Miyakojima, Miyako Japan

Miyakojima, in the Okinawa islands, is an idyllic, tropical paradise of picturesque beaches and colorful coral reefs. Located approximately 290 kilometers from the main island of Okinawa, Miyakojima’s most famous attractions are its heavenly beaches. The interior of the island is flat and covered with sugar cane plantations, pineapple plantations and their famous mangoes. The island has no animals other than extremely venomous snakes, the most deadly is the Habu snake. We were told that if we experienced a snake bite to take a picture of the snake. Yeah, right. Anti-venom is readily available on the island, but they MUST know what kind of snake bite to treat. 

Our excursion today was to have taken us to beautiful Higashi Henna Cape, designated as a National Historic, Scenic and Natural Monument and supposedly one of the most breathtaking spots in all of Okinawa. From there into the underwater world of the island on a semi-submersible vessel, the Sea-Sky Hakuai. Another stop was to have been to Utopia farm to observe the local plants and flowers. And finally, a stop at Taragawa Awamori Brewery quite famous in Miyakojima, to learn how to make sake – Japanese rice wine. 

None of that happened, and neither did the tsunami. As we disembarked and boarded a bus to the cruise terminal we ALL had our phones blow up at once with an earthquake warning followed by the emergency alert from the picture above. All we felt of the earthquake was the bus we were on took one small adjustment of the levelers and the driver stated, “everything ok”.  We got off the bus and began to clear customs; Joe and I had just finished when they stopped what they were doing and asked all passengers to hurry out and walk to higher ground immediately. This included all customs personal! We were asked to leave the terminal and follow personal to the street and eventually up a sidewalk to the top of the hill. From there to a zone that was an official evacuation zone. The cruise line kept us informed and stated that the expected wave was due to make landfall at 10:00 am. In this neighborhood, we saw local residents on the rooftops of their apartment buildings watching us watch them. We were also joined by many locals who had reported to the evacuation zone with their children and pets.

From our zone above the harbor, we watched as all vessels (large and small) left the harbor, including our ship. This was a mandatory evacuation of the harbor. It was a little surreal watching our ship sail away without us. We waited and watched the shoreline from a perch, high above the harbor. The timeframe came and went. Eventually, the decision was made to move all of us, by bus, into a sports facility deep into the city. We stayed there for about 3 hours waiting for further instruction and for the Japanese government to get the all clear and reopen the port. While we waited in the sports facility, Joe decided to kick a soccer ball around with several of the ships crew. Many passengers passed the time by walking around the arena, myself included. Eventually, bottled water was passed around and a few passengers walked to a local grocer to find some snacks. When it became obvious that the timeframe left would not support our scheduled excursions they reboarded us onto buses and took us to a local hotel for lunch. By the time we finished our lunch the cruise ship had made its return to the dock and we were reboarded. 

I guess a tsunami warning had never occurred with a cruise ship in port so the protocol developed in real time. While we can’t say we saw the things we had hoped to see here in Miyakojima, we did see a bit of the town as we walked and drove around and, in fact, have quite a story to tell. Unfortunately, we were unable to see the beautiful beaches that grace this island as this was the most dangerous area today. Everyone here on the island couldn’t have been more friendly or accommodating as we all LIVED TO TELL. What an adventure…as promised when our voyage began…just not the kind we had imagined here in Miyakojima. I believe I mentioned just yesterday that we (personally) had been without incident or accident…I guess I spoke too soon.