Ending With the Sea
Closing a Japan honeymoon in Okinawa

Most honeymoons from Spain begin with the cities. Tokyo and Kyoto take the first week or more, and they ask a great deal: early starts, temples, long dinners, a new language at every turn. More and more couples want the journey to close somewhere slower, with the sea, still in Japan and without a second long-haul flight to the Maldives or French Polynesia. Okinawa is that place.

This article is about the ending: why the islands work best last, how many nights to give them, the flights from Kyoto, the months that suit a wedding between May and October, the rooms for the final nights, and how the journey back to Madrid fits together. We read the airlines' and airports' timetables, the Japan Meteorological Agency's averages, JNTO's handbook on the Spanish market and the hotels' own pages, and contacted none of them; the sources are listed at the end. For the islands and resorts in full, see Okinawa Honeymoon: Islands, Resorts and When to Go (2026) →.

PLAN THE END OF YOUR HONEYMOON →

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WHY THE ISLANDS COME LAST

JNTO's 2024 handbook on the Spanish market notes that almost every Japan itinerary sold in Spain includes Tokyo and Kyoto, usually with three nights or more in each. It adds that some itineraries now continue to Bali, Bora Bora or the Maldives, that with airfares rising more travellers choose a journey within Japan alone, and that Spaniards who also want a beach are asking for Okinawa. Since the pandemic, it says, Okinawa has grown among honeymooners for a sea unlike the one they know at home and for the Ryukyu culture around it. JNTO's own Spanish-language honeymoon pages present Okinawa to couples as a place for clear water and the beach.

The order matters as much as the place. The cities ask the most of you, and they are best met in the first days, with the energy of arrival. The islands ask very little: a late breakfast, the water, an evening on the terrace. Placed first, they make the trip begin slowly and end in a rush of temples and trains. Placed last, they let the honeymoon end as it should, with time together and nothing left to see.

HOW MANY NIGHTS BY THE SEA

Three nights give two whole days by the sea. Four leave a spare day if the weather turns, and we recommend them from July to October. We keep to one group of islands: moving from the main island to Miyako or Ishigaki is another flight, and on a short stay a day in transit is a large share of it.

For a fortnight, a shape we often draw is four nights in Tokyo, four in Kyoto with a night in a ryokan, three or four in Okinawa, and one last night in Tokyo before the flight to Madrid. A fuller version with Hakone is in A Luxury Japan Honeymoon Itinerary: 10 to 14 Days →.

FROM KYOTO TO THE SEA

Kyoto is the natural point of departure, with two airports within reach. On the November 2026 schedule published by Naha Airport, Itami, Osaka's domestic airport, has twelve flights a day to Naha with ANA, JAL and Japan Transocean Air, leaving between 8:10 and 19:40 and taking 2 hours 15 to 2 hours 25 minutes. Kansai has nine, most of them with Peach and Jetstar Japan. For Miyako, Kansai has two direct flights a day according to Miyako Airport's timetable, and Ishigaki Airport also lists direct flights to Kansai.

Before leaving Kyoto, we send the large cases straight to the hotel in Tokyo where you will spend the last night, so that they are waiting there when you come back from the islands, and you fly south with what the beach needs. How the courier works is in Luggage Forwarding in Japan: Sending Bags Between Hotels and the Airport →.

THE MONTHS THAT SUIT

A wedding between May and October brings the honeymoon to Okinawa in its wettest and stormiest months, and the averages help to choose. On the Japan Meteorological Agency's normals, Okinawa's rainy season runs from about May 10 to June 21. In Kanto and Kinki, the regions of Tokyo and Kyoto, it begins around June 6 or 7 and ends around July 19. A honeymoon in late June or early July therefore finds the cities in their rainy season and the islands just out of it. In 2026 the rains in Okinawa ended around June 29, eight days later than usual, so we keep that window flexible.

Typhoons are the other measure. The agency counts an average of 7.7 approaches a year to the Okinawa region: 1.5 in July, 2.2 in August, 1.9 in September, 1.1 in October and 0.3 in November. In a 2018 survey cited by JNTO, Spaniards named August, September and July as their most common months for trips beyond Europe, the same months as the typhoon peak. In those months we add a fourth night by the sea and keep a full day in Tokyo before the flight home.

The sea stays warm long after summer. Averaged from the agency's daily normals, the water north of the main island is about 24.5°C in May, 26.7°C in June, 29°C in July and August, 28.4°C in September and 26.8°C in October; around Miyako and Ishigaki it is one and a half to two degrees warmer in spring. With fewer typhoons and water near 27°C, October is the month we would choose for a wedding late in the season. The rest of the year is covered in Best Time for a Honeymoon in Japan: Month by Month (2027) →.

THE LAST NIGHTS

For the final nights we look for privacy first: a villa where breakfast, the pool and the sunset all happen without leaving it. JNTO's handbook also notes that a double bed can decide the choice of hotel for Spanish honeymooners, so we confirm the bed in every room we propose.

Halekulani Okinawa, on the west coast of the main island, has five villas along the clifftop, each with a private heated pool and a natural hot spring bath; the one-bedroom Cliff Villa is 83 m². The villas come with access to the club lounge and, when reserved directly with the hotel, a return transfer from the airport, and the hotel prepares flowers, cake and wine for an occasion when asked in advance. Check-out is at noon, and the hotel's FAQ confirms that guests may use its facilities on the day they leave and keep their luggage at the hotel after check-out, which turns an afternoon flight into one more morning by the water.

