Okinawa DAY 2 - Manzamo and Nago Pineapple park

 Manzamo, or Cape Manza is at the northwest part of Okinawa. We took the highway and drove for an hour and a half.

 The view was beautiful. The cliff kind of looks like an elephant's trunk!

 Manzamo's paths are about a 20 min. walk. Enjoy the view from different angles.

At the end of the path, there was the Intercontinental hotel and Manza beach. 

 The view is quite nice there, but there's a lot of rocks on the bottom on the ocean... you can see that people are floating on the white boards and just basking in the sun. But, I did find a good restaurant and I will speak about it next time. :)

 The highlight of the day! Nago Pineapple Park is about 45 min away from Manza.

Waiting in line, we saw this cute video in many languages. :o)

An automated pineapple cart tour.

 Weeee

 Photo zones! Snap.

Baby pineapples. I thought pineapples grew on trees the whole time....hehe

 After the tour, there was a tiny shell museum.

 We bought little souvenirs and won a prize, which was a DVD with pineapple songs :D

They have a huge shop solely for pineapple products like wine, chocolates, cookies, jelly and etc. I recommend 'Lagrima Del Sol'. 

Okinawa DAY 1- Southern Beach Hotel & Shuri Castle

Hi! Ray and I went to Okinawa in July, 2015. We stayed at the Southern Beach Hotel (Ray loves big hotels) which is a 20 min drive from Naha city. These are pictures taken from the hotel swimming pool area.

One of many reasons I like about this hotel- it has a private beach with very fine sand. No rocks in the water (Another beach had many and people had to float on tubes)

 You can do activities like snorkeling, banana boat riding, underwater biking (Tickets run out fast so reserve in advance. Also, storms are frequent in Okinawa...)

 Overall, I liked the hotel because of the amenities like restaurants, souvenir shops (accepts credit card), but it's really hard to find anyone who speaks English. Some guide maps or information are only in Japanese. I actually knew about the hotel not being Eng-friendly, but I went anyway because of the private beach.

 Also not that crowded - the pools close around afternoon(4ish) and the indoor pool is only for kids. I suggest you wake up early and enjoy as much as you can.

 We drove to Shuri Castle which was only 30 min drive from the hotel. Definitely worth a visit!

 Interesting mix of Chinese and Okinawan styles.

 Tropical plants in an Okinawan garden.

 You're told to take your shoes off and walk on separate mats.

 This was lovely- it's a fire hole for brewing tea. Just like in animes!

 A huge hanging bell.

 Shuri Castle has air-conditioned rooms and corridors and believe me, it helps a lot because Southern Okinawa can be very humid. 

 All made out of wood. The castle burned down many times and was reconstructed in the early 1900's.

 Miniatures of the castle and Chinese ambassadors' visit.

 Check out the garden and the pond after sightseeing the castle.

 These poisonous-looking spiders were everywhere in the garden! 

 ...and some ducks, too.

 Hello, human.

 That's it for Shuri Castle!

 Shaved ice and snacks at the shopping area.