East Asia · Japan
Kume Island
Manta cleaning walls shallow enough for beginners, visited almost all year.
Kume Island sits about 100 km west of Naha, a diamond-shaped island of Okinawa whose diving is mainly by boat: reef walls, caverns, and big-fish sites where barracuda and dogtooth tuna school. Most dives run between 7 and 25 m. Divers come for mantas, which have been seen almost all year round since a cleaning station was found at the end of 2017, on walls shallow enough for newly certified divers.
About diving in Kume Island
Diving on Kume Island is mainly boat diving. The sites lie close to the port, some only about 10 minutes out, so the usual rhythm is a short run, a dive, and a return to the port between dives rather than a long day at sea. Which side of the island the boats work follows the wind: in the cold, north-wind months the dives move to the south side. Same-day flights after diving are not allowed, so the last dive has to fall at least a day before the flight out, and serious injuries or illness are treated on Okinawa Main Island, not on Kume.
The terrain is steep and varied. Reef walls start shallow and drop away into deep water, the rock of Tonbara stands up from the seafloor in the south, and caverns and arches cut through the reef elsewhere, with sunlight falling through holes in their roofs. Dogtooth tuna, bigeye trevally and barracuda school off the walls and the big-fish sites, while the cleaning station walls bring manta rays in to hover above the reef top. Divers watching them stay on the wall and follow the site's rules so the mantas keep returning.
Kume suits a wide spread of divers. Newly certified divers get the manta walls, with their tops at 7 to 8 m, and the turtle reef and cavern sites, which are rated for all levels; experienced divers get Tonbara, where the current can be very strong and the dive reaches 35 m. A rating for all levels does not mean slack water everywhere: at Ahra Oyakoiwa, a cavern site open to every level, the current is sometimes strong, so current experience helps even away from Tonbara.
Best time to dive Kume Island
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime |
December to February brings cold days and north winds, and the boats work the sites on the south side of the island. This is hammerhead season, with February the strongest month for the big animals; humpback whales turn up on rare occasions, and a whale swim programme runs from late January to mid-March. From spring onward large schools of bigeye trevally gather and stay until autumn. The rainy season starts around mid-May and ends around mid-June. Summer adds schools of barracuda to the trevally. Mantas are the constant through all of it, seen almost all year round at their cleaning walls.
Dive types & marine life
Manta rays have been seen almost all year round since the cleaning station was found at the end of 2017, and the rare black manta turns up occasionally. Hammerheads are seen often in winter, when humpback whales appear on rare occasions. Bigeye trevally school from spring to autumn, barracuda in summer, and up to 50 to 60 turtles may rest on one reef at once.
- Wall
- Reef
- Cave & cavern
- Pelagic & blue water
- Manta rays
- Hammerheads
- Sea turtles
- Trevally & jacks
- Tuna
- Barracuda
Best dive sites in Kume Island
- 1
Manta Station
Five narrow walls used as cleaning stations by manta rays, their tops shallow enough for beginners.
- 2
Imazuni
A complex wall rising from over 25 m, hung with red fan corals and fairy basslets.
- 3
Tonbara
A huge rock rising from the seafloor, a big-fish site where hammerheads are seen often in winter.
- 4
Umagai
A dramatic reef wall whose top sits at 7 m and whose face drops past 40 m.
- 5
Kame Paradise
A reef where 50 to 60 sea turtles may rest at the same time on a lucky day.
- 6
Ahra Oyakoiwa
A cavern lit by sunlight falling through holes in its roof.
- 7
Shichugama
Caves, holes and arches crowded with macro life.
Site guides
How to get to Kume Island
Flights from Naha reach Kume Island in about 35 minutes; the ferry from Tomari Port in Naha takes about 4 hours. From the island's airport, the drive to Eef Beach takes 25 minutes.
Photos from Kume Island
Paipateroma · CC BY 3.0
Dive videos
2days diving trip Kume Island Okinawa Japan. Manta ray , Barracuda , Dogtooth tuna 21-22 /Aug/2021 · OKINAWA SCUBA DIVING SERVICE DEEP EMOTION on YouTube
Diving Kume Island, Japan: 2 Days of Underwater Exploration · Dive Japan & Beyond on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can a newly certified diver see mantas at Kume Island?+
Yes. The manta cleaning walls top out at 7 to 8 m and are rated for all levels. Divers wait beside the wall rather than over the reef top where the mantas hover.
When are hammerheads seen at Kume Island?+
In winter, when hammerhead sharks are seen often and humpback whales appear on rare occasions. December to February is also when the boats move to the south side of the island.
How do divers get to Kume Island?+
By air from Naha, about 35 minutes, or by ferry from Tomari Port in Naha, about 4 hours.
Can divers fly out of Kume Island on the day of their last dive?+
No. Flying on the same day as diving is not allowed, so the flight out has to be booked for the next day or later.
Sources
- Diving in KUME Island, OKINAWA — Marine Diving Web
- Kume Island Diving — Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Naha Average Sea Temperatures — SeaTemperature.org
- 久米島ガイド — JiC Kumejima
- Plus Alpha fun diving — Diving Shop Plus Alpha
- Whale Swim Tour 2027 — Dive Estivant
Photo credits
- Aerial view of a green island ringed by turquoise reef, with a long white sandbar trailing east into deep blue sea under scattered clouds by Paipateroma, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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