Churaumi Aquarium Access (Rental car or bus)

Churaumi Aquarium, the classic tourist spot that almost any traveler to Okinawa visits!

Churaumi Aquarium is extremely famous, but is in fact located about two hours (90km) away from the prefectural capital Naha City.
In this article, we will introduce people who visit for the first time how to go by rental car or bus.

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is one of the facilities inside “Ocean Expo Park”. This park, which is spread along the seacoast, contains a few different facilities. On direction signs on the road, it’s is often indicated as “Ocean Expo Park／海洋博公園”, and not as “Churaumi Aquarium／美ら海水族館”, so it’s important to keep this in mind.

Map

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Address: 424 Ishikawa, Motobu, Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture (Inside Okinawa Ocean Expo Park)
TEL: 0980-48-3748

By Car

	Distance	Time
From Naha	91.7km	About 2 hours
From Nago	21km	About 30 minutes
From Onna-Mura	44km	About 1 hour

Located at about 2 hours from Naha Airport.

However, please take care for traffic congestion.
Because Okinawa only has trains inside Naha City, almost all people use cars.
Because of this, traffic congestions are common. Especially during evenings, your car can really get stuck sometimes when driving into Naha City.
Please pay attention to traffic reports, and it’s a good idea not to schedule your rental car return time or restaurant reservation time too tightly.

★Route from Naha Airport

When using expressway

Naha Airport　⇒　Prefectural Road No.231　⇒　Turn right at Ashimine Intersection　⇒　National Road No.331　⇒　Okinawa Expressway, Tomigusuku / Nakachi IC　⇒　Pass Nishihara junction　⇒ Exit at Kyoda IC　⇒　Pass National Road 58-449 which run along coast　⇒　Arrival at Ocean Expo Park after driving onto Prefectural Road No.114

When using general roads

Naha Airport　⇒　Direction of Urasoe (Road No.331)　⇒　Pass Kadena Airbase　⇒　Drive North along Road No.58　⇒　At Nago, follow Road No.449　⇒　Arrival after passing Road No.114

Car Navigation Destination Set-up

Depending on your device, it’s possible that looking up “Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium” may not show any results. In that case, please search for “Ocean Expo Park” or “Kaiyohaku Park”.

MAPCODE:553075797
Phone Number Search:0980-48-2741

Gate / Parking

Parking Fee

Parking is free of charge.

Parking Capacity Summary

The North Parking, which is the closest to the aquarium (P7 – multi-storey car park) has a capacity of 789 cars, and two spaces for handicapped guests. There is no parking space available for large vehicles or two-wheeled vehicles.
Also, the height limit for vehicles is 2.3m.

There’s another parking in front of the North Gate (P6) with a capacity of 70 cars.

Heading from Parking to the Aquarium

Please remember that if you come by car, to enter the park through the “North Gate.”

The “Ocean Expo Park” is quite vast, and there are several gates. The main four gates are the South Gate, Central Gate, North Gate and Bise Gate.

You can access the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium through the “Central Gate” as well, but it’s shorter to use the “North Gate.”

This picture shows the entrance of the “North Gate” parking.

Please take note of your parking spot!
Since the car park is very large, please take note of the location or take a picture with your camera. This makes it much easier to find your car back on returning.

On leaving the North Gate parking, you will see a mist spray cooling spot. If you come with children, they’ll definitely be excited!

Trees on the left and right which are typical for Okinawa such as Indian almond trees and tiger’s claw trees make for a nice shade.

In front of the mist is an easily comprehensible guidance sign. The path will go along a gentle downward slope.

Once you’ve gone down the slope, you’ll find this sign!

Go down along the escalator, and you’ll arrive at the entrance!

Extra Information – Recharging electric cars

The North Gate multi-storey car park which provides parking for a high number of people, also provides a general recharging facilities for electric vehicles (EV).
Usage of this facility is free of charge.

Using the general recharging facilities, it takes about 5-7 hours to fully recharge your car, but if you spend your time watching a show or having a meal, your car will be recharged quite a bit.

There are 10 recharging units on the first floor, and 2 units on the 3rd floor, and we do not process reservations.
If the number of users increases, and if you were to visit during the high season of summer, there may be a possibility that no units will be available.
Since it’s a long drive, please do not rely on these facilities too much.

By Bus

There are buses available from Naha Airport or major hotels.
There are two types of buses. One of them are “Tourist Bus Tours” which are aimed at tourists. These buses will pass other tourist spots as well, and provide a guide who gives extra information.

The other type of buses are the fixed-route buses which drive on fixed routes inside Okinawa Prefecture, from bus stop to bus stop.
If you want to go from Naha Airport without having to change lines, the “Yanbaru Express Bus” is very convenient.