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See in Naha · #8 of the port's ten

Shikinaen royal garden

~2.5h — the round trip from the gangway, with the 60-minute margin kept aside.

Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC BY-SA 3.0

Tap a photo to see it large. 9 photographs, each credited.

Round trip
2 hr 30 min
From the ship and back
Fits
a 2–3 hour stop ashore
Margin already counted
Getting there
~20 min taxi
See the rides below
Booking
Just turn up
Nothing to reserve
Why we send people here

Where the Ryukyu kings entertained Chinese envoys — a pond garden with a hexagonal Chinese pavilion and a deliberately hidden view, designed so visitors could not see how small the kingdom was.

Before you count on it
  • It is a view, so it is weather. Check the morning sky before you commit the hours.
  • No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
The story

Why Shikinaen royal garden is famous

The Ryukyu royal family's second residence, built around 1799, where the king entertained Chinese envoys. The garden is a circuit style with a Chinese-roofed pavilion over the pond, and the design deliberately hides the sea so envoys could not judge the kingdom's size. It is a UNESCO site.

Where it is

Shikinaen royal garden and your ship

Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.

The arithmetic

Where the 2 hr 30 min goes

Counted from the moment you step off the gangway. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.

Out20 min~20 min taxi
There1 hr 50 minWhat you came for
Back20 minTo the gangway

20 minutes each way is the honest figure for ~20 min taxi, not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 1 hr 50 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.

If you have longer

What fits alongside it

Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare on a 6-hour stop ashore.

Pairs well with

What to put beside it

Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.

Build your own day →
The one rule: be back on board 60 minutes before all-aboard. Build the whole day on the Naha plan page.