Weekend in the Keramas

We are becoming more and more aware of the fact that our time here will be gone before we know it (even though sometimes it seems like forever away) and we need to take advantage of everything we can while we're out here. The Kerama Islands are part of Okinawa Prefecture and are supposed to have some of the most beautiful water in the world! It's a short hour ferry ride away, so I had 3 days off, Grant took a Friday off and we headed out for the weekend. Our friends recommended a guest house, Kawai Diving, where we decided to stay, and it was PERFECT! Exactly the kind of weekend away that we were looking for.

 We drove down to Naha and took the Queen Zamami ferry. It was really nice, airplane-type seating underneath and an open deck on top. We were the only Americans on the boat, so of course Rowan got a lot of attention and several photos taken. He loved it. The port is also near the airport, so there were several planes taking off and landing which he was so excited about. Airplanes are definitely one of his favorite things right now.

Almost there!...

We arrived on Aka Island around 10am and the guest house picked us up and took us and our luggage back to the house, a short 3 minute drive or so. The family that owns the home is so friendly and accommodating, it was wonderful to spend the weekend there. We couldn't check in until 3, so we dropped our stuff in the lobby, changed into swimsuits and headed to "Sunset Beach" about a 5-10 minute walk/trail hike. It was GORGEOUS! The water was calm, the sky was blue and we had the beach to ourselves for the majority of the afternoon!

 I love how much Rowan loves the water...we would say "kick, kick, kick" and he's get his little legs going so fast, it was adorable. He is the best little snorkeling buddy. We'd just swim around dragging him alongside.

 The snorkeling here was unreal. There were fish everywhere...and the ocean floor changed as you swam out further. It would go from 6 feet deep to 40 feet deep instantly...but it was so clear you could always see the bottom no matter how deep. It was awesome.

There are 5 rooms that they rent out at the guest house. When we checked into our room, all there was was a tiny sofa in the corner and a tiny coffee table. It was a good sized room but completely empty. We opened the closet and found the mats we were to sleep on and they were actually surprisingly comfortable! We slept great both nights and Rowan even slept until 7:15 one morning (SO late for him!) He slept with us which I thought would be bad (and the first night I realized how crazy much he rolls in his sleep), but he actually did really well which I was grateful for. It was a fun and restful vacation!

 

 I was talking about our trip at work one day about a month ago, and my friend thought it sounded like fun and they decided to join us! We work the same schedule most of the time, so she also had those 3 days off which worked perfectly :) They have a 19-month-old boy, so Rowan had a friend too :) We had a wonderful time hanging out with them and it also allowed us to do some trading off of watching kids and getting in the water together! We loved having familiar faces at our breakfast and dinner table also.

View from the porch of the house where we ate our amazing meals.
Another fun thing was the fact that you do socialize and eat meals with everyone else staying there. There was an older single man "Pee-tah" from Switzerland and a cute couple from Germany who we really enjoyed talking to. Rowan seemed especially comfortable around them too, so they had a good time together. 

 The guest house owner cooked the meals for us and I was a little skeptical given that I'm not that excited about Okinawa food, but her meals were delicious! There was only one thing that I couldn't get myself to eat (a brothy soup with a mini octopus and some other weird unknown sea creature in it) but the rest was awesome. We saw her coming up from the beach with a fish and a squid she had caught, which were part of our dinner that night. So cool!

 It rained our second day there, but we didn't let it keep us from having fun still. We did some snorkeling in the morning and afternoon and relaxed for an hour or 2 around noon when it was raining pretty hard. The island is really small and you can walk most anywhere, so we did a little exploring on foot and enjoyed the scenery.

 It really felt like we were in the water more than we were out of it this weekend and we loved it. The water temperature is beyond perfect, that feeling where you aren't hot or cold, almost don't even notice that there's anything around you (like a southern California fall day)...

Another beach we spent some time at was "Main beach". It's probably the biggest beach on the island and they would drive us there and we'd walk back. It wasn't really that far, but was nice to have them drive us and our stuff out and then we'd enjoy a walk. Barb sat in the truck with the 2 boys (+1 in utero 36 weeks!) She was my preceptor during orientation and I guess now trusts me enough to be on a small island at 36 weeks pregnant...glad she didn't go into labor ;) Grant, Dom and I stood in the back of the truck as we drove through town. It was a pretty good setup!

The scenery was truly gorgeous, we had so much fun together as a family, we were fairly disconnected from media for the weekend and it was the perfect escape!

 The ferry home was a bit more eventful than our ride there. The waters were not nearly as calm, there were some pretty impressive swells which made for a rough ride, even though we were on a much bigger boat. Barb got sick almost instantly and spent the whole time trying to not throw up. Grant and I were both ok but not perfect, but felt ok as long as we weren't moving around too much. It was nap time and I wasn't sure if Rowan was going to go to sleep, but he started acting a little bit off. I mentioned to Grant I wasn't sure if he was feeling tired or maybe possibly sick. Then...about 10 minutes later, Rowan started throwing up all over us. It got all down Grant's shirt and I instinctively decided to catch it in my hands. So gross...but I guess that's what my mom instincts told me to do. We were successful in not getting any on the boat :) We were pretty happy to get home but weren't excited to have to start back into real life the next day.

Truly amazing this experience we are having...hoping to continue to make the most of it!