THE HAWAII OF JAPAN

Exploring Okinawa, the country's paradisiacal archipelago, offered everything Marianna Hunt could have wanted from a first visit, from clear blue waters to lush green flora and fauna

- By Marianna Hunt

There are many good reasons to guzzle down a Japanese hotpot. One being: it's delicious. However, fatigue from having kayaked in 32C temperatures through mangrove forests is rarely one of them.

That’s Okinawa for you. It’s Japan’s most southerly prefecture and the only one with a subtropical climate. This island chain, often called the Hawaii of Japan, is perhaps the only place where you can start your day, as I did, with a traditional Japanese onsen experience, continue it with a snorkel excursion among coral reefs, and end it with a steaming bowl of shabu-shabu.

The flight from Tokyo to Okinawa (both the name of the archipelago and of its main island) took about two-and-a-half hours. I’d booked both legs with Japanese airline ANA, so the transfer from my London-Tokyo flight to the domestic flight was very smooth, although you do still have to take your hold luggage through customs in Tokyo.

My plane touched down in Naha, the capital of Okinawa prefecture. The city is the gateway to the Kerama Islands and one of the best diving and snorkelling spots in Asia. While the ocean was a beautiful shade of turquoise, most of the city is a sprawling industrial port or mesh of highrise buildings. The loveliest bits of Okinawa’s main island are the beaches in the centre and the north, which is where I was headed.

I hopped on a group snorkelling tour of Kerama with snorkelling company Marine House Seasir (from ¥4,000 or £20 per adult for a half day). Within half an hour’s boat ride, we were all gasping at the clear ocean. In parts, you can see 40 or 50 metres deep and the water is a crystallised aquamarine colour so distinctive it has its own name: Kerama Blue.