CONTRIBUTED BY LAN
Ok, I think that we all know at this point that with perserverance, there's an off-base house out there to fit your lifestyle here on Okinawa. But despite the benefits of living off-base, there's also tremendous benefits to living on-base. If you're curious about the various pros and cons of living off-base vs. on-base, there's quite a lively discussion here at: /2007/03/to-live-on-or-o.html.
As Okinawa Hai! reader, Carrie, was researching on-base housing options, she was unable to access the link that posts floor plans due to some nefarious computer glitch that I'm not able to understand or explain. So, for those with the same problems accessing these floorplans, at the end of this post are the images that I was able to find on-line. Hope this'll help Carrie and others with their housing research.
Another Okinawa Hai! reader by the name of Rochelle sent in the following question with this adorable picture of her dog, Bentley 
. It seems that Bentley, Rochelle, and her family are due to arrive on-island very soon, so let's give them a big helping hand about the Camp Futenma area, shall we?
Hi, my name is Rochelle. I live on Camp Pendleton in California. I just recently found out that my husband has orders to MCAS Futenma for April, it was originally planned for August. I have a couple of questions, and if anyone could help me, that would be great. I am not sure I want to live on base- living off base has been said to give you more of an experience and the housing is nicer (depending on where you go). So my first question, where to live that is close to MCAS Futenma- what areas should I look into? Also, what are some housing agencies in those areas? The biggest thing for me is getting a nice place to live. We are going to be there for 3-4 years and we need a place that will give us room to grow, in the next year we would like to add another member to our family. So, if anyone knows of an area or of a certain house even, I am open to all possibilities. Also, if anyone has any advice, I would love to hear it. Thank you.
We just moved here and live off base close to futemma (sp.) We live in the Araha Beach area of Chatan. We also have a dog and 2 kids. I said I would absolutely NOT live in an apartment out here, I HAD to have a garden…but the houses we did see were out on top of some hill, far away (to me anyway!). I am originally a city girl, but I love to have nature near me too, so this is good for us and the balcony is massive, there are stores near us should I need a midnight chocolate or 2. The sea wall is 2 mins across the road. Hubby works on Kinser, and it takes him 15-30 mins to get there…We used Central Housing, but joy is also one I worked with and seem great..
Hope that helps, now I can help others, I was the one asking these questions just recently!!!!
P
Hi Rochelle,
You can try checking the Ginowan area. I live in Kitamae, Chatan-Cho outside of Camp Foster Gate 5 which is also quite close. It is probably about a 5-10 minute drive to Futenma’s gate off of Hwy 58.
Check this online link to a map of Okinawa.
http://oki-map.com/oyp.pdf
That should give you a better idea of the housing areas you’re looking at in relation to Futenma. It even includes the gates for each base although not all of the gates are open all of the time.
Here’s a link to Tokuzato housing with a map that is less detailed but gives you a general idea of where all the bases are and housing areas that are nearby.
http://www.tokuzato-hsg.jp/
Also wanted to add that if you check the comment section from the on-base vs off-base post that Lan mentioned above you’ll see some housing agencies listed. We went through Joy Housing and have been very happy with them.
http://joy-housing.com/
Julia, you and I must be neighbours, since my area is Kitamae, we are opp. dragon…
Pamelala, we are really close to each other. I’m across from the commissary gate on one of those back roads by Lawson. If you’ve been at Araha as much as I’ve been lately then we’ve probably crossed paths without even knowing it! Welcome to the neighborhood!
My husband works on Futenma too, and we live in Ginowan, off 330. He takes the back gate into Futenma and it takes him 5-10 minutes or so to get there (depending on traffic). There is a really nice single family home across from us that’s empty. Our landlord owns it and has it up for rent. I’m jealous of the pretty grassy yard. It’s got 3 bedrooms. The landlord and his wife are the sweetest people I’ve met on island. The neighborhood is nice and quiet. It’s posted through Joy Housing (who are awesome too). I can give you more info if you want! Good luck!
I am very new to this site. I found it while trying to research any information I can find on Camp Futenma. My husband is currently deployed and we just got his orders for our next duty station which will be Futenma. Its really hard to get information from him since we dont get a lot of time to talk and I didnt get a lot of help from TMO or the pcs people on base so I am trying to do a lot of research on my own, as much as possible anyway. So I was wondering, I see a lot of sites for off base housing. I was wondering if there was base housing on Futenma? IF there is, is there a website where I can find out information about that? Thanks in advance….
