Ocean Expo Park Dolphin Show & Churaumi Aquarium Playground

Our family loves going to the aquarium!

Dolphin Show:

The first thing we do when we arrive is head down to the Dolphin stadium to see the dolphin show.  If you haven't been to it, it is a must see family event.  The dolphins perform different jumping formations, play with hula hoops, fetch balls, interact with the audience, and even dance to upbeat music among other things.

The show lasts 20 min and can be seen at 11 am, 1 pm, 2:30 pm, and 4 pm.  There is an additional show at 6 pm from March to September.

 

Playground:

For the first time since we began going to the aquarium, O had enough energy left to play on the enormous rope playground they have there.  The playground itself is all connected.  However, the ropes are separated into sections based on age appropriateness and labeled accordingly so it's very user friendly and you can be certain that it is safe for your child to play on.

The ropes are for ages 3+ which discouraged me at first since O is only 15 months.  After looking around a bit though, we found that they do have a section of the playground for children under 3 that is all flat and made out of rubber at the top of the hill on the side closest to the parking garage.  There is a slide and various other things to climb on and crawl under.  This made me extremely happy.  But O is headstrong, loves to try things that the older children are doing, and a little ahead on her developmental skill levels so did allow her to play on the ropes as well.



Other posts from visits to this site:
Churaumi Aquarium and Ocean Expo Park
Ocean Expo Park

Cape Zampa Lighthouse (Zanpa)

In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, US troops occupied the Kerama Islands located about 40 km south of this cape.  They used the lighthouse there as a guide to the shore and landed on the beach to the south of Cape Zampa (Zanpa).

Cape Zampa is located just North of Torii Station not to far from Zakimi Castle.  This area has several beaches, intriguing volcanic rock cliffs, a fort, a lighthouse, and even a kids petting zoo among other things to see and do.

We decided to start our adventure walking towards the lighthouse.  It is located within a natural park with tons of green foliage everywhere.  I never knew so many plants could thrive on top of a volcanic cliff side... although it does make sense with how fertile the soil should be.  Anyways, there are several paths that flow through the greenery that you can walk through.  We skipped those in favor of exploring the rocky cliff side and watching the fisherman perched along its edges.  Just sitting and taking in the view and smelling the salty sea air was so peaceful and serene.  However, O can't sit still for very long so we had to give it up and go check something else out.

We ended up at the petting zoo.  Although there is no actual way to enter the zoo, it is built in such a way that the animals are all very accessible.  The little shop next to it also sells carrots slices that you can feed to the critters.  There were two different kinds of goats, rabbits, and turtles.  O was content to just stare at the goats and got a little scared when they came close to eat the carrot sticks from our hands.  After a while though she warmed up to them and wanted to feed them as well... go figure we were almost out of carrots by then, lol.

After our trip to the petting zoo, we started to head down one of the paths by the lighthouse and then suddenly decided to go off the beaten path along the cliff side towards a fort we could see in the distance.  It was beautiful and relatively easy to trek as O, who just started walking, was even able to navigate the terrain fairly well.

Unfortunately, we never made it to the fort.  O was starting to get sunburnt and hungry, so we opted to head back to the car and find some chow.  But it was a wonderful family outing.  I hope to do it again sometime.

Ocean Expo Park

Our second trip to Churaumi Aquarium we decided to explore the Expo Park some more.

I have no idea how big exactly this park is...  we walked the board ramps down the coastline for an hour taking in the scenery and then decided to head back for lunch.  But we didn't even make it down to the tropical dream center... granted, our pace was quite leisurely.

The many beaches were breath-taking and so relaxing to sit and enjoy in the gazebos that spotted the path.  O enjoyed looking through the boards down at the sand and water below and trying to pull the giant pineapple looking things off the plants.

There were also many amazingly landscaped areas with ponds and waterfalls, fish and tadpoles galore, water-lillies and little stone paths that went through them.

And, as always, we had to see the dolphin show!  ;)  O laughed and danced with the dolphins and clapped along with the audience.  It is amazing how much more she is becoming aware of her surroundings.

Other posts from visits to this site:
Churaumi Aquarium & Ocean Expo Park
Ocean Expo Park Dolphin Show & Churaumi Aquarium Playground

Gushikawa Park

Yet another beautiful, new location for our Stroller Warrior ladies to run at and a great park for the kiddos.

Gushikawa park is located near the bridge leading to Henza, Miyagi, and Ikei Islands on the East Coast of Okinawa. A lot of my friends say this bridge kinda reminds them of the Golden Gate Bridge. I've only ever seen it in pictures, so I'm not sure how accurate that is...  I read somewhere that the bridge is 4.7 miles long.  That would explain why we didn't make it to the other side on our run today, lol.

Anyways, the kids had a lot of fun at the park.  Most of the little kids stuck to the smaller play place on the left.  It is similar to anything you'll find on base, but still fun.  The other structures were pretty cool.  The rope thing on the right kept many of the older kids occupied attempting to climb it and provided me with much amusement while I was there.  There is a decent sized roller slide back behind the pavillion too.

It was a Japanese National Holiday while we were there, so there were tons of Japanese kids at the park that day.  O got abducted with her stroller by a few little girls who basically used her as a real life doll.  They took her for rides, passed her around for holding and rocking, and shared some of their candy with her.  :D

Churaumi Aquarium & Ocean Expo Park

Walking down the path to the Aquarium.

Our first outing on the island came just after New Years when some friends of ours invited us to go to the Churaumi Aquarium.

The Aquarium is located within Ocean Expo Park.  The park itself is free to the public and houses several flora and fauna exhibits.  Within the park are also several pay attractions including the Aquarium and the The Tropical Dream Center.

We arrived much later than expected, so we only had a couple hours to explore this wonderful area.

We decided to start off by going to see the free Dolphin Show.  The show takes place in its own outdoor theater on the oceanfront.  The scenery sets a relaxing atmosphere and provides a  beautiful backdrop.  Trainers play games, dance, and even do jokes with the dolphins.  The entire audience was really engaged with the performance.

 

 

After the show, we took a walk and stopped at the turtle exhibit and then took a time out to admire one of the many small beaches hidden along the shoreline.  Then we went inside the Aquarium.  With so much to see and do, we decided that we would definitely be returning to explore some more.  We went ahead a purchased memberships for the year.  (Only 3,600 yen per adult and O gets in free!)

Our party was hungry so we made our way down to the cafe catching glimpses of a multitude of tanks filled with varied fish and corals.  The cafe lies adjacent to the largest tank I have ever seen.  This tank houses 3 whale sharks and many small sharks and rays.

O fell asleep while I was consuming my taco rice and my pregnant friend felt like joining her.  So I stayed to watch over them while the boys went to check out some of the other tanks we had missed on our endeavor to procure food.

We decided to make the attempt to avoid evening traffic (we failed) and decided to head home.  All in all, I think the entire family enjoyed this outing and are looking forward to coming here again.

Other posts from visits to this site:
Ocean Expo Park
Ocean Expo Park Dolphin Show & Churaumi Aquarium Playground