Blue Waters and Big Whales

August 7, 2015 - Okinawa Day 2

Today started off a bit slow. I was hoping to go to Ie Jima today which would be a thirty minute ferry ride away. Luckily for us, the port was not so far from where we were staying. So after breakfast, we headed that way. I must of read the ferry time schedule incorrectly because we had just missed the ferry by thirty minutes! The next ferry wouldn't be coming for a couple hours so we hung out near the port at this beach we had seen.

The water was so blue and beautiful and so was the white sand. At the beach we hung out at, we saw a few people snorkeling as well as scuba diving. I was really wishing for a snorkel set and float to see what was under that water!! The weather was super cloudy but not raining so I was really thankful about that. At the beach, we took advantage of the time and beautiful scenery with taking a bunch of photos. My siblings are really silly people so the outcome in photos was rather hilarious.

Once time came around, we decided to go back to the ferry port. But to our surprise, the last ferry to come back from the island was at 4pm! That would leave us only a few hours to explore the island. What to do? What to do!? Everyone had said we should save it for tomorrow and be sure to arrive early to catch the first ferry and that today we should go to the aquarium. So that we did. I still really wanted to swim though. So we luckily found some snorkel stuff at a near by shop and drove the Emerald Beach near the aquarium to get some swim in.

The day was super windy and cloudy so when we arrived on the beach the sand actually hurt when it hit you! But with other people still swimming and trying to enjoy the day, we joined them in the water as well. Emerald Beach, unfortunately, was not as natural as the beach we were just at. The beach was meant for swimming so it was protected from the ocean with a barrier. This was safe for families and swimmers but it meant we couldn't snorkel! We wore goggles in the water anyways but all you could see was sea weed and sand. I actually saw one fish though! Just one! It was nice to be in a swim suit anyways.

After spending some time in the water and trying to dry off, we all headed to Churaumi Aquarium. This I was really excited for because of their large tank which housed whale sharks!! I had booked us a tour to swim with whale sharks tomorrow morning but with this weather there was no telling if it would be cancelled or not. Emerald Beach was really close to the aquarium so it was easy to get there. Once we got our ticket we headed in to explore the place. I've always loved aquariums. Sure it is sad that the animals are stuck in there but seeing a world that is completely different from mine on land is really special. We saw many different types of sea life but my favorite was definitely the tank with the whale sharks! The tank was massive and held so many different species of sharks, rays, whales, and fish. It is incredible to think all this stuff is in the oceans! The whale sharks were really something else. They are SO big and majestic. An interesting thing we got to see was their feeding. So they feed on krill, plankton and small things right?But the strange things I didn't know is they feed vertically. Like their bodies are vertical while eating! Three large whale sharks feeding all at the same time was really cool. I think it would be such an honor to be able to swim with them or any of these beautiful creatures!

Churaumi was pretty large and had a lot of different things to see. We spent a fair bit amount of time there until closing time. After the aquarium, all of us were ready to lay down and rest. So after a bit of a lay down, we headed back out to find food! Again we didn't want to get into a car so we walked until we saw something that looked promising. We ended up at a Japanese izakaya. It looked like there were people there so we figured why not. Luckily the menu had pictures for us to order. I ordered a taco rice to keep in with the Okinawa theme of things. Funny thing at dinner was my sisters actually ordered a dish primarily of chicken SKIN! HA! Tricky thing about pictures is sometimes they aren't what you may think they are!

The day was nice and I am thankful God kept it rain free for us. Tomorrow is my 27th birthday as well as our last full day in Okinawa. Hoping for the best!!


xx
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