Dulce Toes
Dulce Toes

CONTRIBUTED BY MEGAN PARKER

Dulce, indeed! Everything about this nail salon is sweet – the location, the nail art, the price, and most of all, the relaxation. I’ll admit that when my mother’s day flower bouquet showed up with a gift certificate for a pedicure attached to it, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t to Dulce’s main competitor. However, I do like to try new things so I soon got over it and I had a wonderful experience at Dulce. I’ll be back!

Dulce Sign
Dulce Sign

I entered the store, located right across from Camp Foster on 58, and was immediately whisked into a comfy, oversized chair for my pedicure. But this was not just any old chair…. it was a massage chair! Score one for Dulce! As the nail technician got busy trying to undo the havoc wreaked on my feet by two toddlers, I got busy relaxing. The nail technician popped Little Fockers into the flat panel TV on the wall in front of me and I hit the recline feature on the remote control. Soon I had the chair massaging both my neck and back, and the nail tech massaging my legs and calves. Bliss!

Another thing that stood out to me about this pedicure is that she did an excellent job scrubbing the calluses off my feet compared to other places I’ve been to on island. She spent quite a lot of time on this area and my feet are softer now than I remember them ever being on this little tropical paradise!

Dulce Front
Dulce Front

The salon probably has seating for about six or seven pedicures at once (in addition to a separate area for manicures), giving it a nice cozy feeling. This is exactly the type of place I was looking for a few months ago to host an intimate little baby shower, but had trouble finding. It would be an excellent place to rent out for a small group of friends!

Another sweet perk is that at 3,500 Yen for the pedicure (including your choice of nail art from their book of many samples), Dulce is priced a few hundred yen below most competitors, even with the small amount of tax added on. Low price tag, high reward, and excellent customer service as well. The staff even offered to accompany me to my car with an umbrella when the skies suddenly opened up in a heavy downpour and I was caught without an umbrella! So give Dulce a try… it’s a sweet departure from the norm!

Hours: Mon. – Sat. 9:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. (last appointment)

Phone: 098-989-0218 for reservations

Payment: Yen, U.S. dollars, Visa, Mastercard, American Express accepted

Website: www.dulce-nails.com

Directions: From Camp Lester, head south on 58 until you pass the Camp Foster commissary gate/stoplight. Dulce will be on your right, so you’ll need to make a U-turn at the next stoplight (at the Ginowan Bypass where you would turn Right for the Okinawa Convention Center) and head back north briefly before turning left into their parking lot.

23 COMMENTS

  1. I went here a few months ago when I first got to Okinawa and they did a great job. I chose a flower design for my pedicure and she made it look exactly like the picture. They spent about 25-35 minutes including the scrubbing of dead skin, massage and the nail polish. They really want to make sure you like it by constantly asking you if it is okay. All of the employees were extremely nice and helpful. Has been my favorite place on the island by far.

  2. I went to have my pedicure done, I was so disappointed. With the same amount I paid in another place but at Dulce only got it done less than 15 minutes, no scrubbing, little massage and didn’t clean properly. I was so disappointed, I will never come back to this place ever again!

  3. This place is awesome!! Called yesterday, got an appointment for this morning. The place is very nice and they have these huge chairs you sit in up high as if you’re getting a pedicure. The seats are the same, whether it’s a manicure, pedicure or both. The woman who did my nails was super nice, spoke great English and did an excellent job on my gel manicure. This will definitely be the place I go to for now on.

  4. Went here today. Arrived early to my appt but was immediately greeted and given a chair ( seemed they had reserved the chair for my appt time). Was given a book full of nail choices and she started. The massage was great and she spent time on getting all my rough spots off my heels. Did she a great job at the design. Was priced right at 3700 and some change.

  5. My experience in this salon is disaster….this is the worst manicure and pedicure that i got in my entire life….the services is so bad…they gave me a massage and scrub but its worse….its cheaper but service is so bad …Cocok and Asian is better even its expensive but the massage and the the work is excellent so why have spent your money here….

  7. Also, Dulce’s has just started a loyalty card. For every 9 stamps, the tenth pedi is ¥500 off. Also, I mean the difference in price isn’t just a couple hundred yen. It’s ¥490 cheaper. I loved the massage chair. And the foot jacuzzi. They also ask for your birthday month… So I’m assuming there’s a discount during that month also.

