Taiwan to Okinawa Travel Guide
I live in Tainan so the easiest way for me is to go to Kaohsiung from Tainan and then take the Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH) to Okinawa (OKA). If you’re living or visiting the norther half of Taiwan I would recommend leaving from Taiwan-Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) and flying to Okinawa (OKA).
The process is really straight forward. At KHH I checked in my baggage and then made my way to the security checkpoint. A side note, the security check points here actually have a purpose compared to the ones I saw in Beijing. After you get on the plane, it’s about an hour and a half flight to Okinawa. I would recommend exchanging money in Taiwan before leaving but there are money exchange vendors located throughout Okinawa.
When you arrive in Okinawa, they’re a lot more strict about why you’re visiting and seem to be a little more suspicious about your visit. I understand though because when they asked how long I would stay, I only said a day. They were probably thinking what in the world is this foreigner doing?
I flew with Tigerair Taiwan and would recommend using them again. If you’re like me and on a visa run, you need to have proof of an airline ticket leaving Taiwan. I ended up showing the Tigerair worker a flight to the US and she let me through. Personally, I wouldn’t advise doing visa runs in Taiwan. I was only in this situation because my ARC was delayed.
If you are thinking about flying to Okinawa from Taiwan or from Okinawa back to Taiwan I recommend booking through JetRadar. If you would like to take the incredibly comfortable Taiwan High Speed Rail you can purchase tickets to Kaohsiung (KHH) and Taipei (TPE) for a discount.
