Kafu Banta

Kafu BantaMiyagi islandNuchimasuUrumaKaichu Doro

Okinawa · Uruma

26.3671°N, 127.9894°E

Kafu means good fortune and banta means cliff, so the name is the cliff of happiness — a viewing point about seventy metres above the sea on Miyagi island, reached over the Kaichu Doro causeway from the Katsuren peninsula. The water below is shallow over white sand and reads as a graduated band of turquoise, and on a clear day the colour is genuinely difficult to believe.

The point sits inside the grounds of a salt factory. Nuchimasu makes salt here by spraying seawater into a heated chamber so that it dries in mid-air, producing a fine powder with an unusually high mineral content, and the factory can be toured. Parking is free and shared between the two, and there is a shop selling salt ice cream, which is better than it sounds.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Viewpoint open during daylight hours | Salt factory and shop keep daytime hours

Closed: Open year-round

Entrance Fee

Free | Free parking shared with the salt factory

Best Season

Year-round | Midday on clear days for the sea colour

Visit Duration

45–60 minutes including the salt factory

Getting There

Access Information

2605 Miyagi, Yonashiro, Uruma, on Miyagi island. Car required — cross the Kaichu Doro causeway from the Katsuren peninsula. Free to visit, with a free car park shared with the Nuchimasu salt factory; the viewpoint is reached on foot by a concrete path and steps from the car park. The salt factory offers tours and has a shop and café.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Midday for the colour.** The sea below is shallow over sand and the turquoise banding needs sun overhead. Early and late the water goes flat grey. **Do the factory tour.** Nuchimasu makes salt by atomising seawater in a heated chamber so it dries in the air — a genuinely unusual process, and the tour is short and free-standing from the viewpoint. **The path has steps.** Concrete walkway then steps up from the car park. Short, but not step-free. **Drive the Kaichu Doro.** The causeway across the shallows to the islands is a five-kilometre road with sea on both sides and is half the reason to come out here. **Combine with Hamahiga.** The sacred island is a few minutes back along the causeway chain.

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