Every December, Humpback whales migrate to the warm waters off the coast of Okinawa. Many humpback whales can be found near Kerama Islands and Naha. The whales will hang around until April-ish. That’s it. January to March is peak Whale Watching Season in Okinawa.
We booked our whale watching adventure through ITT, but there are several companies in Naha that offer whale watching services. We boarded the ITT tour bus at Kadena at 7am and had a peaceful ride down to Miegusuku port near Naha. It was a nice, calm day. I popped a couple of dramamine tablets and spritzed my exposed skin with some sunscreen before we boarded our whale watching vessel.
At the beginning of the day, it seems as though all of the different charter companies zip off to different sectors around the Kerama islands to search for Humpback whales. 30 minutes into our cruise our guide found a solitary humpback whale in an empty section of the South China Sea. I climbed up to the second story of the boat to get a better view and to ensure I could really feel the boat rocking back and forth. We remained stationary and rocking for a while as the guide tried to figure out where the whale was going. Every few minutes we’d see a new spout off in the distance as he swam around. He wasn’t really headed in any particular direction.
Fun fact: The Humpback whales don’t eat anything the entire time they’re visiting Okinawa. Normally, the migrate to procreate. I guess they’d rather start a family in a tropical paradise than in frigid Alaska.
The boat operator got a call from another guide that had found a family of three whales. We changed course and sailed away from our solitary friend. When we arrived at the new location, it was already quite crowded. There were four other charter boats in the area. This must have been the best find.
All of the boat operators were very professional and executed a seamless dance, constantly shifting position to ensure every boat’s passengers had equal opportunity to see the massive whales. The two parents swam about like reasonable adults and would surface at regular intervals to breath. They already had a calf, so I’m not sure what they were doing fasting in Okinawa, but the young calf seemed to be having a blast. He didn’t so much swim as he did jump, spin, and fall. We probably followed the family for a full hour and he jumped the entire time. I’m sure his parents were just waiting for him to fall asleep.
After 2 hours at sea, and very successful whale sightings, we headed back in to the port. I’ll not that it’s possible that you won’t see any whales at all. There is a lot of water in the ocean. But since I saw whales and had a good time, it was definitely worth the trip.