Naha Ferries to the Kerama Islands: Tomari Wharf, Two Kinds of Boat, and What to Check

Our Naha ferry hub lists the boats from Naha to the Kerama Islands, Kume and Tonaki. This guide adds how to reach the terminal, how tickets and boarding work on the island boats, and what the operators say about rough seas. It is written for someone with a port call or a few days in Naha.

1. Tomari Wharf is its own terminal

The Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau's ferry page (marked "As of July 2026") lists the island routes from the Tomari Wharf Passenger Terminal, known as Tomarin. It lists the Kagoshima ferries from a different place, which it calls Naha Wharf. The Naha City Tourism Association (a city tourism organisation; its page carries a 2000-2022 copyright) says Tomarin is along National Route 58 and that tickets are sold at the ferry offices on its 1st floor. We found no official page that says where cruise ships berth in Naha or how to get from the berth to Tomarin, so ask your cruise line, and check a journey planner.

2. Getting to Tomarin

The Naha City Tourism Association's page says to take the Yui Rail monorail to Miebashi Station, about 14 minutes from Naha Airport Station, then walk 10 minutes to Tomari Port. Marix Line, the Kagoshima ferry operator, gives its own directions to its Naha Port, with no address: Naha Airport to Naha Port about 15 minutes by car, or Yui Rail to Asahibashi Station (about 10 minutes) plus a 10-minute walk. Make sure your ticket names Tomari for the island boats and check the departure terminal before you set out. Our flights page covers the flight.

3. The routes, as the tourism board lists them

The page says to treat all travel times as estimates, that weather can strongly affect services, and that services do not all run daily. It lists a Naha to Kagoshima ferry, with a total travel time of 25 hours, operated by A'LINE and Marix Line. It also lists services within the Miyako and Yaeyama islands, but we found no passenger ferry from Naha to Miyako or Ishigaki on it, so this guide does not describe one.

Two village sites, read on 30 October 2026, show how much the day matters. Tokashiki's page lists Marine Liner Tokashiki and Ferry Tokashiki and, for that Friday only, departures from Tomari at 09:00 (marked fully booked) and 16:00 on the Marine Liner and 10:00 on the Ferry. Zamami's page lists Ferry Zamami 3 leaving Tomari at 10:00, reaching Aka at 11:30 and Zamami at 12:00, and returning from Zamami at 15:00 to reach Tomari at 17:00. It also says Queen Zamami, the high-speed boat, is out of service for dock maintenance from 20 October to 3 December. Fast boats can therefore be missing for weeks.

4. Tickets and timing

• Tokashiki, Japanese page: tickets are issued and sold only on the day of travel, not in advance; buy at least 30 minutes before departure and be aboard 10 minutes before. The page says the Tomari counter is very busy from 09:30 to 09:50, that the Marine Liner boards on the north bank of the port (a 7 to 8 minute walk from the Tomari Building counter), and that you need two one-way tickets if you return on a different ship.
• Tokashiki, English page: it says all customers can reserve both boats online, that the Tomarin ticket office is open 8:00 to 11:30 and 13:30 to 17:00, that boarding begins 30 minutes before departure for the Marine Liner and 1 hour before for the Ferry, and that it takes 10 minutes on foot from the Tomarin parking lot to the north ferry terminal. The Japanese page also points to an online reservation portal while saying tickets are issued and sold only on the day, so ask how reserving and buying work, and confirm with the village office (098-868-7541) before relying on either.
• Zamami: the village page gives web reservations and seat availability (with an English page) and a Naha office phone line, 098-868-4567, 10:00 to 17:00. It says to be aboard 10 minutes before departure and warns that people miss the boat through morning traffic and full car parks.
• Kume and Tonaki: the tourism board names Kumeline for the regular ferry and an express service listed on a Japanese-only site. We could not open Kumeline's own site (a certificate error), so we give no timetable or ticket rule for these routes.

5. Access, luggage and comfort

We found no accessibility information for the Kerama boats. Tokashiki's English page has none and says disability discounts require a certificate issued by the Japanese government; its baggage rules are in a linked image that we could not read, and Zamami's English information page was not available to us. Ask the operator in writing what boarding involves, especially the walk to the north-bank berth. For the Kagoshima ferry, Marix Line's page says each passenger may bring up to two pieces of carry-on baggage totalling no more than 30 kg, with the three dimensions of each adding up to 2 m or less, says both ships have nursing rooms and links to a section for customers who need assistance.

6. Weather and your return

Tokashiki's English page says the ferries may be cancelled in rough wave conditions, gives a wave height of more than 4 meters for Ferry Tokashiki, and says sailing information is updated at 8:00 every morning. Zamami's page shows each boat's operating status for the day. Marix Line's page says a decision on northbound sailings from Naha is generally made the evening before departure and may come later, and its status list for 30 October 2026 showed Naha Port to Kagoshima New Port as cancelled, as one dated example.

For a port call, work back from your ship's all-aboard time. On the Zamami listing above, the return from Zamami was 15:00 and the Tokashiki boats listed returns at 15:30 and 17:00, so a late return may not exist on your day. Our guides on separate tickets and a buffer and the all-aboard worksheet show how to plan the margin, and the Naha ferry hub lists the routes.