Most travel is by car, bus or taxi, although there is a monorail in Naha that runs from the Airport to the city centre and Shuri Castle. The main road is Route 58 which runs from southern Okinawa to Nago in northern Okinawa. Route 58 is on the East China Sea side of the island. During the summer months, the volume of rental cars can make traffic very heavy on Route 58.
Cycling around Okinawa island is possible but not very practical. The island is very densely populated and car traffic is heavy almost everywhere. In Japan it's customary to ride your bike on the sidewalk instead of the actual road (supposedly due to the unsafety of doing the latter), but the sidewalk has the disadvantage of having to evade other pedestrians, overgrowth, the occasional antisocially parked car, and cars pulling out of driveways. Japanese drivers are polite and not aggressive, but have a habit of often not looking where they are going when pulling out of driveways or taking corners. The terrain itself is very hilly and becomes more challenging the further you move away from the coast. If you find yourself on the east side of the island and want to go to the west side or vice versa, you will have to cross the range of steep hills that runs along the length of Okinawa. A moped or motorcycle helps to overcome this, but it's still very important to stay alert and avoid obstacles or cars.
Several buses travel routes around the island.
About the easiest way to get around the island though is by taking public transport. There is a large bus terminal in Naha right near Kokusai-dori which can get you to any part of the island without too much hassle. There are no signs in English however if you do your research on which busses you need to take you should be fine. Even in the busy summer months you'll usually be one of 2-3 people riding the busses.
A word of warning though, some of the farther-travelling busses tend to be fewer and further between with waits up to 2hours for the next bus not uncommon and is particularly the case when going to the aquarium or Peace Museum. However these busses tend to be more common on the weekends (as opposed to their mainland counterparts) .
Lastly, there is a monorail system within Naha starting from the airport leading all the way to Shuri Castle. Tickets are cheap and the ride is comfortable. May be crowded during rush hour though.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Okinawa Island
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Okinawa Island - updated May 2024
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Okinawa Island Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
