Experience the best of Onna-son

Onna-son, the village of Onna, lies on the west coast of Okinawa Island, a stretch of coast beside the East China Sea lined with beaches and resort hotels. Cape Manzamo, a limestone cliff with an elephant-trunk-shaped rock, looks over the water, and the Maeda Point headland is known for its Blue Cave, a sea cave that glows in sunlight. The coast's clear water is shallow and calm.

Snorkelling and diving are popular over the reefs, with colourful fish and, in places, coral gardens. Ryukyu Mura, a cultural village, shows traditional houses, crafts and dance, and Zakimi Castle and Nakijin Castle, both Ryukyuan stone castles, are a short drive away. The Churaumi Aquarium lies further north on the Motobu peninsula, and Naha is about an hour south.

Okinawan cooking brings goya champuru, a stir-fry of bitter melon, tofu and egg, soba noodles in pork broth, rafute braised pork belly and umi-budo, sea grapes eaten raw like green caviar. Awamori, a rice spirit, is the island drink. The swimming season is long, from April to October; the rainy season arrives in May and June, and typhoons come in late summer.