that has some shore diving opportunities. We tried Bonaire, closer to home but way to expensive for long term living, we tried So.Leyte and Siquijor in Philippines, nice coral and macro but impossible for me to get used to the heat and noise, the roosters,dogs and loud music make it a nightmare to live there.
We like to do our own thing, my wife requires a bit of extra time and doesn't want to hold others back.
Would Okinawa be something you'd recommend from November to end of April? The milder weather is a bonus, can do lots of outdoor activities, bike, hike, hard to do it in the tropics in 30C, 1km walk in the Philippines in full sun leads to heat stroke for sure.
Thank you for your replies

 

[MacDuyver]

Okinawa shore dives all depend on your physical abilities.

There are only a handful I can think of that are easy-going entries along a sandy bottom.
-Mermaids Grotto/Apogama (incredible site, entry is easy, but conditions can get a bit spicy if weather is rolling in)
-Sunabe South Steps (large soft coral reef)
-Gala/Tombs (easy going shallow reef dive)
-Jams (there’s a bit of a trick to this site but once you know how to find the drop-in by the breaker it’s not difficult)
-Gorilla Chop (straight forward in and out shallow dive)
-Kin Red Beach (not worth the trip unless you’re doing an equipment check and want an easy access place that will get you down to 45 ft)

Most of the other easier entry points I've seen are great for snorkeling, but not deep enough to dive (6-10ft at high tide, half that or less at low tide out 50-200m from shore, followed by a sudden drop off to depths ranging from 35ft to 100ft+. Theyre great dives, but the surface swim/walk/crawl is quite significant)

All The other shore dive sites are 50+m or so of petrified reef before you get to enough depth to swim further to the drop off. The water is usually pretty calm, but you have to watch the surf reports.

If you’re good for coral crawls it’s fantastic. If you’ve got knee hip or back problems I don’t recommend. The reefs are generally not a uniform surface and have a lot of holes in them ranging from foot sized to several feet deep.

November through April is a pretty good time to dive Oki. It’ll be 5mm weather, but the fish will still be there. The majority of divers on island tend to not dive if they need more than a 3mm, so There will not be many locals aside from the true enthusiasts (both military and civilian).

The environment is much much much quieter than the Philippines though. Japan is much more reserved than the Philippines and typically keeps noisy events indoors. Inside the night club it will be a sensory-overload madhouse, but out on the street you’ll hardly notice. It’s a good place

 

[gkis]

Thank you very much MacDuyver, your reply shows a lot of insight and consideration, I saw that in all your past replies, much appreciated.
Now it's my wife's turn to work on logistics, she is from Osaka, but she is motivated especially if she gets to spend a couple of weeks at an onsen in Kyushu.

 

[MacDuyver]

Thanks!

I'd love to hear your reports on kyushu! I'm itching to do more mainland diving and have been eyeing the area.

Not to dissuade you at all, if you can get a chance to come down to Okinawa, I'd say take it (be mindful that typhoon season goes into November and this year has been pretty active since mid September). The boat dives around Okinawa are absolutely stunning, and there are several charters that allow quite a bit of autonomy.

- English Empire Divers is quite flexible if you schedule in advance and talk to Richard about where you'd like to go. He's a huge fan of the Keramas which is my #1 overall location in Japan. It's never a bad dive in Keramashoto.

- Aloha Divers is great, friendly, and very knowledgeable about dive sites and marine life. I'm a big fan of them, however they run a bit more of a regimented time schedule, so that would probably be less of "doing your own thing." Andrea conducts the most professional pre-dive site briefs I've seen yet and is an outstanding guide.

- Bubble Addicts is one I plan on diving with for the first time this winter. From people I know who've dived with them, and their facebook postings, they seem to be another charter service that can be more accommodating with specific site requests if you contact them a few weeks in advance. I can't fully vouch for them though since this is all second hand information.

I also have only been diving with English speaking charters.

Feb/March is my favorite time to dive in the winter/spring months. The whales are around Oki that time of year, so there's a decent chance you'll see one breaching at some point on the boat. You're pretty much guaranteed to at least hear them while you're under water.

 

[gkis]

Thank you again MacDuyver, outstanding help!!!
Boat diving for me for sure(my wife will be just happy to stick with the shore dives), and the knowledge you shared with me will go a long way, hope to meet some of you and do some shore dives together.