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Hey guys, I'm heading to Guam in May for a vacation that will focus on snorkeling from the beach. While it is my first trip there, I have done a bunch of snorkeling over the last 5 years in Hawaii. I am also scuba certified, but I won't be doing any diving in Guam. Perhaps next time. On my trips to Hawaii, I found the "Hawaii Revealed" books very useful. While they covered a bunch of material (hiking, culture, food, ...) I found their snorkeling guides extremely useful. For the best beaches, they would typically have a map showing the best location to enter the water (if it wasn't obvious), where the snorkeling is typically excellent, what areas to avoid (narrow channels for example [strong currents]). So I wanted to find something similar for Guam, and I ended up buying Tim Rock's book. Unfortunately the book does a very poor job of covering the material I am looking for. Not only does it not have maps, the text is written for divers who arrive by boat, something I won't be doing. So, can anybody recommend me a book/webpage that covers Guam's usual suspects in a way that I will benefit from? The only webpage I found covers just two beaches (http://www.snorkeling-report.com/spot/snorkeling-tumon-bay-guam/), which is pretty sad. I've attached a picture showing what kind of detail I am looking for. A text explaining the dangers would be great too. I am interested in maps for the following locations: Haputo Beach, Shark Cove, Piti Bomb Holes, GabGab Beach, Ypao Beach, FaiFai Beach, Gun Beach, Cetti Bay, Agat coral gardens, Pati Point Preserve.
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Jan 6, 2018 19:07
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 22:01 |
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Oh hey. First off - some of the beaches you listed are on military property, and you won't be able to get to them without someone from the military bringing you on the base. These include: Haputo, Pati Point, and Gab gab. (Technically, you could bushwhack down to Haputo, but it would be fairly difficult, and Haputo is more about the beach itself than the snorkeling.) But I'll give you the rundown on snorkeling for each of the other spots, and can draw some lovely mspaint maps when I get free time at work  1. Shark's Cove/Hole - ok snorkeling, more known for being near Lost Pond, a remote brackish pond in the jungle about a 2-minute hike in from the beach. You'll have to park at Tanguisson Beach, a moderately sketchy beach known for getting your car broken into. Don't leave valuables in your car. You're better off bringing them to Shark's Cove and leaving them on the beach unattended for an hour. To get there, park at Tanguisson, and walk north along the beach until you are literally unable to walk north anymore because of a giant cliff protruding into the water. Look left, and you'll see the 20-30 ft depths in the dark turquoise water. It's an oval shape, just don't go beyond the reef, as it'll be dry (windy) season and currents can be nasty. Visible on Google Earth as the super-bright turquoise part within the reef north of Tanguisson. 2. Piti Bomb Holes - Good snorkeling - park in the parking area just in front of the giant light-blue walkway (Fish Eye Marine Park) that stretches out over the water (it's an aquarium that goes 30 ft down into the water, $5 to visit it or use the walkway). The area near the aquarium has some of the best corals, and gets the deepest out of all the 'bomb holes' (which are actually sink holes, but the name is more catchy). Highly recommend going at high tide, as the areas between the holes can get extremely shallow, and you don't want to be stomping on the corals to go between them. Take a quick look at a Google Maps of the area, and you'll see where the holes are based on the darker colors. 3. Ypao Beach - Ok snorkeling - park at the Ypao Beach park, walk into the water straight out. High tide recommended, as Tumon Bay can get fairly shallow during low tide. About halfway to the reef line, you'll start to see corals and fishies. Tumon Bay little blue fish have been trained by tourists to swarm you, assuming that you have food for them. 4. Faifai Beach - I haven't snorkeled there, so I can't give you any advice on it - park at Gun Beach near the Beach Bar, and follow the beach steps past the old WWII Japanese Gun underneath the cliff overhang and around the bottom of the point. There's occasionally Japanese porn movies being filmed on the beach there. Nice sand, remote. 5. Gun Beach - a better dive spot than a snorkeling spot - the water isn't deep until you're out past the reef, and you do that by following the telecom cable channel that's been cut into the coral - Warning: only do this one at mid-tide, and maybe bring gloves with a latex covering for your hands - the currents and riptides can be bad in the in-between tide times. Once you get out past the reef, there's a big dropoff to 100-200 feet in the water, so you'll likely be hanging out near the reef itself. That time of year, if you get up ~4-5 AM and head out there, you may see manta rays feeding. 6. Cetti Bay - A big hike to an occasionally clouded snorkeling spot - You'd have to park at the Cetti Bay overlook, and hike down for about 20-30 minutes to get to the beach. The water there is a little clouded from the river dumping out there, although May will be end of dry season, so maybe it'll be better than usual visibility. Get out from the shore into the middle of the delta formed by the shoreline, and there's good 20-30 ft deep corals for free diving. The hike back will offer fantastic views of the Cetti Seven, a series of big waterfalls. 