Category: Diving Asia – Pacific
Where to go scuba diving from Manila in the Philippines?
This blog post is brought to you by Rome2rio. It’s no secret that I long to return to Asia. Since the beginning of the year, we have been getting, month after month, some good news from Thailand, Indonesia and, more recently, the Philippines! I’m waiting for the entry conditions to ease in the same way as in Latin America, where I am currently travelling. …
2 weeks in Okinawa: my ultimate itinerary for scuba divers
Okinawa is slowly making a name for itself on the top scuba diving destinations in the world on the international scene. However, the details about where to go diving and travel around the islands remain unknown to most visitors and scuba divers outside Japan. Even if I covered in details my different trips from Naha to Yonaguni, it would be fair to ask me, …
Learning Japanese to scuba dive in Japan
If you are wondering why in the world someone would do that? I hear you. I can honestly say that over the 10 years of my scuba diving “career” this is by far the most insane project I have ever pursued. The truth is when you have the opportunity to fulfil a childhood dream, you just run for it, even if it doesn’t make …
Izu Peninsula diving: my top 5 dive sites
From the very first time I went diving in Japan in February 2017 to my last trip in October 2019, the Izu Peninsula quickly became my happy place on mainland Japan. Peaceful while being at a reasonable distance from lively Tokyo, I visited the area 8 times in all seasons including 6 scuba diving trips with my dive club in Tokyo. The Izu Peninsula …
The Miyakojima paradox
For my third trip to go diving in Okinawa, it was time to explore the last of the main islands I hadn’t visited yet: Miyako Island or Miyakojima in Japanese. Miyako is known for the Irabu Bridge, the longest toll-free bridge in Japan, and famous for cavern diving among Japanese scuba divers. To my greatest surprise, it was where I had the most fun …
Diving Yonaguni: Mission Hammerhead Sharks
After my first trip to Okinawa in June last year, I decided to delay my visit to the islands of Yonaguni and Ishigaki to the beginning of this year. Knowing that winter is not the best season for diving Yonaguni because of the winds and currents, why would I do this? The reason I went so early in the season was to see the hammerhead …
Yonaguni Monument : diving a mysterious underwater city in Okinawa
How to go diving in Yonaguni and not exploring the world-famous underwater Yonaguni Monument? On a mission to observe the hammerhead sharks migrating near Yonaguni Island, I got a single opportunity to finally see the mysterious Yonaguni monument. In the middle of the winters when the winds and currents are the strongest, I went scuba diving in a site that had been on my Okinawa …
10 reasons to go diving in Ishigaki and the Yaeyama Islands
At 1,956 km from Tokyo, Ishigaki is closer to Taiwan than to its own country’s mainland. The “stone wall island” is the gateway to the archipelago it forms with the islands of Iriomote, Taketomi, Hateruma, Kuroshima and Yonaguni. Ishigaki and the Yaeyama Islands are part of the Okinawa Prefecture, but the vibe here differs. It would be understandable to explore Okinawa Honto (the main …