Okinawa Budget Guide

This is my guide for a five day trip in Okinawa in September. I’d like to mention that I traveled while Japan and Korea are beefing so flights were really cheap. During this time, a lot of Koreans canceled their flights and plans to travel to Japan in order to prove a point. I’d also like to mention that doing Okinawa on a budget is super easy if you know where to look and what to do. If you’re wondering what to do on Okinawa during your holiday, I highly suggest checking out my Perfect Five Day Okinawa Itinerary and The Ultimate Okinawa Guide.

I also highly recommend checking out this Okinawa Budget Calculator Guide so you can see roughly what your expenses might be. Spoiler alert, it says you’l need about $119 but I honestly did my daily expenses a lot cheaper. It gives you a rough estimate of how much money you will need in Okinawa and the average daily price for traveling in Okinawa.

Blog Posts You Might Like

• The Ultimate Tokashiki Guide – Tokashiki is my all time most FAVORITE island destination on Okinawa. Located an hour ferry ride from Naha, you can miss snorkeling with sea turtles on her natural beaches.
• The Ultimate Ishigaki Guide – (Coming Soon)
• 15 Incredible Places in Okinawa – As someone who lived on the island for 3 years, these are my absolute top favorite picks for anyone traveling to Okinawa.
• How To Survive Summer in Okinawa – If you’re traveling during the summer… I shit you not, Okinawa is super brutal. These are tips from me as a local on how I survived the summers in Okinawa. 
• How To Prepare for Typhoons in Japan – Typhoons happen… And they happen quite freuquently on Okinawa. When you experience one for the first time, you may feel like the world is ending. Fret not, read this post on tips for how to prepare and chillax.
• Southeast Botanical Gardens in Okinawa – This is one of the coolest places you can go. With tons of beautiful nature and an organic restaurant, you’re bound to feel at peace. You can also play with capybaras and squirrel monkeys. 
• Alluring Sakura Spots in Okinawa – If you’re visiting Okinawa in January, then lucky you! It’s the first prefecture in the county to get cherry blossoms! These are the top picks from myself and other bloggers who have lived on the island.

Flights

Since I was flying from Korea and around Okinawa, I used many budget airlines. I booked a lot of one way trips so as to keep the cost down. I used Peach Aviation, Jin Air, ANA, and Solaseed Air.

Flight Cost: $402.55

Accommodation

I’ve said it a million times and I will repeat myself over and over again. Okinawa truly is the most beautiful place I’ve ever lived in the world. Everything about it is always picturesque and like it came from a fairytale made in heaven. Fun fact about me though… Sometimes, I’m kinda cheap when it comes to accommodation. Especially when I have an itinerary that is completely full and I will only be using a place for luggage storage and a place to sleep and shower. But if I just feel like lazing around the food and eating at a buffet, then I will splurge.

Okinawa has some really great budget hotels and guesthouses. I stayed at Blue Cabin Ishigakijima and Guest House Life is a Journey in Yomitan and I highly recommend both. The staff is really friendly and chill. Both of this options are great for you Okinawa holiday budget.

Accommodation Cost: $87.53

Car Rental

Renting a car on Okinawa is literally one of the most important things you can ever do. It’s really hard to enjoy all of the beauty and splendor of the island if you’re stuck navigating via bus (trust me, it’s expensive af, they’re always late, and takes FOREVER). I lived on the island for 6 months without a car and it was the craziest thing I’ve ever done and I don’t recommend it for anyone.

But if you’re the stubborn type and you like an adventure, I recommend using the Okinawa bus pass to get around cheaply and conveniently.

Mainland Okinawa & Ishigaki: $188.26

Sim Card

In today’s social media obsessed world, it’s super important to be able to stay connected. While Korea is very free with the wifi they have around and how easy it is to connect anywhere, Japan is definitely not one of those places—especially Okinawa. I booked my Sim card super easily through Klook and picked it up at the Naha Airport Domestic terminal. I chose the eight day plan where I would get unlimited data.

Docomo Sim Card: $22.40

Food

Sadly, since Okinawa is the poorest prefecture a lot of the food is much cheaper here. Granted I ate a lot and probably brought back 5kg around my waist but it is #soworthit. Two of the best activities you should do while there is eat Teppanyaki and try an Okinawa Cooking Class.

Total Food Cost: $100.00

Activities & Trinkets

One activity I participated in while on Okinawa was renting a bingata kimono. If you’d rather have a traditional Japanese yukata or kimono then I also recommend renting one here. The best thing to do on Okinawa is to obviously beach hop and really enjoy everything the island has to offer.

I bought shisa (guardian lion dogs), beer, snacks, a funky purse, stuff from Daiso, and beauty products I cannot find in Korea anymore. My biggest splurge on this vacation was buying a black pearl on Ishigaki. I always said I left part of my heart in the ocean in Okinawa, so this time, I brought part of the ocean with me.

But also, let’s be real. Did you really go to Japan if you didn’t bring back a whole bunch of shit?

Total: $400.00

Dog Sitting

I thought I would add this in because as a pet parent, this is something I have to worry about. I’m sure some of my readers also have fur children and would maybe also factor this into their travell costs as well.

As you know, the love of my life Honey deserves nothing but the best. Unfortunately since I live in a very inconvenient part of Korea, it’s very hard to find people who can watch her in Hanam City. I used (service here) and she did a really spectacular job watching my fur baby. She brushed her, wiped her eyes dry (to keep them free from really bad tear stains), walked her, played with her, and fed her just right. Yes, I know her snoot is most boopable.

Total: $125.00

Hopefully this Okinawa budget trip guide was helpful for you and your monetary needs. I really recommend using Japanese low cost budget airlines like Peach, Solaseed, and Vanilla Air whenever you’re booking any trip to Japan. Okinawa can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be. It is the cheapest prefecture to travel in all of Japan and I really hope you enjoy this gorgeous island paradise for all that it has to offer. Overall, the grand total I spent was $1325.74. I’m sure if you guys didn’t buy a lot of stuff or have a fur baby, then it would come out to be much, much, much cheaper. But whenever I go to Japan, I almost always bring back things I miss and food I like.

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