Manza Ocean Park

There are many water activities on the island of Okinawa, and while we have experienced many, we had not yet experienced Manza Ocean Park. This floating playground is comprised of multiple inflatable structures secured together and anchored to the sand with heavy concrete anchors along one of the island beaches. The structures vary from things one must climb over, climb through, and climb under while not falling into the surrounding waters. Some have swinging balls one must navigate around, which can be used to send a family member into the water if they are not paying close enough attention. The water under this course of inflatables is deep enough to not hit bottom if you fall, but shallow enough that an adult can touch bottom for about 1/3 of the course. This ocean park is operated and maintained by a hotel that is adjacent to the beach. We arrived mid-morning and played around on the structures for a few hours. Bug was like a little monkey bounding around the structures at blistering speeds. He challenged Heather and I to catch him, but we were hard pressed to do so. For lunch we dried off and walked over to the hotel for a 4 course meal that was included in the ticket price for the Ocean Park. After lunch we returned to the floating structures for a few more hours of play before we were all exhausted and the sun was preparing to set. We all dried off and changed into regular clothes but did not leave yet. The park and hotel sits along the west coast of the island and offered some stunning ocean views. We hung around and watched the sun setting over the ocean before piling back into our van and heading off to dinner.

It was a highly enjoyable day for all, and definitely wore all of us out. For anyone wanting to come to Manza Ocean park, I would suggest purchasing tickets ahead of time as they do sell out, especially on the weekends. Some of our neighbors decided to swing by while we were there, but were turned away due to being sold out. The structures themselves certainly would have supported more people, but the dining venues at the hotel limit the maximum tickets per day. I guess a collateral perk is that the play structures are never really overcrowded due to this limitation.