The Ritz-Carlton Okinawa

The Ritz-Carlton Okinawa, which opened in 2012 in Nago City in the northern part of the main island, occupies a position in Okinawa's luxury landscape that is distinct from the beachfront resort character of the more developed central and southern coast. Northern Okinawa — the Yanbaru area — retains its subtropical forest cover to a degree that the developed southern zones do not; the landscape is wilder, more forested, and more explicitly natural in character, with UNESCO World Heritage status for its biodiversity and ancient subtropical rainforest.

The hotel's grounds include a golf course that makes use of the gentle topography and subtropical vegetation of the northern landscape. The spa engages the Okinawan natural environment through treatments and programming that reference the island's longevity traditions — the Okinawan diet, its relationship with nature, and the practice of hara hachi bu (eating to eighty percent capacity) that is part of the locally researched 'Blue Zone' longevity pattern. Pool and beach facilities extend the resort's outdoor character.

Dining uses the exceptional local Okinawan ingredients — Agu pork, awamori spirits, mozuku seaweed, tropical fruits, and the extraordinary seafood of the surrounding Pacific and East China Sea — in menus that reflect both the island's distinct culinary tradition and the international expectations of the Ritz-Carlton clientele. The northern location gives the hotel access to Okinawa's most ecologically intact landscapes, including the forests and rivers of the Yanbaru National Park.

For travelers who want to engage the natural Okinawa — the island's extraordinary biodiversity and ancient subtropical forest character — rather than its beach resort infrastructure, the Ritz-Carlton Okinawa's northern positioning provides a base that few other luxury hotels in the archipelago can match.