A beach for exploring the rocky shore
The seabed is mostly rock, which makes it good for exploring the shore. It is not the tropical picture of white sand and shallow emerald water stretching on and on, but the clarity and the sense of space are excellent and the park is well kept, so you end up wanting to linger. More a local favourite than a tourist beach.
Toguchi is not a designated bathing beach under the local byelaw. That has its drawbacks — no lifeguards, no jellyfish net — but it also means there is no restriction on where you swim, so you can move freely along a wide shore at your own risk. This photograph shows the left-hand side of the beach; the one at the top of the page shows the right.
In front of the beach is lawn, with six pavilions (twelve tables in all). The left-hand end of the beach rises into a small hill, and there are two more pavilions on top of it. This photograph is the view from one of them. If you are not going into the sea, that is the place to be.
As in the photograph, tide pools form at low tide, and catching the small fish left behind in them is something you can do here and almost nowhere else. If you are coming at low tide, bring a net and a tank.
Next to the car park there is a park where children can play.
The bottom is mostly rock rather than sand. Rock is not easily stirred up, so the clarity is among the best in the prefecture. But with a rocky bottom the feel is different from the sparkling tropical beaches you see on television. The gradation is a little better than average for an Okinawan beach: on a clear day at high tide the clear blue at the water's edge, the emerald green inshore and the deep blue further out lie in distinct bands.
As mentioned among the things to recommend, the many pavilions are where the people of the village come to relax. Beside the beach is lawn, so the few patches of tree shade are pleasant too.
The toilets, showers and foot rinse can be used all year round. The showers cost ¥200 a time and are available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; you pay at the parlour window in the same building.
A parlour called Toguchi Shoten opened over the Golden Week holiday in 2016. Like the showers, it is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. I was told it would stay open throughout 2016 apart from its closing days. From October to March it closes on Wednesdays; in the other months it does not close at all. The specialities are beni-buta pork keema curry at ¥700 and a beni-buta pork rice bowl at ¥700. The drinks list is a good one, with eight cocktails.
The tables at the parlour, Toguchi Shoten.
Beside the beach there is a restaurant, Ganjyu Farm. It prides itself on beni-buta pork, and the menu runs to beni-buta ginger pork at ¥1,166 and beni-buta loin cutlet at ¥1,382. Every dish comes with a small buffet — pork soup, rice, a salad bar, a drinks bar and ice cream, all with free refills — which makes it good value. The buffet alone can be ordered for ¥842 (¥626 for primary school children). It is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed on Wednesdays from October to March and open every day the rest of the year.
The tables at Ganjyu Farm.
You can barbecue in the pavilions beside the beach. The full set — food, equipment and pavilion — is ¥2,700 per person, booked through Ganjyu Farm. The minimum is ten people in high season and five in winter. Note that you may not bring your own food or equipment. For details see the official website.
There is no hire of marine gear or beach parasols. The bottom is rock, so be sure to bring water shoes.
No marine activities are run at this beach. In return, the sea here is quiet.
You are free to snorkel at your own risk. At low tide it becomes very shallow, as in the photograph, and you cannot swim inside the reef edge. Outside the reef edge the waves and currents are dangerous. Beginners should swim inside the reef edge at high tide.
At low tide it becomes very shallow, as in the photograph above. For swimming, high tide — the state shown in the first photograph on this page — is the time to come.
We do not run beach yoga at Toguchi Beach. The nearest beach where we do is Araha Beach — about 20 minutes by car for a morning session, or about 25 minutes for a sunset session.
In Japanese (for maps, taxis and car navigation): 渡具知ビーチ 沖縄県中頭郡読谷村字渡具知228
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.