Iejima

From Motobu Port the village ferry takes 30 minutes to cover about 10 km, and in normal times there are only four sailings a day each way, so plan the day around the return boat. Iejima itself is flat, about 8 km east to west, with sandy beaches on the south side and cliffs of around 60 m on the north. The exception is Gusukuyama, which everyone calls Tatchu: a 172 m rock that sticks up out of the fields slightly east of centre. The village says the rock is about 70 million years older than the island around it, pushed on top of younger rock as plates moved. A stepped path climbs from the car park on its south side, and most people reach the top in 15 to 20 minutes; it is steep and gets slippery after rain, but the summit looks over the whole island to Okinawa's main island. On the south coast, Nyatiya cave holds a lifting stone said to grant children to women who raise it; residents sheltered there during the war. The Lily Festival at Lily Field Park runs from late April into Golden Week, with a free shuttle from the port. Bring a hat: much of the island has little shade, and about a third of it is a US military airfield.