A Hike to Hiji Falls and a Quick Stop at Todoroki Falls
Wanting to explore some of the nature throughout Okinawa, my family decided to take a hike to visit a waterfall recently. Okinawa has several to choose from and after doing some research, we decided on Hiji Falls located an hour and forty minutes north of Kadena Air Base. The drive was a little long, but it’s hard to complain when the view is so gorgeous the entire way.
I say that, but our first attempt at driving to Hiji Falls fell short. On a standard weekend a few weeks ago, we felt adventurous and wanted to get off the base for a day. As all good adventurers do, we googled “best waterfalls in Okinawa” and Hiji Falls was listed as one of the best. We donned our workout clothes, secured a pack, and stowed the baby in his car seat with enough toys to keep him entertained on our day of adventure. However, after about an hour of driving, we noticed a sign for Todoroki Falls. The same thought rushed through our heads simultaneously…“Another waterfall and we won’t have to drive an extra 40 minutes there and back?” “Let’s go there instead!” A hasty decision had us quickly rerouting Google maps, and after about 5 minutes we arrived.
Todoroki Falls
After parking and buying our tickets for 200 yen each, we made our way into a beautiful park. The park area was split into two sides by a small stream running through the middle. There were picnic tables set out and several families enjoying lunch.
When we first intended to go to Hiji Falls, we were expecting a hike to the waterfall. In contrast, Todoroki Falls did not require much adventuring. The waterfall was located on the right side of the park, which supplied the water flowing through the stream in the middle of the park.
There was a viewing deck that provided a good look at the falls. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else to the area. The area was very well maintained and would be a wonderful place to picnic, but it was hard to spend more than a half hour there otherwise. Happy with the payoff, but disappointed with the lack of build-up at Todoroki Falls, we decided that Hiji Falls was still on the to-see-list. However, that adventure would be saved for a different week.
Hiji Falls
Two weeks after we stopped short of Hiji Falls to settle for Todoroki, we set off with our adventurous appetite again. This time, we were determined to make the full drive. It went by quicker this time and the weather was perfect. We stopped at a konbini after an hour to get some onigiri for lunch. Once we arrived at the Hiji Falls Campground entrance, we paid for our tickets (500 yen each) and entered the park. The first area contains some pavilions with charcoal grills, as well as a restroom. Past that were a dozen or so raised wooden platforms where you could place a tent and camp.
Moving past the initial camp ground, we started along the pathway that led to the waterfall. The path was well maintained; it started off concrete and eventually turned to leveled dirt. It was very up-and-down, which meant a ton of stairs.
The entire path snaked along a slow moving river bed. There were even signs saying you could walk along the river if you wanted. We transitioned from the pathway to the river walk for a few minutes, but realized it meant getting wet as you had to wade into the river at several places. We opted back in to the dirt path, even if it meant more stairs and continued on.
The first 15 minutes of the walked were absolutely littered in orb-weaver spiders. Across every tree branch was a huge web with a giant spider in the middle of it. We saw at least 50, but I’m sure there were hundreds we didn’t see. None of them were low enough for us to accidentally walk into, but it was still creepy to walk beside and underneath them consistently.
Halfway into our hike, after around 20 minutes or so, we climb up 30 meters along the hill side to a bridge that spanned across the gorge. It was pretty a cool suspension bridge, although it was a little shakier than I first expected. While there weren’t any spiders on the other side of the bridge, we did see a snake. I’m not sure what kind it was, but doing some Googling it looked like it could have been a Pryer’s Keelback snake. We’ve seen and heard a ton of warnings about the Habu snakes (a type of pit viper). Habu venom is highly toxic and the snakes are pretty aggressive. With those warnings in mind, we are always extra careful walking around, not just in forests and mountains, but even everyday parks.
After another 20 minutes of walking on the other side of the bridge, we finally arrived at Hiji Falls. The waterfall was beautiful, but the hike to get there added extra enjoyment as the view felt more like a reward. After resting a bit and enjoying the sights and sounds of the water, we trekked back, tired, but satisfied.
While Todoroki and Hiji Falls were both nice, I think I enjoyed the hike the most. If you just want to see a waterfall, then go to Todoroki, but if you enjoy hiking, then Hiji is much more satisfying.
Toguchi Beach – A Great Place to Spend the Day
Being in Okinawa with amazing beaches everywhere, you would think that they we’d have visited a dozen different ones by now, but we’ve only been to two so far. Looking to change that, we decided to visit Toguchi beach on a weekday morning. We were fortunate the weather was perfect as it had been sprinkling every other day for the last two weeks.
Toguchi beach is located just 10 minutes away from my house and is a tucked away down a few narrow roads. Despite being located next to a park, as well as a restaurant called Okinawa Pork Village, Toguchi beach still felt nicely isolated away from the rest of the town. There weren’t too many people there and no one was even on the actual beach when we arrived. Everyone else there was sitting in pavilions that lined the back side of the beach. We picked a spot right in the middle, next to a big rock, and set our stuff down.
It was just me and my toddler this time and we set off to check out the water right away. The ocean was a little chilly, but honestly not bad for November. The water was crystal clear and the sand was mostly soft and white with some coral pieces scattered about. We still wore our swim shoes, but they weren’t necessary like they were on Torii Beach. My son played in the sand, while I alternated between taking pictures and just relaxing. With no one else really around, this beach was heavenly.
Eventually, a few other people did show up, but it still felt like we had the whole beach to ourselves. One of the newcomers set out to snorkel, which looked super fun. Next spring, I would like to try snorkeling as well. Maybe if I enjoy it enough, I’ll invest in some water proofing for my camera.
Overall, Toguchi was a great beach to just kick back and relax. I’m not sure if it normally gets busy, or if we just got lucky considering the combination of factors such as, I went in November, on a weekday, in the morning, and COVID is still a thing. However, assuming it doesn’t get too busy normally, it felt like a great almost secret spot to relax and enjoy the beach.
While I want to check out more beaches on Okinawa (hopefully I can try them all), I do want to come back to Toguchi in the future and just lounge on the beach again!
