Guide · Location

Cape Maeda Blue Cave, Okinawa: finding the cape

The Cape Maeda Blue Cave, Okinawa's glowing sea cave, sits on a headland in Onna Village about an hour's drive north of Naha Airport. Here is where it is, how to get there and what waits at the top of the stairs.

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Editorial team, bluecaveokinawasnorkeling.comUpdated October 25, 2026about 6 min to read35 sources

Bookable here: the tour Blue Cave private snorkeling with photos 5.0 (127 reviews) 1.5 hoursPrivate instructor and gearPhotos and videos included from$44 Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer

01Where: Cape Maeda in Onna Village, at Maeda 469-1, in the north of the main island.¹ ²
02By car: About 1 hour from Naha Airport, about 25 minutes from Manzamo.³
03By bus: Route 120 from Naha Airport to the Kuraha stop, then about 20 minutes.³
04Parking: 180 car spaces, open from 7:00 all year.⁴ ⁵
05Closed: January 1 to 3, and in typhoons or emergencies.⁶

Where the Blue Cave is

The Blue Cave lies under the cliffs of Cape Maeda, a headland in Onna Village in the north of Okinawa's main island; the facility on the cape describes it as a diving and snorkeling spot that gets busy on weekends.¹ Its address is Maeda 469-1, Onna Village, and the facility gives the car-navigation map code 206 062 685*85.²

Onna is the long, narrow strip of coast between Yomitan and Nago, nearly 30 kilometers long and less than 5 kilometers wide, facing the East China Sea.⁷ The whole village lies within the Okinawa Kaigan Quasi-National Park.⁸ The bureau calls Onna Coral Village and names Cape Manza and the Blue Cave among its diving spots.⁹

On the map below you can see how the cape juts north from the coast road, with the facility and its stairs near the tip and the Kuraha bus stop inland on the coast road. The second panel puts the cape in the wider picture: Naha and its airport to the south, the beaches of the central coast and the Kerama Islands across the water to the west.

By bus

From the airport to the cave

Naha Airport

Bus 120

Board route 120 at the airport.³
About 75 min

Into Onna

The bureau's time from the airport to the Onna area.¹⁰
Kuraha stop

Get off

The stop the facility names for the cape.³
About 20 min

To the facility

From the stop to Cape Maeda.³
10 min early

Meet your guide

This site's tour asks you to arrive early.

How to get to the Blue Cave in Okinawa by car

If you are wondering how to get to the Blue Cave in Okinawa, a rental car is the simplest answer. The facility puts the drive at about 1 hour from Naha Airport and about 25 minutes from Manzamo, another clifftop sight further up the same coast.³ Type the map code into your car's navigation and it will take you to the car park.²

Leave early. The car park opens at 7:00 all year and closes at 19:00 from April to November and at 18:00 from December to March.⁵ It has 180 spaces for cars, 5 for large vehicles and 4 for disabled drivers.⁴ On a summer weekend the spaces go fast, and this site's tour itself names 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM as the slots to aim for in the busy months.

Parking is not free, and on this site's tour you pay it yourself in cash along with the hot shower. Keep coins in the car. The facility also asks visitors not to park along the street, where cars block traffic and the farmers' way to their fields.¹¹

Travel times

Minutes to and around the cape

minutes

Times as the Cape Maeda facility and the Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau give them; the drive from Naha Airport is about 1 hour.³ ¹⁰

Opening hours

The facility's hours by season

Part	April to November	December to March
Car park	7:00 to 19:00	7:00 to 18:00
Toilets & showers	7:00 to 18:30	7:00 to 18:00
Office	8:30 to 17:30	8:30 to 17:30

From the Cape Maeda facility's own pages; closed January 1 to 3.⁵ ¹² ¹³ ⁶

Getting there

Meet at the cape or be collected

Okinawa: Blue Cave Private Snorkeling Tour with Photos

Drive or bus

Meet at the cape

Private snorkel

Meets: Cape Maeda car park
Length: 1.5 hours
Price: from $44

See this trip

Okinawa: Blue Cave Private Snorkeling Hotel Pickup Available

Optional pickup

Hotel transport

Private snorkel

Length: About 1.5 hours
Pickup: Optional, round trip
Price: from $64

See this trip

Pickup included

From Naha or Chatan

Boat entry

Drive: 1.5 hours
Length: 4.5 hours
Price: from $74

See this trip

Decision helper

How will you get there?

Pick by where you sleep and what you drive

Drive and park

About 1 hour from the airport.³

Bus 120

Get off at Kuraha.³

Hotel transport

One private snorkel offers it as an option.

Pickup trip

The boat trip collects in Naha or Chatan.

Walk or a short drive

The tour meets at the cape itself.

Cape Maeda has some of the best snorkeling and diving in Okinawa, as well as the famed luminous water of the Blue Cave.

Okinawa Convention & Visitors BureauSource 14

By bus from Naha Airport

Without a car, the bus works. The facility's own access note says to take route 120 from Naha Airport, get off at the Kuraha stop and allow about 20 minutes from there.³ The bureau puts the bus ride from the airport to the Onna area at around 75 minutes.¹⁰

Allow plenty of slack. Buses on the coast road meet the same traffic as everyone else, and a late arrival can cost you your slot: this site's tour may treat a late arrival as a cancellation without a refund and wants you there 10 minutes before your start time. An early bus and a coffee at the cape beat a sprint up the road in sandals.

If you would rather not think about transport at all, some trips include it. One private Blue Cave snorkel offers optional round-trip hotel transport, and a boat-entry trip picks guests up in Naha or Chatan. Check the pickup area in the listing before you book.

