A beach you reach by crossing the sea (left after the Kouri Bridge)
The beach immediately on your left after the Kouri Bridge, which lets you drive out over the sea. A jellyfish net goes up in summer and the swimming zone is wide, so you can swim properly here.
The Kouri Bridge, which makes you feel you are crossing the sea itself, is probably the most exhilarating stretch of road in Okinawa. This photograph is not mine, but if it is summer, the sky is clear, it is around noon and the water is calm, you really do see a view like this.
The Kouri Bridge makes such an impression that swimming here can feel like an afterthought. But look at this photograph and the one at the top of the page: the swimming area is wide enough that people at the far end look small. The showers and other facilities are properly equipped too, as described below.
Many beaches forbid snorkelling inside the swimming area, but at Kouri Beach you are free to snorkel.
The water is slightly below average for clarity compared with other beaches. Conditions were not good on the day of this visit — 2.5 m waves with a swell — but even allowing for that, Kouri Beach is exposed to wave action and tends to be less clear. The gradation is lovely towards the far end of the beach (right of the photograph), where the blue deepens.
There is no tree or rock shade on the beach, but the area under the Kouri Bridge is shaded. It is not large, but it is welcome in hot weather. Parasols are also available to hire — see the equipment section below.
As mentioned above, you can snorkel inside the swimming area at Kouri Beach. Life jackets are not compulsory, though personally I would wear one. As shown in the photograph, the shop two minutes' walk from the beach (Ai-Island Kouri-jima Shoku to Yakata) hires out snorkels at ¥500 and life jackets at ¥500.
Toilets, showers and changing rooms are one to two minutes' walk from the beach. The showers are behind the wall marked "Shower" in the photograph. The changing rooms are where the man is standing at the back right. I could not find a foot rinse.
The showers are ¥100, which is very cheap, but they are outdoors as you can see. They are also about 10 metres from the changing rooms, which may be inconvenient when there is a queue. If that bothers you, there are several shops across the road where you can use a shower instead.
On the right of the photograph is the hire menu: a parasol set is ¥3,000 and rings are ¥300–500. On the left are the water sports prices: banana boat ¥2,000 for 10 minutes, marble ¥2,500 per person. Both are in line with other beaches.
A glass-bottom boat run by Kourijima Glass Boat Marine. Thirty to forty minutes at ¥3,000 for adults and ¥1,500 for children. You circle the island looking at coral and tropical fish, which makes for a full tour of Kouri.
This sign was inside Ai-Island Kouri-jima Shoku to Yakata, two minutes' walk from the beach. A sightseeing boat runs 45 minutes for ¥2,500. On a clear day it might be worth going out in the hope of a sunset.
Ai-Island Kouri-jima Shoku to Yakata, next to the beach, has a restaurant and a shop. The restaurant is priced more like a neighbourhood canteen than a tourist spot — a goya set meal is ¥630, a squid-ink set meal ¥1,050. Enlarge the photograph for the rest of the menu. The shop mostly sells souvenirs such as pineapple.
There is a Blue Seal parlour too, with parasol tables to sit at.
Camping is not allowed at Kouri Beach. Barbecues are not possible on this western beach, but on the eastern beach you can barbecue straight out of the water.
We do not run beach yoga at Kouri Beach. The nearest beach where we do is 21st Century Forest Beach, 35–40 minutes away by car.
The pedestrian path on the Kouri Bridge and the roadside station (Ai-Island Kouri-jima) are right there, so people who are not going in the water walk down to the beach as well. As you can see in the first photograph on this page, the near end of the beach gets busy with walkers and is not somewhere to relax quietly. If you hire a parasol, I would set up at the far end.
In Japanese (for maps, taxis and car navigation): 古宇利ビーチ（西側） 沖縄県国頭郡今帰仁村古宇利
We run beach yoga here too. Check availability and book in a few steps.