7. Agat Coral Gardens - Not sure if it's accessible by land, this one's usually from a boat. It's a ways off shore, near one of the little uninhabited rock outcroppings. Good snorkeling, but probably not doable unless you're on a party boat. Not mentioned - Piti Channel is a 20-30 ft deep carved out channel near the power plant in Piti. Kind of a nursery for fish, you'll see a lot of lionfish and urchins as well. Spanish Steps is another one that requires military access, but it's an awesome experience, look up pics online, high-tide highly recommended. Asan Cut, only doable during calm waters/tide, walking out on the reef flat to a drop off in a v-cut. Occasional WWII relics visible, as this was a major landing spot for US troops during the retaking of Guam. Toguan Bay, down south in Merizo, similar to Asan Cut, a v-cut in the reef, but with the rare exotic fish/eel/snake hanging out. Governor's Complex, at Adelup, look for the giant latte stone, and park on the opposite side of the complex from that. Similar to the Piti Bomb Holes. Ague Cove, near Haputo but not on military land - the catch being you have to cross "private" property (disputed, being squatted upon) to get to the trailhead. But if you're super nice and just ask permission from anyone who's there, it's usually not a problem. Tricky to get to directions-wise, but not difficult to do, with a small 5-10 min downhill hike from the end of the road. Bonus is that there's a cool jumping off point in the middle of the cove. And last, Turtle Cove, on the east side of the island, also only recommended for calm days, just south of the village of Yona - if you see where the road makes a large S shape to the Ylig river, turn off halfway down the S, and then immediately right again, and head down to the beach. Also has a jumping off point, about 15 feet up from the water, for the adventurous.
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Jan 17, 2018 05:40
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Thanks. I sure would appreciate some rough mspaint sketches. I remember in Hawaii, there were a couple of locations where it looked like there was nothing to be seen if one were to go on, but the maps clearly showed that there was something to be seen if one powered through. Sure enough, I got to see some neat stuff that was off the beaten path. Don't bother with anything on East facing beaches. Those look way too scary for me. I know Haputo beach is off limits, but I also read this, so I wanted to be prepared if I got lucky/in. But with all the poo poo with the missile threat scare in Hawaii, and all the talk about North Korea, perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part.
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Jan 17, 2018 06:01
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Huh. Hadn't seen/heard of the program, will have to check that out. Worth emailing the guy to see if it's still active. I've only done Haputo, Gab Gab I've done as a scuba dive off a boat, but I know there are some shoals near the shore worth checking out. Haven't snorkeled Pati/Tarague.
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Jan 17, 2018 06:27
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 To get to Tanguisson, follow the signs off Marine Corps Dr. to Two Lover's Point, and then don't turn into the TLP property, just go past it and down the hill to the beach. The entirety of Shark's Hole is decent snorkeling.
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Jan 17, 2018 07:08
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 Piti Bomb Holes
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Jan 17, 2018 07:16
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 Ypao Beach - forgot to mention, on the steep hill in front of the Hilton hotel, you'll notice a small gate at the top - there's a massive 80 ft. sinkhole just beyond, watch your step as people have drunkenly fallen in while exploring it after dark. Called Devil's Punchbowl.
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Jan 17, 2018 07:23
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Excellent, thanks. If I had energy for just one day (or half day) of boat-based snorkeling, what location(s) would you recommend? I'd prefer a tour where I spend more time snorkeling than boating to the location.
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Jan 17, 2018 16:41
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I would probably do Coral Gardens outside of Agat, or if it's windy, Western Shoals inside the harbor.
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Jan 18, 2018 02:27
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Abugadu posted:I would probably do Coral Gardens outside of Agat, or if it's windy, Western Shoals inside the harbor. Thanks I'll look into this. I've only done one boat-based snorkeling tour, and it was a mixed bag. Good: Excellent visibility. Bad: We saw nothing that we didn't see from our beach-based trips, the boat crew confined the snorkeling area big-time.
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Jan 18, 2018 03:03
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 Gun Beach and Faifai Beach The reef outside Gun is shallow, most people use the cut to get outside the reef. Only do this if waves are calm, and not during the changing of the tides. To get to Faifai, follow the stairs to your right around the underside of the cliff. Most of Faifai's waters are average depth and I haven't snorkeled there, so I can't give much info as to which spots are best.
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Jan 29, 2018 06:29
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 Cetti Bay - getting here is a hike, but once you get down to the bay, the best snorkeling is in the red circled area - the depth there is around 20-40 ft, you may have to free dive a bit to see stuff.
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Jan 29, 2018 06:36
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 22:01 |
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Awesome, thanks for the extra maps.
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Feb 10, 2018 17:37
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