Pagat Cave

Another great hike in Guam. The best part of hiking here is the reward you get at the end of the trail.







In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~John Muir

Saipan Part Four: Managaha Island

Our last day on Saipan we took a short boat ride to Managaha Island. This is a beautiful nature preserve with incredible snorkeling! We saw all kinds of fish and wreckage here.

After a day of sight seeing and snorkeling we ended our weekend with massages and dinner before we took our short plane ride home. Saipan is a great little weekend get-away and I see us going there many times during our journey here in Guam.

I am sorry for the delayed posts, I have been busy working again! I also celebrated a monumental birthday in April. I had a great birthday week including; wine tasting, snorkeling, flowers, and LOTS of love felt here from my family and friends.

Saipan Part Three

There are a lot of things to see in Saipan, here are some other places we checked out.

Jay, Tim, and I at Kalabera Cave

Look out to Bird Island Sanctuary. Although contrary to it's name, no one has actually seen any birds on the island.

On Mount Tapochau, the highest point on the island (elev. 1560 ft).

Saipan Part Two: The Grotto

The Grotto is a famous diving spot in Guam. The Grotto is an underwater cave minus the roof. You must walk down over 100 steps and cross over boulders (between water current flows) to reach it. Then you must jump off a huge boulder to enter the cave and use a rope to pull yourself back in on a lower boulder. I have to admit it was really intimidated at first but you only live once!

Once in the Grotto you see tunnels that scuba divers enter to reach amazing diving spots. People claim to see sea turtles and whale sharks here. We spent a couple hours snorkeling here and it was my favorite part of our Saipan trip.

Saipan Part One

Just a short 30 minute flight from Guam lies Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands. We spent a weekend there recently and had a blast exploring it!

Our friends, Tim and Michelle joined us (notice the cute baby bump!). As soon as we landed our adventure began. The first stop was Banzai Cliff. There were many battles fought in Saipan and there are a number of memorials dedicated to this.

Saipan was seized by Japan after World War I and a large number of Japanese civilians lived there. The U.S. defeated Japan in the 1944 Battle of Saipan. Convinced they would be tortured by U.S. soldiers, over 20,000 Japanese civilians committed suicide in the last days of the battle, many jumping from Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff.

Views from Banzi Cliff.

Next we headed up to Suicide Cliff in time for sunset. On the way up we met a couple friends.

The view from Suicide Cliff was beautiful but I got an eerie feeling as thousands of people lost their lives there.

We ended the day in Garapan which is the touristy area. Again, we made some more friends.

Spider-Man versus Saipan Teddy!

Our Guam Home

Due to numerous requests, I am posting some pictures of our new place. It's small but has a fantastic view of Tumon Bay.

Snorkel Fun

We have really been enjoying our new snorkel gear. Here are some pictures of us snorkeling at Gab Gab beach on Big Navy and Tumon Bay (in front of our condo). Thanks to Michelle for the pictures!!

Gab Gab is very deep and we saw divers down below. I am really excited and geared up to get scuba certified.

In Tumon Bay there are hundreds of fish.

These guys even hung out with Michelle and I for a while. I think they liked our energy.

It feels so good to overcome my fear of the water. In Guam the barracuda are small and sharks are scarce. I have learned to relax and enjoy the scenery and company. The underwater world is a true gem of Guam.