Cape Hedo.

Cape Hedo is the northernmost point of Okinawa main island, in the Yanbaru region of Kunigami Village, ~3 hours by car from Naha. The coast is sheer limestone and coral, exposed straight into the East China Sea, and the cape sits inside Yanbaru National Park. From the lookout you can see Yoron Island 22 km to the north on a clear day. The surf is a string of remote reef breaks tucked into the headlands east and west of the cape, mostly rights, all over live coral, all unforgiving.

May through October is the swell window. Pacific typhoons track north-west under Taiwan and fire east to north-east swell straight at the cape. Winter brings short-period north-east monsoon wind swell that’s onshore on most of the north coast, rough water more than rideable. The summer south to south-west wind is the offshore that cleans up the typhoon swell. Working size is 1 to 2.5 m, and the bigger pulses need 10-second-plus period to stand up properly on the outer reefs.

Water sits at 21 to 23 °C in February, 28 to 29 °C in August. A 3/2 springsuit does the year, boardies and a rashie for summer. The reef is the entire hazard. It’s shallow live coral with urchins on every step, currents that wrap around the headland on a falling tide, and a long drive to anywhere with a hospital. Habu sea snakes live in the reef pockets; they’re venomous but not aggressive, and you’ll see them from the water more than feel them. Crowds barely register. The drive from Naha keeps the lineup local, and on a weekday in shoulder season you may have a peak to yourself. If the wind shifts north, head south an hour to the central or west-coast reefs.