At Rosewood Miyakojima, the Oceanview and Beachfront Villas each have a private pool, with breakfast included. Among the resort's experiences are a seasonal Starlight Dinner, served in the villa or on the beach, and a sunset picnic on the sand by lantern light, and guided snorkelling runs from April to November. Miyako has three direct flights a day to Haneda, the last leaving at 15:50, so a final morning on the island still connects to a night in Tokyo.

THE JOURNEY HOME TO MADRID

Iberia flies between Madrid and Tokyo Narita three times a week with the Airbus A350. It first flew to Tokyo in 1986, returned in 2016 and has run the current service since October 27, 2024; Iberia gives the flight home as about 16 hours. Its timetable changes with the season, so we fix the Iberia date first and build the island nights backwards from it.

Okinawa has no direct flights to Europe; Naha Airport's international routes go to Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The way home runs through Tokyo. On Naha Airport's November 2026 schedule, about 37 flights a day leave for Haneda, fourteen each with JAL and ANA, taking 2 hours 10 to 2 hours 25 minutes. Narita, where Iberia departs, has up to seven a day from Naha, all with Jetstar Japan and Peach.

This is why we end with a night in Tokyo. You fly from the islands to Haneda, sleep in the city with the cases sent from Kyoto already in the room, and go to Narita the next day by car. With Iberia three times a week, a missed connection costs days; one night in Tokyo protects the whole journey and adds a last dinner in the city. Where to stay is in Where to Stay in Tokyo: The Best Areas, Area by Area (2026) →.

WHAT WE ARRANGE FOR THE FINAL DAYS

A private boat. The Busena Terrace, in Nago, charters its own boats: a three-hour Ocean Cruise for one to seven guests, with drinks, is ¥396,000 for hotel guests, and a two-hour snorkelling charter is ¥264,000. We place the boat on the day before last, so that a day lost to wind can move.

A last dinner. On the islands we would hold it in the villa or on the beach on the final night. In Tokyo, the last evening suits a counter that seats only a few guests; we ask on your behalf, and the seat is the house's decision.

A late departure. We ask the hotel for the latest check-out it can give and set the flight to Tokyo after it. Halekulani Okinawa waives its cancellation charge in a typhoon when the airline waives its own, and in the stormy months we look for terms like these.

Within Signature, our planning for journeys of 7 to 21 days, we draw the ending first: the Iberia date, the night in Tokyo, the flight from the islands, and then the days by the sea. Hotels, boats, cars and dinners are arranged by us and settled with each of them in the simplest way available, usually on your hotel bill or on the day.

SOURCES AND HOW WE CHECKED

We read the pages below on November 5, 2026. Flight times are those of the November 2026 schedules and change with the season. Sea temperatures are monthly means we calculated from the agency's daily normals for 1991 to 2020. We did not contact any airline, airport, hotel or other body.

• Iberia, Press release of October 27, 2025: three flights a week, Airbus A350, about 16 hours on the return
• Hosteltur (Spanish): Narita, service from October 27, 2024, first flights in 1986, return in 2016
• Aviation Wire (Japanese): Madrid to Narita resumed in October 2024, three a week
• JNTO, Handbook 2024, Spain (Japanese): Tokyo and Kyoto three nights or more, Okinawa among honeymooners, double beds, months of travel
• JNTO, Vive Japón honeymoon pages (Spanish): Okinawa presented to Spanish couples as a honeymoon destination
• Naha Airport, Monthly schedule (Japanese): flights to Haneda and Narita and from Itami and Kansai, November 2026
• Naha Airport, Destinations (Japanese): international routes, none to Europe
• Miyako Airport, Flight schedule (Japanese): three flights a day to Haneda, two from Kansai
• New Ishigaki Airport, Timetable (Japanese): direct flights to Haneda and Kansai, November 2026
• Japan Meteorological Agency, Rainy season 2026 (Japanese): normal and 2026 dates for Okinawa, Kanto and Kinki
• Japan Meteorological Agency, Typhoon averages (Japanese): approaches to the Okinawa region by month
• Japan Meteorological Agency, Coastal sea surface temperature, Okinawa (Japanese): daily normals north of the main island, south of Miyako and north of Ishigaki
• Halekulani Okinawa, Villas: five villas, heated pools and hot spring baths, 83 m², transfer and club lounge
• Halekulani Okinawa, FAQ: check-out at noon, facilities on the day of departure, celebrations, typhoon cancellations
• Rosewood Miyakojima, Experiences: Starlight Dinner, sunset picnic, snorkelling from April to November
• Rosewood Miyakojima, Beachfront Villa: private pool and daily breakfast
• The Busena Terrace, Charter: Ocean Cruise of 180 minutes and snorkel charter of 120 minutes, prices for hotel guests

QUESTIONS TRAVELLERS ASK

Should Okinawa come at the start or the end of a Japan honeymoon?

At the end. Tokyo and Kyoto ask the most energy and suit the first days; three or four nights by the sea then close the journey at rest.

How many nights in Okinawa after Tokyo and Kyoto?

Three or four. Three give two whole days by the sea; four leave a spare day for weather, which we advise from July to October.

How do we get from Kyoto to Okinawa?

By air from Osaka. Itami has twelve flights a day to Naha on the November 2026 schedule, of about 2 hours 20 minutes, and Kansai also flies direct to Miyako and Ishigaki.

Can we fly home to Spain directly from Okinawa?

No. Okinawa has no flights to Europe. Iberia flies from Tokyo Narita to Madrid three times a week, so we plan a last night in Tokyo before the flight.

What is the best month to end a honeymoon in Okinawa?

Late June or July, after the rainy season, or October, when typhoons are fewer and the sea is still near 27°C. August and September are warm but at the typhoon peak.