Where to dive in Japan: Okinawa, Kerama, Yonaguni and Ogasawara

Ogasawara is the one region where an official page gives dive prices: about $87 to $130 (¥13,500 to ¥20,000) for a fun dive and $92 to $140 (¥14,300 to ¥22,000) for an experience dive, per the Ogasawara Village Tourism Association. Elsewhere, card requirements come from operator and listing material (secondary), and the table below shows what each region confirms.

What is confirmed in each region?

Ogasawara has the most confirmed detail and Izu the least. The table separates what is confirmed from what was not found.

Do you need a certification card?

A supervised introductory dive needs no card, and fun diving is for certified divers, per operator pages. No government or park page was found that sets either rule for Okinawa, Izu, Yonaguni or Ogasawara. The age limit and medical form are on Can I dive in Japan without certification?

Some sites set a higher bar, per operator and ministry material:

• Yonaguni hammerheads: most operators ask for Advanced Open Water or equivalent plus drift or open-water experience.
• Rausu drift ice (Hokkaido): Open Water and a dry suit, February and March, about 20 minutes a dive, per the tourism ministry’s database. An airline package listing asks for Open Water, 20 logged dry suit dives and a dive in the last 12 months. See Shiretoko drift ice.

The Ogasawara Village Tourism Association says visitors who have never dived can do an experience dive with an instructor. It states no card rule for fun diving.

What does diving cost?

Ogasawara fun dives run $87 to $130 (¥13,500 to ¥20,000) across operators, and Ishigaki dives were last listed at $84 (¥13,000) for one dive in 2025.

Dollar figures use about ¥155 to US$1 and are rounded; you pay in yen, so check the rate.

At Ogasawara, some operators add a fuel surcharge of $6 to $26 (¥1,000 to ¥4,000), and renting a regulator, BC or suit for a fun dive runs about $14 (¥2,100) each. Some operators raise prices from June. The Ishigaki figures are last known (2025) and include the boat, lunch and tax; an extra dive was $35 (¥5,500). The 2026-27 Ishigaki prices are unclear right now. No usable price was found for Kerama, Yonaguni or Izu.

What is known about Okinawa, Kerama and Ishigaki?

Okinawa’s sea averages 21.5 to 28.6 °C, per the Visit Okinawa tourism site, and strong northerlies from November to February make boats cold, so bring a windbreaker. The same site calls Kerama’s visibility among the best in Okinawa. A dive-agency listing for Onna puts rainy-season visibility at about 15 m.

At Ishigaki, operator pages ask divers not to touch, chase or crowd manta rays and not to kick or stand on coral. The operators’ manta-season dates disagree, so none is given.

What is known about Yonaguni?

Hammerheads form schools in winter and winter diving is popular, per Yonaguni’s town site. Secondary sources disagree on the month window, so no months are given here. The town office is on 0980-87-2241 on weekdays from 8:30 to 17:15.

Safety Yonaguni’s tourism site says the south tip is exposed to waves, wind and currents. Dive hammerhead sites only with a card and experience your operator accepts.

What is known about Ogasawara?

Ogasawara has the only official dive price range. Reservations fill early even off-peak, and the Tourism Association’s cancellation rules for guided tours apply, so read them at booking.

Ogasawara Village keeps a registered guide list, a Country Code and a Rulebook. Minami-jima and Hahajima’s Ishimon need a permit-holding guide. These cover land tours, and no diving-specific rule was found. The village office is on 04998-2-3111.

The Ogasawara Maru takes about 24 hours each way from Takeshiba in Tokyo and sailed about once a week in September 2026. Fares and booking are in the Wild and Trek guide. The Ogasawara Whale Watching Association gives humpbacks as February to April and dolphins as year-round, but those are watching seasons, not dive seasons.

Before you book Ask the operator for the card level each site needs, the cancellation terms and what happens if weather stops the boat.

Where next?

Can I dive in Japan without certification? covers trial dives, and Shiretoko drift ice covers the Rausu dive. Marine and land wildlife rules are on Wildlife in Japan. The Wild and Trek guide covers the year by season, and the Wild and Trek hub lists every wildlife and trek page.