Category: Diving in Japan

Diving in Japan is one of the best in Asia-Pacific with famous diving spots mainly in the Okinawa Prefecture, including Okinawa main island, Ishigaki and Miyako Islands, and famous dives such as the Yonaguni Monument and the Kerama Islands National Park. Japan is a great destination for scuba divers who love shark diving and manta rays. A little less known, you can also try diving in the Shizuoka Prefecture, especially around the Izu Peninsula, reachable within 2 hours from Tokyo.

The marine life in Japan is mostly about manta rays, hammerhead sharks, turtles, dragon moray eels, soft corals nudibranchs. It’s the right place to go for experienced divers mainly. Due to the water temperatures, regarding scuba gear, it is most common to scuba dive there in a 5 mm wetsuit. The best time of the year is often from May to November. The best Japanese dive sites can be reached by boat or from the shore.

Below you will find all my best scuba diving stories from diving in Japan. I share my top tips on how to organise your trip, my favourite dives, what is the best itinerary or how to do it without breaking the bank. From a travel budget point of view, Japan is a higher-budget destination, so save up accordingly.

Kabira Bay Ishigaki Okinawa Japan

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,

Caffe latte art Harajuku Tokyo Japan

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

scuba diving osezaki japan

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

Miyakojima Irabu Bridge

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

Hammerhead sharks Diving Yonaguni Okinawa Japan

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 Okinawa Japan

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

Manta rays diving in Ishigaki Okinawa Japan

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

Stopover in Tokyo Sensoji shrine Asakusa Japan

My ultimate Tokyo layover guide on your way to the Pacific

After living in Tokyo for 4 months, the time I spent studying Japanese in a language school, it is now time for me to give you all my best tips to explore the lively Japanese capital. End of 2017, on my way to Hawaii via Tokyo, I realised how an incredible hub Tokyo could on the way to scuba dive some of the best