Kouri Ocean Tower

The Kouri Ocean Tower guide starts on Tinu Beach below, where a famous heart-shaped rock draws visitors chasing a postcard image, and traces the island's identity as the birthplace of Umiki and Uminai, the pair local legend says fell from the sky to found the Ryukyu people. From eighty two meters up, it points out the long bridge linking Kouri to Okinawa's main island and leads you through the tower's shell museum, home to more than ten thousand shells from around the world, including naturally heart-shaped ones sold as jewelry downstairs.