Okinawa Adventures - Day 3 Agenashiki Island

We headed back towards the pier so that we could make our way to the smaller islands. The accommodation lady knew who to contact to take us to Agenshiki Island, which was only a few minutes away which meant we wouldn't need to spend so much time traveling since it was going to get dark in a few hours. The map of the island is below:

View Larger Map

We jumped on a boat from the wharf and literally lasted only minutes. It costed us JPY1,500 per person return which we thought was a little hefty for such a short boat ride, but considering it is our first trip there, it was well worth it. Here is a picture of the captain of the boat..

Ahoy matey

Here is a pic of what we saw as we approached Agenashiki Island. Apparently we were the only ones on the island along with a few wild goats. I wonder how they got there? Anyhow, this reminded me of the movie 'The Blue Lagoon'. This island was ours for 2 hrs until we were to be picked up at 5pm.

Island Paradise

The first thing we noticed was that there was plenty of shale scattered all over the place. I assume island was formed from volcanic activity millions of years ago. The entrance to the beach was alot rockier than the other beaches but the water was just as clear. Here are some of the coral formations we encountered..

Agenashiki Island Coral

Colony of blue green damselfish

I'm beginning to think I need to start learning the names of the main or the most common tropical fish so that I can identify it in my blog! Give me a fish that can be caught on a fishing line and I can name it in a blink of an eye, but for the tropical fish, I'm left clueless. Homework for me.

Table Coral

We also met a few table corals large enough to seat 6. Along the reef there were a few of those scientific research layered boxes which I believe was left to keep a track of marine life at this reef. Even though we saw some coral stunners, the majority of the reef had dead bleached coral which was depressing to see. The locals blamed it on El Nino where the change in balance of temperature have led to this.. truly sad..

A strange coral formation was the one below. I don't believe it was naturally formed as the underlying foundation seems man made. Maybe I am wrong but I still found this interested as it resembled a multi-layered flower.

3 layered cake

Agenashiki Island was home to many species of sea cucumbers. I took so many pictures of these that my partner struck me for each one I took. There weren't the common black sea cucumbers and the colours/textures were mesmirising.

Hyper coloured sea cucumber

Star struck

An unexpected encounter was with the black headed sea snake that was common in these areas. Like the turtle, I did not expect to see these up close but to tell you the truth, I wasn't too sure if I wanted to be too close as they are infamous for being extremely venemous. However, they just did their own thing strolling around and we went on with our business. We waved our farewell and departed in opposite directions..

Blacked headed sea snake

We did manage to bump into a few more of these sea snakes and felt more at ease with each one. 

Anyhow, before we knew it, our 2 hours were up and we needed to get out of the water. Here is a picture of my partner just relaxing from an exhausting snorkel. I think she was looking for some prawns/shrimp?

Where's the shrimp?

We were picked up at 5pm as promised and headed back to the main island. Once we returned, we washed up (as well as our gear) and made our way opposite the accommodation to fill our starving stomachs.

Maybe it was because of all the fish we saw but we felt like eating fish. Luckily for us, they had some seasoned grilled fish that was locally caught in the morning! Accompanying the fish was the fried karage chicken, sour seaweed dish of some sort, and the Okinawa soba which I missed taking a picture of. I must've been too hungry. This was all topped off with the local Okinawa Orion beer ;) 

Chicken Karage to die for.. went beautifully with the local beer

Freshly caught seasoned grilled fish

Mozuku

What a great end to a perfect day! Day 3 was a long day but one to remember. We encountered so many things that we did not expect and these will be forever cherished. I will go back to these places again but it is just a matter of when.

My next post will be about Day 4 with our trip to Aka Island which is about 15-20 minute boat ride from the main Island. Stayed posted for more pictures and our underwater adventures!

Chad