Diving in East Asia

Okinawa Island has the most dive shops in Japan and diving all year. On the island itself, the Blue Cave at Cape Maeda in Onna is the classic shore dive and snorkel, busy from early morning. Most divers, though, take a day boat to the Kerama Islands, a cluster of some 30 islands around Zamami and Tokashiki protected as a national park since 2014. The water there is so clear that the colour has its own name, Kerama Blue. Turtles are common at shallow sites, and from January to March humpback whales come to the islands to breed, so whale-watching trips run alongside the dives.

Ishigaki is the base for the Yaeyama Islands. Manta Scramble, off Kabira on the north-west coast, is a shallow cleaning station where reef mantas are seen most of the year, with the best odds from about June to October; snorkellers can join many trips. Between Ishigaki and Iriomote lies the Sekisei Lagoon, Japan’s largest coral reef, with hard-coral gardens.

Miyako and neighbouring Irabu and Shimoji are best known for underwater topography: caverns, arches and light beams, with visibility that often passes 30 m.

The Ogasawara Islands, a World Heritage Site about 1,000 km south of Tokyo, are reached only by the Ogasawara Maru ferry, about 24 hours each way and usually once a week, so a trip takes about six days. Diving from Chichijima brings dolphins, sharks, turtles and whales in season, with very few other divers.

Closer to Tokyo, the Izu Peninsula and the Izu Islands have cooler temperate diving with soft corals, nudibranchs and fish you will not see in Okinawa, and they are a weekend trip from the city.

Green Island, a 50 minute ferry ride from Taitung, has some of Taiwan’s best hard coral, including a huge mushroom-shaped Porites colony, and after diving you can soak in the Zhaori seawater hot spring. Orchid Island, home of the indigenous Tao people, has drop-offs and clear water with fewer visitors. Both are best from about April to October, outside the winter north-east monsoon, and boats stop for typhoons.

Liuqiu, a short ferry ride from Donggang near Kaohsiung, is one of the easiest places in Asia to snorkel with green turtles, which feed close to shore. Kenting National Park at Taiwan’s southern tip has easy shore dives and dive schools for beginners, and Penghu has reefs and calm summer seas. Fun dives in Taiwan generally cost less than in Japan.

Jeju’s best diving is around Munseom and the other islets off Seogwipo on the south coast, where warm current feeds soft-coral walls. Water ranges from about 14°C in winter to about 26°C in late summer, so a 5 to 7 mm wetsuit or a drysuit is normal; August to October is the warmest. You may see haenyeo, Jeju’s women free-divers, harvesting shellfish near shore. Ulleungdo off the east coast has clear, cold diving for experienced divers.

In China, Sanya on Hainan Island has warm water and many dive centres around its bays and offshore islands, but most trips are short try dives, and reefs are less healthy than in Okinawa or Taiwan.

Typhoon season, roughly July to October, can cancel boats for several days across southern Japan and Taiwan, so leave slack in your plans. Japan is expensive: expect about 17,000 to 21,000 yen for two boat dives in Okinawa. Many shops work mainly in Japanese, so book English-speaking operators in advance, bring your certification card and logbook, and carry insurance that covers diving. Do not fly within 18 to 24 hours of your last dive, which matters when island-hopping by plane. For beaches and island stays, see Islands and Beaches in East Asia, and for the rest of the continent, Diving and Snorkeling in Asia.