Kouri Island

Dette er det beste jeg kunne velge for bare to fulle dager i Okinawa (Japan). Reiselederne var helt fantastiske, vennlige og veldig snälla – nei, snille også. Jeg vil absolutt anbefale denne turen til alle. Jeg valgte 2-dagersturen (Nord- og Sør-Okinawa) og ble ikke skuffet. For øvrig snakker jeg ikke mandarin (kinesisk), men jeg oversatte alt med mobiltelefonen min! Masse aktiviteter begge dager.

Guiden Luna tok svært godt vare på meg under hele utflukten, som var lagt opp for en kinesisk gruppe som jeg hadde hengt meg på siden jeg ikke fant en identisk tur på engelsk. Det var en veldig fin tur, Luna var oppmerksom og kom med mange spennende historier underveis (takk til telefonens oversetter, haha!). Noen ganger er det frustrerende å tilbringe så kort tid på steder man forelsker seg i, men uten denne utflukten hadde jeg ikke hatt sjansen til å se dem.

I left 5 stars because the exact itinerary was delivered, driving was good, and my guide Qian was kind and kept me in the loop but I do have a few caveats. Firstly, at the meeting point, there are so many buses coming and going I was confused and worried I’d missed my bus. I kept looking for the name of the tour company in Chinese/English. I decided to contact them and only then was I able to identify their LINE icon (a cartoon crocodile) matched with an icon posted on the bus’ front window. If I didn’t decide to message them I could have easily missed my bus. Secondly, the tour was fully in mandarin. The guide helped me understand POIs and meeting times via a translation app, she was through with it so I left a positive review. I did not mind the tour not in English, because I just relaxed on the drive but I found the posting I clicked on highly deceptive because the languages listed English and in a subheader grey box under the listing title it specifically touted “English-guided”.

Our tour guide was Minami, who was extremely dedicated and professional. The entire itinerary was well-organized, and along the way, she gave detailed and enthusiastic explanations about Okinawa's local customs and culture. This was a truly unforgettable journey.

We booked this itinerary in advance (we were the first ones to book) for the three of us, but when we arrived, we found there were only two parking spaces. It feels like there might be some issues with how the website handles this. However, our tour guide, Ms. Ishikawa, was a 10/10! She was great at thinking on her feet and felt like a classic 'J' type personality who managed the schedule exceptionally well, making us feel completely at ease. She provided commentary throughout the trip on the best ways to shop, what local specialties to buy, and explained local transportation and culture. It felt like listening to an engaging radio broadcast—we learned so much! She also recommended restaurants (we tried them and all agreed they were delicious!). The tour guide added tremendous value to this trip 👍 It makes me want to do another guided day tour in the future~~

The tourist guides were super friendly and while youre on a boat they play happy songs to ease the nervousness. If youre a foreigner, no need to worry because they can speak basic English. The usage of GroPro is part of what you paid for this activity. They also offer videos taken from a drone for an extra pay. I paid for the drone videos because with the drone you can see the Kouri Bridge in the background.

The tour was very nice. The guide was there mostly for coordination, as all the tour explanations are provided through the excursion company's app. There is commentary throughout the entire journey, not just at the specific tour locations, and it is available in many languages. So even though the tour is advertised as 'English-speaking,' I got all the explanations in French on my phone. It's always a bit frustrating to stay at the various locations for such a short time; throughout the day, you spend a lot of time on the bus compared to the time spent at the different spots, but that's just how it goes. Without this tour, I wouldn't have been able to get to these places on my own.

Minami-san er en fantastisk guide! Hun gir forklaringer for hvert sted på engelsk og kinesisk, noe som gjør hele turen herlig! Første stopp, Manzomo og Kaori-stranden, har 30 minutter hver, mens Churaumi akvarium har 3,5 timer, og siste stopp, American village, har 1 time – man kan velge å dra tilbake uten å følge bussen! Jeg fikk prøve bananmilkshaken på American village-stoppet nær informasjonssenteret. All ære til sjåføren for trygg kjøring og punktlighet!

Tusen takk! Det var en flott tur, og vi hadde det så hyggelig overalt hvor vi dro. Ja, turen er ikke på engelsk, men jeg tror ikke det er et problem. Først og fremst er vi i Japan, og det er japanske turister med på turen også. Guiden og sjåføren var begge veldig hyggelige, og guiden gjorde virkelig sitt beste for å sørge for at alle forsto de grunnleggende instruksjonene slik at vi alle kunne følge med uten problemer. Det er en flott dagstur for alle som ønsker å se forskjellige steder på én dag uten å stresse eller måtte bekymre seg for å skaffe billetter og finne ut av riktig transport. Takk for den fantastiske dagen og for de nydelige japanske sangene under turen!