ZAMAMI ISLAND PARADISE in Okinawa, Japan _ Solo Travel Itinerary Guide

Hello everyone and welcome to this most around the world video. Today I am going to be going to the island of Zamami. I'm going here because one of my friends in Fukuoka, she used to live in Zamami for four years as a diving instructor and when I saw her pictures, heard her stories, I just knew I had to go check it out. And I have been to Okinawa before so I was looking for something a little bit different so I think that will be what this Zamami trip holds. I'm walking to Tomari Port which is in Naha and that's where I'm going to be taking the ferry to Zamami Island. Something you need to know is that you need to make advance reservations for this ferry online before you go on your trip so make sure that you do that once you have your Zamami itinerary figured out and the ferry is a little bit limited so check the timetables and make sure to reserve early so that you make sure you get your spot. So I'll see you there at Tomari Port. I'm walking next to a park right now and you can tell that it's summer because you can hear the cicadas screaming, chirping, whatever you like to call it. The cicadas are out and about. This is the inside of the ferry port terminal. This is the time people, I'm going to be taking the second flight here which is at one o'clock two. So I got here a little early so I'm going to be going to the fish market. Okay this is the Tomari Iyomachi fish market. It's about a 12 to 15 minute walk from the port. Oh my god look at this. I was just dying outside because it was so hot and then somehow I ordered a hot soup. It's really good but I don't know what I was thinking. I just finished going to the Tomari market. I went there because I have a little bit of time before my ferry to Zamami but it's a pretty small market. There's two rows of vendors selling their wares. There's fresh sashimi which is really hard to say fast but there's fresh sashimi. I went to a place that had morning special of food bowls. I got an ochazuke bowl which is kind of like soup rice and seafood on top and it's nice to see all the fresh seafood. They had hunks of tuna that they could cut and slice for you which is super cool. There was nigiri that you could take and eat. So it's a good place to go if you have a little bit of time before your ferry. Now I'm heading back to the terminal to head to Zamami. This is the boat that I'm going to be getting on. It's called the Queen Zamami and you can start boarding 30 minutes before. If you made your reservations online then you're just going to show the QR code and then you're ready to go. Alright I made it on the Queen Zamami. It was a long shuttle to get in but this is going to be the ferry to the next terminal. It's air-conditioned. There's one vending machine so there's not a lot here but I'm gonna rest up and get started for the day. I'm inside the ferry and you can see the water is just so beautiful. Just got to my place. It's a small tatami mat that has everything I need. Okay well it's not small I checked into my stay that I'm going to be at for Zamami and now I am walking around and it's time to explore the island. Zamami just has these little streets. This is Zamami port and right by the port there is this stoplight and it is funny because I have a snorkeling trip booked tomorrow and I was asking the guide where to meet and he said meet at the stoplight and in my mind I was like that is not a great way to get directions and there are many stoplights how do I know which one and then that's when I realized that in Zamami there is only one stoplight so in fact it is a great direction marker so I will be meeting here tomorrow for my snorkel sunset trip. Oh my gosh this water is amazing. Right from leaving the port I'm going to go to the left which is towards Ama Beach. Just walking, walking, walking, walking. It's hella hot but going to the Statue of Maryland which is a dog statue and then going to Ama Beach. Ama Beach. It's a beautiful day here in Zamami. The sky is blue. No, no typhoon in sight and the sun is beating down. This is the Statue of Maryland which is a dog statue and it depicts the romance between Marilyn and Shiro the dog. They were both in love and best friends but then Shiro and his owner moved away to Aka Island and people started realizing that Shiro was swimming from Aka Island which is three kilometers away to see Marilyn and people were so moved by the loyalty of this dog Shiro. This is Marilyn gazing across the waves at a statue of Shiro that stands on the opposite side in the harbor of Aka Island. This may remind you of another dog statue in Japan and that is Hachiko. Hachiko is stationed in Shibuya, Tokyo and he also is another dog that is so loyal that people in Japan loved the story and wanted to commemorate. And we've come to Ama Beach. This is Zamami's beach that is known for its sea turtles. It's about a 20 minute walk from where I'm staying. Pardon the hair, pardon the sunglasses, pardon the sweat but it is hot. I just took a dip in the ocean. It was so nice and now I'm heading to Kaminohama Observation Point. It's about a 20 minute walk from Ama Beach so I'm gonna go and see what the observation point is like. But boy it is hot. The water was so nice. I got to swim with some sea turtles and now it says it's pretty flat but looks like I'm gonna be right up next to the mountain. This is the way to the observation deck. It's just lots of greenery. I can hear the birds around