Map

From the Cape Maeda stairs to the Kerama Islands

Where the Blue Cave's car park and stairs sit on the cape, and how the main island's other reefs and the islands offshore lie around it.

Map of Cape Maeda in Onna Village with the cape, the facility and its stairs, and the Kuraha bus stop on the coast road — Cape Maeda

Map of central and southern Okinawa Main Island with Cape Maeda, Sunabe, Naha, Odo Beach and Minna Island, and the Kerama Islands to the west — Okinawa and the Kerama Islands

1
Cape Maeda
The headland in Onna Village known for the Blue Cave, a diving and snorkeling spot that fills up on weekends.¹
In Google Maps ↗
2
Cape Maeda facility and stairs
Car park, hot showers and the stairs down to the water; the car park opens at 7:00 all year.⁵ ¹⁵
In Google Maps ↗
3
Kuraha bus stop
Route 120 from Naha Airport stops here; the facility gives about 20 minutes from the stop.³
In Google Maps ↗
4
Minna Island
About 7 km off the northwest coast, 15 minutes by high-speed ferry from Toguchi Port in Motobu.¹⁶
In Google Maps ↗
5
Sunabe Seawall
A shore dive entered from the breakwater, listed for beginners with a depth of 25 m.¹⁷
In Google Maps ↗
6
Tomari Port, Naha
Where the ferries to the Kerama Islands leave; the high-speed boat pier is a walk from the ticket office.¹⁸
In Google Maps ↗
7
Naha Airport
About 1 hour by car from Cape Maeda.³
In Google Maps ↗
8
Odo Beach
Also called John Man Beach, a shore site with a high chance of sea turtles.¹⁹
In Google Maps ↗
9
Furuzamami Beach
Zamami's beach with two Michelin Green Guide stars and fish along a large reef.²⁰
In Google Maps ↗
10
Aharen Beach
On the west side of Tokashiki, popular for swimming, snorkeling and diving.²¹
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

For the trip to the cape

In the car or bag

Coins for parking and the showers
The map code or the bus times
Swimwear under your clothes

Before you set off

Check the sea-conditions page
Leave time to arrive 10 minutes early
Sunscreen and water

Price check

Trips that meet near the cape

Choose a trip and the number of people

Small group, Maeda2 hoursfrom $42 Snorkel from Yamada40 minutes in the seafrom $31 Snorkel or diveNear the dive pointfrom $36 Boat from Yamada5-minute ridefrom $44

People 2

Total from$84

per guest from $42

Check availabilityfree cancellation

The sum multiplies a listing's starting GetYourGuide price by the number you pick and converts it at today's European Central Bank rate; the exact total shows when you book.

Video

Explore the Stunning Snorkelling in Cape Maeda, Okinawa

The video only loads from YouTube once you press play.

What is at the top of the stairs

The cape is more than a car park. The management office is open 8:30 to 17:30, and it keeps life buoys and AEDs for emergencies.¹³ ²² The toilets and shower rooms open at 7:00 and close at 18:30 from April to November and at 18:00 from December to March.¹²

There are 10 hot-water shower rooms each for men and women, with changing rooms inside.¹⁵ A shop sells floats, swimwear and beach sandals, and another tenant fills and rents diving tanks.²³ A covered multipurpose space is used for diving lessons and as a place to rest.²⁴

You do not have to swim to enjoy the cape. The facility points out that you can look down on the clear water around Cape Maeda from its observation deck.²⁵ From February to the end of March, humpback whales can sometimes be seen off the cape, which makes a winter visit worth it even on a day when the sea is closed.²⁶

The Blue Cave Okinawa map, step by step

Read the Blue Cave Okinawa map from the road down. The coast road runs along the base of the headland; the Kuraha bus stop sits on it, inland of the cape. The lane to the car park leaves the road and runs north to the facility. From the facility, the stairs drop to the water near the tip of the cape.

The cave mouth itself carries no pin: it hides in the foot of the cliff, out of sight from the cape above. Your guide knows the way along the rocks, and on your own you start from the facility's stairs, which are open only when the office allows swimming.²⁷

The second map panel shows why Cape Maeda is easy to fit into a trip. Naha and its airport lie to the south, Sunabe and the central beaches between them, Minna Island to the north off Motobu, and the Kerama Islands across the water to the west, a separate day out by boat from Naha.

When the cape is open

The facility closes on January 1, 2 and 3, and it may close temporarily when a typhoon or another emergency strikes.⁶ When a high-wave warning was in force, it closed both the car park and the facility.²⁸ On those days there is no point driving up: there will be nowhere to park and no way down.

Even when the gates are open, the sea may not be. No swimming is allowed when the management office closes the stairs because of severe weather or bad sea conditions.²⁷ The facility's sea-conditions page shows a live video and the current swimming status, so check it before you leave your hotel.²⁹

Our conditions page explains the flags in detail. In short, plan the cave for a calm morning, keep a spare day in your trip, and book a tour with free cancellation so that a closed sea costs you nothing but a change of plan.

Around the cape

Onna has more than one reason to stop. Manzamo, the cape the facility uses as its reference point, is about 25 minutes away by car.³ The bureau names it, as Cape Manza, alongside the Blue Cave among Onna's diving spots.⁹

The village takes its reefs seriously. Onna declared itself a Coral Village on 21 July 2018, aiming at a way of life that is kind to the natural environment.³⁰ Its people have protected the reefs since 1999 and returned cultivated coral to the sea in 2003.³¹

Do your part when you visit. Do not stand on coral when you enter from the shore, bring reef-safe sunscreen, and leave the spear guns at home: they are banned in the cape's waters along with clinging to the boats' mooring buoys.³² ³³ ³⁴ ³⁵

Plan your snorkel