Blue Cave, Cape Maeda

photo by Arichika Taniguchi · CC BY-SA 3.0

The light turns blue because of its wavelength: jumping into the sea from the rocks is forbidden here.

From the headland of Cape Maeda, a ramp leads down to an entry point into the water, from which you swim or dive towards a sea cave: sunlight, refracted in the water, colours the inside an intense blue. It is one of the most crowded snorkelling and diving spots in Okinawa, run by an office that watches the sea with cameras and decides day by day whether conditions allow entry.

A sea cave on the west side of the Maeda headland, in the municipality of Onna, on the central coast of Okinawa. The site is run as a facility with an office, a car park and paid services; entry into the water is regulated according to sea conditions, which are checked by the management office.

ℹ️ Car park open 7:00–19:00, ¥100/hour; management office 8:30–17:30; closed 1–3 January (source: Onna tourist association page, opened). Shower ¥200, locker ¥100. Jumping into the sea from the rocks is prohibited; no liability is declared for accidents in the water. ⚠️ I was not able to open the official site (maedamisaki.jp, four attempts failed with a connection error) to confirm the system of safety flags (blue/yellow/red) cited by several secondary sources but not verified first-hand: I am leaving it stated as unconfirmed, not as fact.

🚉 Yamada · 18 min walk

Sources: odnsym.com · goto-onna.com · bluecavenavi.net

All series · Open the map