and there's a couple cars that come and go. It was a bit of a trek but we made it to Kaminohama Observatory. Just a few more steps and we made it. It was a lot of steps. This is the view from the observatory. I'm sitting by the water now for sunset. Just enjoying the end of the day. The sun finally went down. What a beautiful sunset at Zamami. Going to the little kitchen for dinner. This little red cube is called tofuyo. It is a piece of tofu that has been fermented. You can eat it with a toothpick. It's super soft and creamy. It has a really nice smoky flavor. This is a plate of rafute which is okinawan braised pork belly. I was really excited to try this but unfortunately here it was a little bit tough. This is not water. This is alcohol. Hey everyone! Good morning on this beautiful Zamami day. I'm going to go to the beach again. I'm going to Furu Zamami beach and I just stopped by the local market and picked up a couple drinks and snacks so I have something to enjoy while I relax by the water. It's another beautiful day. The cicadas are going at it. The sky is blue. It's hot and I'm already sweating so I'm looking forward to this day. This is the little kitchen. The restaurant that I dined at last night. It's a little brighter now but it is morning time. So on the way to Furu Zamami beach, I got a little bit of slopes along the way. I feel like you almost can't hear my voice because these cicadas are so dang loud. This is Furu Zamami beach. And some shops, vending machines. Welcome to Furu Zamami beach. It is absolutely gorgeous. There's no wonder why it was recommended by the Michelin stars. You can walk from the port but it is a bit hilly so taking the bus is the recommended route. So if you go past where all of the lifeguards and parasols are, there's this continued stretch of beach and if you can see right here, there's people walking between it so I'm not sure if that's something that I can do too with the changing tides but it looks pretty cool. The sand isn't very soft. The sand is pretty rocky. So I walked to the end of the Furu Zamami beach and there's just some great views everywhere. I'm gonna get ready to go to the water for a dip because it is super hot and the water looks magnificent. Furu Zamami beach and to the port. It's 300 yen. I was just at Furu Zamami beach and it is an amazing beach. I loved it. I got to swim with some fish. I'm now going to a local shop that has noodles that are made from seaweed so it's supposed to have a special texture to it so I am looking forward to trying these noodles. Here we are at Wazama Mozuku. This is a local shop that serves special Okinawan soba noodles. A friend of mine recommended this place to me so I'm looking forward to trying these noodles. This is the place, Mozuku Noodles. Oh no, it looks like they might be out of their noodles. Unfortunately, the place I wanted to go to, they ran out of noodles. It's a noodle shop that's too popular for its own good but they ran out of noodles so I had to find somewhere else. I'm at this other Okinawan place so they have blue seal ice cream and I ordered mozuku soba so let's see how it is. Okay, here's my mozuku soba. This is seaweed or mozuku and it's supposed to provide a different texture and it's a cold soba. These noodles are made with mozuku, mozuku being the seaweed but this these noodles also have some mozuku in it which makes them super chewy and has a lot of the good flavor and nutrients inside of them. But the coolness is refreshing. This is some of the seaweed. I was known for making this special Okinawan dish. It doesn't have like a very overbearing flavor, the seaweed, and it adds a bit of texture. It's slimy so for those who don't like slimy, maybe not the dish for you but it's refreshing and it has a little bit of fun chewy texture. Time for one more Okinawan blue seal. This one is so good. So it's almost five o'clock and I'm going to have my last adventure for today. I'm doing a sunset snorkel tour so I'm going to meet the tour guide at the port. Hello little guy! Yesterday I had a great dinner at Marumiya. It has so much Okinawan food. I got goya tanpuru and this tofu made out of peanut. It was super good. I also had aomori again so it's a great place to go if you're looking to try some local Okinawan foods. And then afterwards I was walking and found this awesome bar called Sand Bar and the guy who owns it is from California and he has his own bar and makes a lot of really cool cocktails. Then he has like a wide selection of whiskey so it was really fun to go there. And now I'm heading back to the ferry port. I leave Zamami today and I'm heading back to Fukuoka. It has been a super awesome time here in Okinawa and I'm glad I got to see stuff outside of what I had seen before. Oh yesterday I also went sunset snorkeling and that was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen snorkeling so beautiful. Like the water was just so crystal clear from the boat. I could see down like fish through the water many feet below. I could see fish and it was just so incredible. There were turtles that I saw, coral, fish, you name it and it was just warm and clear. Like I think I've been spoiled for snorkeling for the future to come. But sunset snorkeling was great. I did that with full sail Zamami and thank you for following me on this adventure. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow Mercer Around the World. I'm trying to get to 1k so help me on that journey and I'll see you around!