An emerald green so particular it deserves the name "Ikei green"
The emerald green here is so particular that, after "Kerama blue", you want to call it "Ikei green"; it stands out even among Okinawa's beaches. Beyond swimming, you can barbecue 24 hours a day with that water right in front of you.
Okinawa is famous for its emerald green sea, but the emerald green at Ikei Beach is far purer in its green than at other beaches. I have never seen this colour anywhere but Ikei Island, which makes me want to name it Ikei Green, after Kerama Blue. On a clear summer's day you can see exactly the Ikei Green of this photograph in the area to the right as you face the sea.
Ikei Beach is surrounded by coral — there is even coral inside the swimming area. And because no jellyfish net hangs from the floats that mark the area, plenty of the fish that live around the coral swim inside it too.
Wetsuits are for hire, so you can swim in winter as well as in summer. Ask the attendant and they will open the shower room for you, though the shower is cold.
There are rooms for hire beside the beach. They are air-conditioned, and however many people use them a six-mat room is ¥7,000 and a ten-mat room ¥12,000. You can feel the operator's enthusiasm for looking after customers who want to barbecue on the beach all night. For details see the camping and room hire (cooler room) information and prices on the official website.
The clarity is at the very top of the range for beaches on the main island of Okinawa. The gradation is as good as it gets too: transparent to clear blue at the water's edge, then inside the reef the strongly green emerald that belongs to Ikei Island, and beyond the reef deep blue — the colours lie in distinct bands.
Beside the beach, trees stand among the barbecue tents and cast shade. When the tents are not in use you can settle in the shade without getting in the way of anyone barbecuing. Beach parasols can also be hired for ¥1,000 a day; see Water sports and equipment hire for details.
There is shade behind the barbecue tents as well, though the tents get in the way of the view.
The swimming area is the water inside the yellow floats in the middle of the photograph at the top of the page. It is small next to Odomari Beach on the same island, but wide by the standards of beaches on the main island of Okinawa. Snorkelling is allowed if you wear a life jacket, which can be hired for ¥500 a day. As written among the things to recommend above, there are more fish here than at almost any beach on the main island with a marked swimming area, so do take a snorkel and look into the water in your own time.
The toilet building is old, but it looked as though it is cleaned every day.
The separate men's and women's showers are coin-operated at ¥200 and cold. Inside they are spacious and clean enough. According to the attendant at the ticket machine, they will open the shower rooms in winter too if you hire a wetsuit. I could not find a foot rinse.
The menu of water sports and marine activities, and of hire items such as parasols. Prices are reasonable across the board — a banana boat ¥1,000, a parasol ¥1,000.
You can go into the restaurant at Ikei Beach in your swimming costume, and the air conditioning is on.
There is a parlour next to the restaurant.
The menus of the restaurant and the parlour. It is good to find local prices at a tourist spot. (* The photograph can be enlarged.)
At Ikei Beach you can barbecue in the dedicated tents beside the beach. Many beaches in Okinawa allow barbecues, but at Ikei the tents are close to the water with nothing to block the view, so the sea is as visible as anywhere. If the view is what matters to you, it is the finest barbecue spot there is. For details see the barbecue menu on the official website.
At Ikei Beach you may not bring your own gas, equipment or tent for a barbecue, but you may bring your own food. There is a washing-up area too, as in the photograph.
The shop. It stocks everything you need for a day in the sea.
It cannot be helped, since we need them for daily life, but the man-made structures out to sea on the left as you face the water (oil-related facilities) spoil the view. You can see them in the photograph under Shade (beside the beach).
We do not run beach yoga at Ikei Beach. The nearest beach where we do is Nabee Beach — about 65 minutes by car for a morning session, or about 65 minutes for a sunset session.
In Japanese (for maps, taxis and car navigation): 伊計ビーチ 沖縄県うるま市与那城伊計４０５
Beach yoga in Okinawa runs at 8 beaches on the main island and Ishigaki, at the loveliest hours of morning and evening. First-timers and solo travellers are very welcome.