Kerama & Kume Islands Trips & Tours

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Named three years running in Travel+Leisure World's Best, including No.1 in 2024

Kerama & Kume Islands

Sublime comes in island form, lapped by turquoise waters where whales breach and turtles glide by.

The word ‘dreamy’ might be a tad overused in travel literature, but when you discover waters so distinctly blue that they named a colour after them, it might just deserve the adjective... Just 40 kilometres off the coast of Okinawa’s capital, Kerama is a national park made up of 22 islands, where off-shore reefs boast almost unbelievable visibility, the beaches are straight off the pages of a magazine, and turtles are frequent visitors. Even further-flung, Kume Island is famed for Hate no Hama, a surreal 7 kilometre sandbar only reachable by boat, alongside some of the best beaches in Japan, gorgeous, hand-woven silks and a surplus of prawns. These waters also happen to host epic humpback whale sightings, between January and March, when mothers and calves enjoy them as much as the humans.

Our Experts

Want to chat?

Get advice and suggestions to make this your perfect trip.

or call us on: +1 (646) 542 0667

Jessica Klauzenberg

Japan Travel Specialist

Carola Fresno

Asia Travel Specialist

Tessa Dancer

Japan Travel Specialist

Things to do

What to do in Kerama & Kume Islands

Open Map

Beach

Why you'll love it

This is the Okinawa of postcards, where the water is as clear and blue as the sky and there’s nothing to distract you from the beauty of it all.

Off the beaten track

Make the journey to Tatami-ishi rocks on Kume to see the flat, geometric stones when they appear at low tide.

Something to think about

Kume is genuinely remote and not a casual add-on to a Naha itinerary, while day trips to Kerama are possible but an overnight stay is much preferable.

When to go

Best time to visit Kerama & Kume Islands

Excellent

Good

Mixed

january

Dry Season — a good time to visit

Reviews

Based on 5 Feefo Reviews for Japan

Highly recommend! For our trip, we wanted to just be able to enjoy the experience together. We literally spent zero time each day worrying about logistics (how to get places, where to eat, what to do next) because everything was planned, confirmed, and flowed seamlessly. Jessica did a great job providing overviews and links ahead of time, so that I could get the rest of my family excited and on board too. We are already planning our next trip with Timbuktu!

Guest

Terrific travel plan from Tessa

April 2026

13 nights in Japan

Tessa Dancer is facilitating our trip to Japan. During the planning process, Tessa sought our input and put together a product that reflected our ideas and her travel and cultural expertise gained during her recent visit including accommodations and experiences. Tessa follows through with details, timelines pricing and suggestions. We chose Timbuktu based on Tessa's customer service. Hoping the actual travel will be as good as the planning process. No idea about any other Timbuktu tours but if the other travel specialists are half as good as Tessa, Timbuktu is a winner.

Very helpful and knowledgeable.

January 2026

15 nights in Japan

Great to work with and very knowledgeable regarding the places we want to visit.

We have loved the trips which Timbuktu have arranged for us to South Africa, Laos and Cambodia and are now looking forward to another trip later this year to Japan.

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