CONTRIBUTED BY MEREDITH NOVARIO

Hark! A kid’s pool. It used to be free, and although you have to pay as of 2014, it’s still pretty cheap (¥200 per adult and ¥300 per child). 

I’m not sure when exactly it opens for the year but I’m guessing the beginning of May during Golden Week. Click on the picture above for more flattering images.

Kaneku Seaside Park

Pool Hours (as of summer 2014): 10:00 a.m. – 12:00p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. This pool rules. And don’t forget a bathing cap. (Swim caps, conveniently, can be purchased at Naval Kadena in the Marue store or the ¥100 shop.)

Cost: ¥200 per adult and ¥300 per child

Address: 85-23 Kaneku, Kadena, Okinawa, Japan

GPS Coordinates: 26.3542847, 127.742445

Directions: North on 58 out of Kadena Gate One. Pass two lights. The second light will have a Lawson’s and KFC to keep you oriented. Take first left after the second light. Navel Kadena will be on your left. This street will dead end at the park but you will not see the pool just yet. I recommend taking a left behind Navel Kadena and parking along that road. There are a couple of parking lots nearby but they are often manned by police and don’t look welcoming to the public but I may be wrong. When you enter the park walk left and towards the sea-wall. You’ll see baseball fields and playground equipment but keep going left and towards the water. In the other pictures of this pool you’ll see an octopus-shaped slide. The head of the octopus is visible from various points in the park. Navigate according to the octopus head!

34 COMMENTS

  2. Use this address instead because the one above sends you quite a distance away from the water park. This address is the gym right across the water park connected to the parking lot…

    85-23 Kaneku, Kadena, Okinawa, Japan

  4. We were disappointed to see the price hikes this summer and we won’t be going any more. Last year the price was 100 yen per child, and adults were free. That was great for us since we only stay for an hour at most (we have an under-2 toddler). Now, it’s several hundred yen to go – but only for “non-residents,” meaning Americans. Locals don’t pay anything anymore – not even the old 100 yen price. I’m fine with some price increase to offset maintenance, but this is pretty extreme. Removing all cost for residents, increasing American children’s price by 300%, AND creating a brand new American adult price that is a 200% price increase? It seems pretty clear from a change like this that they don’t want us there, and the feeling is now mutual.

    • I have to wonder about the resident/non-resident policy. Recently, I rented a community center room and was told there were two rates – one for residents and one for non-residents – meaning residents of the TOWN. I am American and was given the resident rate since I live in the town.

      If it were me, I would *ask* someone about the definition of “resident” before getting upset.

      • And if it were me, I would realize that most people on this board and most people who attend/used to attend that pool live either on-base or off-base very near Kadena and Foster, and not in Chatan. The price increase on us is several hundred percent at the same time that residents’ price dropped to zero. Not a very shrewd policy if you’re trying to equitably raise rates. So the fact that prices were raised in the manner they were suggests that they are trying to discourage non-residents from attending the pool anymore. Most people I know on Foster and Kadena have indeed been discouraged, and we were all regulars last summer. It’s fine; there are plenty of other pools for kiddies.

        • I am saying that each area (town, village, etc) has its own facilities and that those facilities are generally free or cheaper for residents of that particular area. So, if I live in Chatan, I can use Chatan facilities cheaper.

          Did you ask if you could use the facilities for free if you live off base in Kadena-cho? That might be the deciding factor – your actual address. Has anyone who lives in Kadena-cho who is a foreigner asked at the facility if they can use it for free? Perhaps that’s the case.

          Or does the sign say “Japanese and Okinawans free, Foreigners have to pay”?

          • The sign itself is posted on the OkiHai Facebook page and states that Kadena residents are free and that non-residents are either Y200 or Y300. (As of today).

            If your off-base housing is in Kadena-cho, you should bring a piece of mail that shows what it is so you can access the pool for free. If you live on Kadena AFB, you can ask housing for your “Japanese Address” and they can give it to you.

      • Two weeks ago, we were charged 900Y for entry after filling out our Kadena address on the sign-in sheet and the man at the window checked it. Why would we still ask if we were considered residents when he’d already let us know otherwise?

        While technically true that “nonresident” doesn’t necessarily equal “American,” in the case of who has mostly been attending this pool (local residents plus Americans from Kadena/Foster bases and areas), they are basically one and the same. As an American resident of Chatan, you’re the exception, not the rule.

        Intentionally or not, the new pricing policy sends an uninviting message and has a disproportionate effect on its customers. I have no objection at all to paying more than residents. It would have made a lot of sense for them to keep charging 100Y for resident kids and, say, 200 or 250Y for nonresident kids. Instead, they totally eliminated the resident fee and raised non-res prices several hundred percent *including creating a new fee for adults who can’t even enjoy the facilities and are there solely to supervise their kids*.

        The most likely outcome here is that they’ll lose the majority of their paying customers and keep only their non-paying ones. I hope they change this policy for their own sake – it’s a nice little place, but this change was too much at once, seemingly directed at a particular group, and doesn’t fit with the incredibly friendly and welcoming atmosphere elsewhere on the island.

  6. This pool is no longer free — it costs ¥200 per adult and ¥300 per child. Also, everyone must wear a bathing suit and swim cap (swim caps, conveniently, can be purchased at Navel Kadena in the Marue store or the ¥100 shop).

    The pool hours as of summer 2014 are 1000-1200 and 1300-1800.

  13. Yes, you really have to wear swim caps. The man that works with little booth will come out if you aren’t wearing one. He’ll make you get out – they have some there for you to borrow – but that’s kinda gross! The BX has them as well as the 100 yen stores. It’s our favorite place to go in the summer!

  18. You can see the hours and schedule in the picture above. The afternoon opening is a bummer for sure! It actually closes at six not eight. He’ll let you in pretty late though. And don’t forget a bathing cap!

  20. i have been to this pool many, many times and always parked on the street. today, another woman there told my friend that she got a ticket last year after parking on that street. as i left today, i did notice no parking signs (only visible when you are going away from the dead end, not driving in). i have parked there a lot with no trouble, but it may be safer to park in the navel kadena shopping center and walk out through the back.