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Keramashoto NP, Okinawa
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Inazaki is more than a scenic perch: a lookout-based whale-spotting system began here in 1997. Observers scan the sea and radio whale locations to boat captains, helping crews find whales while spreading out around them.
Kerama’s humpbacks return from late December to April to breed, give birth and raise their young. Inazaki is one of the places where you can look for these seasonal visitors from land, with no boat ride required.
On March 22, 2005, 6 humpbacks spotted from Inazaki swam so close to Zamami that watchers lost sight of them from that lookout. The team hurried between viewpoints; at Kaminōhama, they could hear the whales blowing and slapping the water.
Zamami’s southern side faces the sheltered Kerama inner sea, but Inazaki looks out over the exposed outer ocean. Waves pound the cliffs below, while the horizon reaches toward Tonakijima and Kumejima.
