Skip to main content

Kayak under starlit skies and glowing fireflies in Okinawa’s Yambaru Park

Discover the Island's Glow

Halekulani Okinawa
Halekulani Okinawa

As noctourism gains momentum (with 62% of travelers seeking dark-sky destinations in 2025) luxury hotel Halekulani Okinawa is offering an unforgettable way to experience nature after dark. Their exclusive Discover the Island’s Glow experience invites guests to explore the UNESCO-listed Yambaru National Park by kayak, guided by a local naturalist.

Drifting through the park’s serene mangroves, visitors are surrounded by fireflies and a beautiful starlit sky. With half of Japan’s 50 firefly species found in Okinawa, the spectacle is both rare and mesmerizing. This immersive nighttime adventure showcases the park’s beauty, offering a tranquil and almost otherworldly way to connect with Okinawa’s rich biodiversity.

Recommended Videos

Discover the Island’s Glow

Halekulani Okinawa
Halekulani Okinawa

This enchanting nighttime experience begins just before sunset at Yanbaru Quasi-National Park, where guests, guided by a local naturalist, paddle through the mangroves in a kayak. To conclude the journey, the naturalist serenades guests with soothing melodies on a sanshin, a traditional Okinawan instrument similar to a banjo, adding the perfect finishing touch to this fairytale-like adventure.

The exclusive tour runs on select dates: August 17–21, August 31–September 5, and September 16–20, 2025, at a cost of JPY 48,000 per person (approximately $320 USD).

Beyond this unforgettable excursion, guests can indulge in the luxury of Halekulani Okinawa. The five-star resort features 310 standard rooms, 45 suites, and five cliffside villas, each with private heated pools and natural hot spring baths. The hotel also offers gourmet dining, a private beach, a fitness center, multiple pools, a club lounge, a boutique, and more.

Amanda Teague
Amanda, an accomplished freelance writer featured in several online publications, is a dedicated explorer of both the world…
This California city was just named the friendliest in the U.S.
San Diego came out on top
A scene from San Diego Pride 2016

If you’re looking for good vibes, helpful neighbors, and plenty of friendly smiles, you might want to book a trip to San Diego, California, as it’s just been crowned the friendliest city in the U.S.

The ranking comes from Match Group’s Yuzu app, which surveyed users across the country to find out where locals are the most welcoming. The app asked people to rate their own cities on things like how often locals smile, help strangers, and offer positive interactions. Users gave each city a friendliness score from 1 to 10, combining both quantifiable data and real-life experiences.

Read more
From alpine golf to nighttime kayaking: Unforgettable things to do in Lake Tahoe
Things to do in Lake Tahoe that locals actually love
A view of Lake Tahoe from U.S. Highway 50.

Lake Tahoe, straddling the California-Nevada border, is one of those rare destinations that truly has it all. With turquoise waters, pine-covered mountains, powdery ski slopes, and sunny beaches, it’s basically a choose-your-own-adventure in nature’s playground. Whether you’re in it for summer swims, airy fall hikes, fresh winter powder, or spring wildflowers, there’s no shortage of ways to soak up Lake Tahoe’s great outdoors.

From peaceful kayaking mornings to adrenaline-pumping downhill runs, the range of things to do in Lake Tahoe is almost overwhelming (in the best way). That’s why I reached out to locals, outdoor experts, and frequent Tahoe-goers to round up the most epic activities for every season – plus a few personal favorites I couldn’t leave out.

Read more
This tiny U.S. state is the most chaotic place to drive, study says
Rhode Island came out on top
cars in traffic

Think your daily commute is bad? According to a new study, Rhode Island has officially been crowned the most chaotic place to drive in the U.S.

The team at eSpatial crunched the numbers using government data and real-time traffic insights, measuring every state across five key categories: traffic congestion, road satisfaction, pothole complaints, total road fatalities, and speeding-related deaths. After tallying it all up, tiny Rhode Island came out on top, or rather, the bottom, earning the title of America’s most stressful place to hit the road.

Read more