Yonaha Maehama

Yonaha Maehama runs along the south-western shore of Miyakojima, in the Okinawa prefecture, about three hundred kilometres south-west of Okinawa's main island and closer to Taiwan than to Kyushu. It is seven kilometres of white coral sand and is routinely called the finest beach in Japan by Japanese sources, which is a different and more interesting judgement than the international lists.

Miyako is a low limestone island with no mountains and no rivers, which matters: no runoff means no sediment, and the water off this beach is exceptionally clear as a result. The reef sits offshore and the flat inside it is shallow, warm and calm. Kurima Island is connected by bridge at the southern end, and Irabu by the longest toll-free bridge in Japan.

The sand is fine white coral, the slope very gradual, and the water stays shallow far out — you can wade a long way. There is genuinely nothing to snorkel at the beach itself, where the bottom is sand; the coral is out at the reef and is reached by boat. Habu jellyfish are present in the warmer months and netted swimming areas are provided.

Development is light: a car park, showers, a few watersports operators and a hotel at the northern end. Okinawan beaches operate a defined swimming season with lifeguards and nets, generally April to October, and swimming outside it is at your own risk. Sunayama and Yoshino on the same island are smaller and rockier, and Irabu's Toriike is a pair of collapsed limestone sinkholes connected to the sea — the geology here rewards a hire car more than a hotel.

Seven kilometres of coral sand and the clearest water in Japan, because Miyako is low limestone with no rivers and nothing to cloud it. Wade a long way; there is nothing to snorkel at the sand and the coral is out at the reef. Habu jellyfish are netted in season and the season is published.