Okinawa · Japan · Channel & pass · Cave & cavern · Coral garden
Onna Point
A maze of channels and arches running seaward from 3 m
A maze of crevices, tunnels and arches on the Onna coast, south of Horseshoe and the Apo Gama cave, dived from the beach or a few minutes by boat from the fishing port. Channels run seaward between 3 and 18 m with gaps under the rock a diver can pass through, and the shallow hard coral above them is rated among the best in Onna Village.
Also known as 恩納ポイント.
Where it is and how deep
26.4985° N, 127.8495° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The shallows come first: a sheet of colourful hard coral, the best spread of it in Onna Village, sitting over the top of the structure. Time the surface swim for high water and it costs you nothing to get out over it. Then the ground opens up. Countless channels run seaward between 3 and 18 m, cut into the rock like a maze, and the dive is a matter of following one, dropping into the next and losing track of which way the shore is.
Some of the channels are open to the sky and throw curtains of light down onto the sand; others close over into tunnels and arches, and there are spaces beneath the rock a diver can pass through. In the dim sections Ryukyu sweepers hang in the shadows with spiny lobster wedged back in the cracks and blue-striped dwarfgobies working the walls. From the beach entry there is a large cave in the same system.
Out on the sand between the channels are shrimpgobies and banded coral shrimp. Green turtles use the site, spotted eagle rays pass over it, and where the crevices open out to the seaward side schools of barracuda hang in the current. The point tops out at about 30 m, but nothing about the dive pushes you deep — it is a slow, low-light landscape dive with a camera, run from either the beach or a short boat ride.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Eagle rays
- Barracuda
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Okinawa: Divable year-round; Mar–Jun and Oct–Nov are calmest, while Jul–Sep is typhoon season and winter northerlies close the west coast.
Know before you go
- The channels close over into tunnels and rock overhangs; carry a light and do not enter a section you cannot see the exit of.
- The surface swim from the beach crosses shallow hard coral and is easier at high tide, when there is water over the top of it.
Dive videos
Scuba diving Onna Point, Okinawa · Okinawapajero on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Onna Point?+
The local point guide lists 5 to 30 m, with the maze of channels that make up the dive running seaward between 3 and 18 m. Most of the site is shallow, and the deeper end is off the outer edge rather than in the terrain itself.
Is Onna Point a shore dive or a boat dive?+
Both. It is entered from the beach on the Onna coast, and it is also reached in a few minutes by boat from the fishing port at Onna. From the beach entry the same system includes a large cave.
Sources
- 恩納ポイント — 恩納村のダイビングポイント — 沖縄ダイビングスクール ワールドダイビング (World Diving)
- 【2026年版】沖縄ダイビングスポットで絶対におすすめの26選 — 沖縄ダイビングスクール ワールドダイビング (World Diving)
- Nominatim search: 恩納 恩納村 — OpenStreetMap
More dive sites in Okinawa
Cave & cavern
A half-flooded limestone tunnel with 5–8 m of water inside
A drop-off from 5 m to 40 m outside the cave everyone queues for
A wall to 40 m off a 5 m reef, with a double arch at 20 m
Reef
Stair entries onto soft coral, 5 to 20 m, day and night
Wreck
A 106 m destroyer on her side at 34-46 m, sunk off Kouri in 1945
Similar dives elsewhere
Channel & pass
Magic Passage
Madang & the North Coast · Papua New Guinea
A wall of big-eye trevally closing around divers on the turning tide
Eagle rays and grey reef sharks crowding the channel as the tide floods in
Drift the channel corner on either tide, 5 to 25 m
An overhang whose ceiling opens to a window at 10 m