Geruma Island
licensed photographGraeme Bartlett / CC BY-SA 4.0

Kerama Islands · GerumaNo.857★Open in map →

Geruma Island

— A bridge-linked island in the Kerama group

localOff the trail — and worth it

A small, steep island in the Kerama group, joined to Aka by one bridge and to a third island by another. There is a single settlement, a listed Ryukyuan house open to visitors, and a deer protected as a national natural monument.

  1. FromTomari Port, Naha
  2. ~1 hr 15 minBoat from Naha, then the bridge
  3. Get off atAka Port (Queen Zamami / Ferry Zamami)
  4. From there
  5. Geruma Island
Directions ↗

The sweet spot

Geruma has no pier of its own. It is reached across a bridge from Aka, and Aka is already the island the boats half-skip. That is the whole reason it stays quiet. The sea is the same sea the Keramas are famous for; the difference is that almost nobody walks the last stretch to get to it.

Where it is

45 more notes in Okinawa · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Takara Househashi photo / CC BY 3.0
  1. Aka Bridgethe span from Aka, walkable end to end with the channel running underneath
  2. Geruma settlementthe island's only village, on the flat ground behind the bridgehead
  3. Takara Housethe listed Ryukyuan dwelling, its limestone wall and hinpun screen still in place
  4. The Kerama deersmall island deer that come down from the wooded slopes above the houses
  5. Geruma Bridgethe second span, carrying the road on to the uninhabited airfield island

How to actually get there

  1. Central Naha → Tomari Port, the pier for the Kerama Islands.
  2. Tomari Port → Aka Port on a Zamami Village boat.
  3. Aka Port → south through the village and across the bridge onto Geruma.
  4. The settlement and the Takara house, then the second bridge before the afternoon sailing.
Boat from Tomari Port, then the bridge
Naha, Tomari Port →(Queen Zamami, about 50 minutes)→ Aka Port; the conventional Ferry Zamami covers the same water in about 90 minutes. Both are run by Zamami Village and seats are held by telephone or through the village rather than bought on the quay. From Aka Port the road crosses onto Geruma in about 20 minutes by bicycle.
Back from Aka Port
There is no pier on Geruma, so the return is the way you came: over the bridge to Aka Port and onto a village boat. The last sailing leaves in the afternoon and there is no night service, so book the return leg together with the outbound one.
Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Geruma is the third of Zamami Village's inhabited islands and the one most people cross rather than stop on. It is almost square, and almost all of it is hill: a ridge runs from the centre towards the west and rises to about 157 m. The flat ground is a single settlement on the south side, where the bridge from Aka comes in. A second bridge carries the road on again, to the uninhabited island that holds the Kerama airfield. The water around all of it lies inside Kerama Shoto National Park.

How to enjoy it

The island is small enough to take on foot, though a bicycle hired on Aka makes the round easier and covers the bridge in minutes. The Takara house closes on Mondays and shuts for an hour in the middle of the day, so build the visit around that rather than around the boat. Deer are seen most often at the edges of the day, along the treeline above the settlement. In the winter months humpback whales pass through these channels, and the crossing itself becomes the sighting.

Background & history

The Takara house stands in the settlement, built in the second half of the nineteenth century for a family whose head served as captain of the Ryukyu kingdom's official ships to China. It was thatched at first and later re-roofed in red tile. A limestone wall rings the plot, and a hinpun screen stands in front of the main building to keep the entrance from opening straight into the house. It is listed as a National Important Cultural Property, unusually old for a dwelling on an outlying Okinawan island. The deer on the slopes above it are protected too, together with their habitat, as a national natural monument shared with neighbouring Yakabi.

Before you go

Cash
The bridges and the island road cost nothing. The Takara house charges a small admission at the door, and the village boats add a small island levy per arrival — both in cash. Card acceptance thins out once you leave Naha.
Before you go
The crossing is open water. Sailings are suspended when the sea gets up, and the typhoon season in late summer and early autumn can close the route outright. Check the day's operating information before fixing a return time.
Another way
Zamami Village's own boats also run between its islands, so Geruma can be reached by way of Zamami and Aka instead of direct from Naha. On the island itself the road continues over the second bridge to the airfield island, which is the only other direction it goes.
After you get off
Aka Port is the landing. The settlement stands behind the pier and bicycle hire is arranged there; the road for Geruma runs south out of the village and over the bridge.