Okinawa Aquarium

Love this place
My first visitors came to Okinawa October 13th! It was so much fun having my mom, sister and baby Eithan here. I even bought him a crib which will stay in my apartment for anyone who visits and has a little one (AKA Martene and Chantal xo)! 

So during their time here we visited the amazing Ocean Expo Park near the city Nago on Okinawa Island. This is the largest aquarium in Asia and was breathtaking. It reminded me a lot of an aquarium I visited on the Sunny Coast in Australia when I lived there in 2006/2007. It was at that aquarium in Oz where I went diving in a massive tank full of sharks and stingrays in order to get out of a very awkward date I was on at the time. Poor guy had no idea what he was getting himself into, until we ended up wearing diving suits and walking/bouncing around in a MASSIVE tank full of some of the most terrifying underwater creatures! Anyhoo this blog isn't about that date or even about that dive but had to re-call that very funny memory from the past, at least for Jodie's entertainment!

He is so excited

Eithan had a blast looking at and observing all the fish, sharks and underwater creatures. He was in his element closely tracking their every move! He really connected with the sea turtles flying through the water and the crazy lobsters!

Ocean Expo Park

Mom and baby Eithan

Sister Carly

Crazy lobsters

Ewww eels!

Gorgeous to stand in front of

Eithn was so giggly as the sharks and rays swam by us

I wanted to jump in there too!

Awww what a lovely moment

The aquarium is actually just a small section of Ocean Expo Park. Included in your pass is the dolphin arena, where the cuties perform a live show daily. There is a traditional Okinawan village where you can see traditional life, artwork and foods from the area. There is a massive garden as well with lots of trees and pathways to stroll through. Lots more to see as well but can’t quite remember all the details! I would recommend this visit to anyone who loves nature, animals and beauty. Its about 20 bucks entrance or you can apply for a year pass if you live in Okinawa, costing around 40 bucks!

The Ocean Expo Park is an hourish drive from my house and what a lovely drive it is!! Driving from the busy South part of the island to the peaceful North is like going on a mini holiday. Okinawa is so much like Hawaii and the drive up North just reminds you of that once again. Its is so gorgeous with its secluded white sand beaches, off-shore islands and palm trees galore. You can drive to the many islands using the bridges that connect them. The newest one, built only 5 years ago is gorgeous and connects Kouri Island to Yagiji Island which then connects to Okinawa. Truly paradise and so lovely that you can hop in your car and drive there, instead of taking a boat or flying which is how you have to get to the majority of the islands near Okinawa! I will attach the location of these islands at the end of the blog so you can look it up. 

Here we go

Fall day at the beach

Funky roadside shop

Love the pink car to the right

Wish i could read the green sign

Cute

What a view

Reminds me of Vancouver Island

I went back to find this tree and get a photo, LOVE IT