Trekking the Ta-taki Waterfall was the highlight of our Okinawa trip. This was one of the coolest things we have ever done, and it was one of the best waterfalls we have seen! The hike starts by parking your car in an awesome parking lot with bathrooms and a map!
The first portion of the trek is hiking along a paved road. The road follows the river until you reach a house on the left and the river entrance on the right.
When you enter the river trekking part, the river is just a small pond. The water only went up to about our calves, and Little A's knees.
We spent the next 10-15 minutes walking through an easy riverbed. The kids enjoyed kicking the water as they walked. We loved hearing the sound of the river as it babbled by us. The kids especially loved splashing in the water.
There really wasn't room on the side of the river to walk on the dry part, thus the river trekking part of the hike.
While hiking through the river, we came to some super beautiful spots! There were points where trees were hanging low and small ponds were formed.
Monster rode in the hiking backpack during the entire hike and did so amazing! He laughed when the girls would splash each other. He chilled with his goldfish crackers and water bottle. This backpack is seriously the bomb! I love how it has a built in sun shade! Look at my two super handsome boys!!
After only about 15 minutes, we came to a super super small waterfall and a large deep pool. The path seemed to end at this pool. We had read that there was a perfect swimming hole in front of the waterfall, so the kids took their backpacks off and went for a dip in the pool. I was super confused, because everything I read said it was a big gorgeous waterfall, and what we saw was not as described. All of us where a little disappointed and like, "That's it?"
As the kids were swimming, I was on my phone looking at pictures of the waterfall and comparing them to our mini wannabe waterfall, I knew it wasn't right. As I looked around, I saw a rope on the right side of the path going straight up. The path did continue! From this point, the hike was no longer a leisure walk through a river, but it became a rope holding, tree ducking, edge walking hike!
At some points, the river became small rapids with lots of rocks, so the path went to the side of the river. I kept a hold on Little A and walked in front of Kevin to help as needed.
At one point, we were pretty much scaling a rock using just a small rope to keep us from falling into the small rapids. All the kids were champions and really enjoyed the adventure!
After about 15-20 minutes or so of the actual hiking, we turned the bend and beheld our prize- the amazingly gorgeous Ta-taki Falls! And it was totally worth it! The pictures don't do it justice.
True to the description there was a perfect swimming hole in front of the waterfall. There was even a bonus surprise rope swing! The kids all took turns swinging from the rope and falling into the pool!
We ate our packed lunches, swam in the pool and enjoyed exploring around the waterfall. M&M found a way to walk directly under the waterfall! She was so proud of herself! All the kids loved playing in the water. Little Monster especially loved throwing rocks into the water! The kids all had a rock skipping competition! We spent a good half hour to 45 minutes just enjoying the waterfall and skipping rocks. We were all sad to pack up and leave the waterfall. But we enjoyed the hike back to the parking lot! If you are ever in Okinawa, I highly recommend this water trekking waterfall hike!
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