Hi Andrea,
Welcome to the site. I suggest that you join the Okinawa Hai Society network (http://okinawahai.ning.com/) because there are a LOT of members, some of whom I’m sure can answer specific questions regarding housing. I do believe there is housing on Futenma, but you may also get housing on Camp Foster which isn’t too far from there. Also, if you haven’t found it yet, you can find a lot of Marine related info here: http://www.mccsokinawa.com/index.asp and here: http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/Living%20on%20Okinawa/Housing%20Page.html
Please let us know if you have any more questions.
Sorry to contradict you Kandy, but there is only single Marine barracks on Futenma-no family housing.
There is housing on Kinser and Foster (which would be the closest bases).
Good luck on your move Andrea!
Thank you so much Jennifer. That would explain why I can’t find any information on base housing:D heehee…Thank you for the sites Kandy I will be scouring those this afternoon. I am really excited for this move but very stressed and worried at the same time. There is so much that needs to be done and so many questions that I have that are hard to find the answers to and I think having to do all the planning by myself makes things a little more hectic. I just want to be there already and be done with it and not have to worry about it any more. LOL Thanks again.
Jennifer C, thank you for clarifying that.
Andrea, let us know if you have any more questions and be sure to join http://okinawahai.ning.com/ to lean on our experiences not to mention make new friends.
I did join. Thank you. I am slowly but surely gathering more information. Now my husband and I just need to figure out whether or not we want to live on base or off base. It does help to know we wont actually be able to live on the base in which he will be working. So who knows. I would like to live off base but he isnt sure what he wants to do yet. I am trying to do as much research as possible to find out what would be our best option. Thanks again.
Ok I feel stupid. When I first got on this website I found all the information and then I found a forums section which is where I found this thread. For some reason I cant figure out where I found the forums section. How do I get there?? heehee thanks in advance.
Hi Andie, Don’t feel stupid. Its an easy mistake. This is Okinawa Hai, the blog and then there is Okinawa Hai Society (http://okinawahai.ning.com/) the social network. If you log back in to the Okinawa Hai Society, you should find the Forum that is linked to this blog. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much:D heehee I felt so stupid cause I knew I had seen the forums but couldnt remember where it was. Thanks so much!!
The 4 bdrm house that is posted above is absolutely the smallest house I have ever seen.. We may have to live in one of those, as it was offered to us yesterday. We were allowed to go into it and look. The room’s are the smallesst room’s I have ever seen in my entire life. The master probably wont even fit our queen size bed and a dresser, The smallest room may only fit a crib or toddler bed. and the other 2 room’s may not even fit our bunk bed’s. I am so upset about this that I am considering leaving and going back to the state’s.
Housing is saying that since we rate a 4 bdrm house that this is the only one they can offer us. We had a 3 bdrm house in the states and it work’s fine for us as our baby girl is 3 and sleep’s with us anyhow so she wont need a room. Though they gave us the option to live off base but we can not afford to do that. We have no way of coming up with deposit’s.
Is there anything we can do to get into a 3 bdrm??
@ Jenia, the 3 bedroom houses are about the same size as the four bedroom and many are much smaller. The bedroom sizes are very hit and miss here. Some houses have decent sized bedrooms and others don’t. If you have the option to live off base, you can always take out an advance to cover the costs then pay it back when you are reimbursed.
You can take out a pay advance to pay for your deposits and agency fee. You will be reimbursed for the agency fee and will receive the deposit (less cleaning costs plus damages) when you move out.
How many children do you have? What are their ages? If you only have 4 and the two youngest are young enough to share a room, it’s possible you could get a 3 bedroom, but hard to say.
Even though you said your youngest doesn’t “need” a room, they can’t do that-they have to follow the guidelines set for house sizes.
I really encourage you to look off-base. It’s not unaffordable once you get those deposits out of the way.
@Jenia, I’m curious, what post was the housing on? I live in a 4 bedroom house on Plaza (considered Camp Foster) and I have to say, the bedrooms are pretty darn big! You might want to ask if there are any open here. I do agree though with the other posters, off post, with the pay advance, might be a great way to go to! Good luck, and please don’t leave this beautiful island because of this issue!
@ Melissa, I know I’m joining this late but how do you like your housing area? We have orders to come over this summer and I can’t really find any pictures of the housing.
Thank you,
Liz
Hi All, We are PCSing to Okinawa in August. I am a Navy Chief and will be stationed at MCAS Futenma. We have two children ages 7 & 9. What’s everyone’s opionion on housing options. We are starting to think about downsizing because we currently have a 4 bedroom in Whidbey Island. We are only allowed approximately 3200 lbs of stuff. Any ideas of what to bring? Thanks
Tim
Tim, this topic was recently featured on our facebook page (16 Apr 12). Everyone’s opinion varies, but you can find a lot of opinions on this topic there!