    Finally, their shop was SUPER clean. I was very impressed overall with Dulce’s and will definitely be returning.

  8. So here I’m sitting in the chair while my lovely lady paints my toes a pink, red and gold glitter plaid… Ahh.

    Here are the reasons I already like Dulce’s better than Cocok’s:
    1: massage chair
    2: foot jacuzzi
    3: a couple hundred yen less than Cocok’s.
    4: it’s closer to where I live (Kinser) lol!

    Obviously, considering I’m still getting my nails painted as we speak, I don’t know about the wear and tear yet. I’ll definitely try and remember to report back in about a week. Love Dulce’s so far!!

    Tawna

  9. Each & every time I am pampered with a pedicure at Dulce, it NEVER CHIPS and always is just beautiful. I’ve brought in pictures, and they’ve created art on my piggies each time. Compared to the other popular nail salon on island, Dulce is hands down the best: best price, best quality, best atmosphere, and lasts until it grows out.

  11. I don’t feel like Dulce lived up to Cocoks standards. Dulce is cheaper but its only for an hour whereas Cocoks is 90 mins. She put me in a broken chair. Not very comfortable. They offer no accommodation for beverages so make sure you bring your own or else you’ll sit there thirsty like I did. I did like their variety of nail art. Cocoks is heavy on flowers whereas Dulce is more shapes but many were similar. Next time I will take the longer drive to Cocoks.

  12. I went to Dolce today (not my first time there) but it was my first time with my two year old daughter. My little girl loved it! They pu princes and the frog, they where extremely nice to her. My daughter was done before me, but they watched and played with her until I was done:). One of the ladies even red her a book. 🙂 my little girl left with a giant smile on her face and a cute little Elmo pedi:)

  14. Went to Dulce’s today what a great place, was clean(very particular about that) the pedi was awesome, the design was fabulous and i took my friend and she got a much more complex design than mine and it was amazing…i have to say i have also been to Cocok’s and although i didn’t get a drink of sweet tea (really does that matter) i did have a 1 1/2 massage from the chair i sat in and great conversation with my friend Amanda. Was cheaper than Cocok’s and the quality of the design was just as good…maybe the leg massage was not as long..oh well…they don’t do as good as job in the US anyway…the girl was attentive and very detailed orientated…loved Dulce’s will be going back for sure!!!

  15. My husband and I went for pedicures today. The salon appeared very clean and it was very quiet and relaxing. I loved the massage chairs and the fact that the chairs are true pedicure chairs. My nail art was great. Dulce will be my new go to place for pedis. Thanks for the write up!

  16. I went to Cocoks yesterday they did a fabulous job but when it came down to paying OMG I almost had a heart attack. $83 us dollars for a mani n pedi with nail art on every toe nails. I have never paid that much in my life EVER. I will not go there again n will try this place out. Thanks for writing about it

  18. I called early one morning and surprisingly got a same day appointment. While it seemed like they did do a great job on the pedicure, the overall cleanliness of the buisness seemed a little shakey. The floors were dirty, the equipment(nail files, chair basin, and such)were disgusting and they didn’t have those machines that dry the polish so my design smudged right away. I’ll pay the few extra yen and plan my appointments in order to not deal with any of that.

  20. I started going to Dulce after my nails kept breaking from Cocok nail salon. Dulce was cheaper, easier to make an appointment and the staff was nicer. Some of their art does not look exactly like the picture, but you choose pictures from professionals in magazines. Everytime I went they were pretty close to what I choose and I like complex designs. I also tend to wait longer then normal to get a fill and at cocok my nails would always bubble or break, at Dulce is has not happed yet and I have been going there for almost a year.

  21. We tried this place not too long after they opened a little more than a year ago. We were sadly disappointed with the nail art (2 out of the 3 of us did not end up with something close to our selections)and cleanliness. (they didn’t wash out the basins in between clients)

    Reading your recent review may cause me to give them a second chance as your nail art is nicely done and you speak so highly of them.

    Thanks for takng the time to write them up.