Saipan

1. Mini pinecone, 2. Windy

[Edited Jan 09] For Christmas 2007 we went to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, spending a total of 3 days on Saipan and 1 day on Rota. Then for New Year's 2009, we returned to revisit Saipan and check out the third island, Tinian. If you're living in Asia and looking for a low-pressure, long weekend getaway, the CNMI are a lovely island trio to explore. I've done a mini travel post for each of the three, so if you're thinking of visiting, read on!
> Read about Rota here.
> Read about Tinian here.

> Read about Saipan below....


1. Palms Resort Saipan, 2. Palms Resort Saipan

Unlike a lot of other tropical destinations in Asia, there aren't a lot of options for cheap accommodations on Saipan. I mean, unless you want to pay by the hour. We came because there was a direct flight from Korea and we just wanted to veg out, and veg out we did. Saipan is also a transit point if you want to continue on to the even smaller, even sleepier islands of Rota and Tinian. Photos here and here.

The most comprehensive guide covering Saipan I could find is in the Lonely Planet's South Pacific and Micronesia book. It's a thick book, so you can just purchase just the Northern Marianas section in PDF form here. Here's a little map sketch to get you oriented.


1. Airport, 2. Hyatt Regency Saipan & Garapan, 3. Palms Resort Saipan & Pau Pau Beach, 4. Banzai Cliff, 5. Suicide Cliff, 6. The Grotto, 7. Ladder Beach, 8. Obyan Beach, 9. Lau Lau Beach, 10. * Forbidden Island, 11. * Tank Beach, 12. * Marine Beach, 13. * Jeffries Beach, 14. Mañagaha Island, 15. San Jose ( * To explore the eastern side of the island, be sure to rent a 4x4!)

We slept
Hyatt Regency Saipan (#2)
Our first time in Saipan, we stayed at the Hyatt. Their decor is kind of bland but it was clean, the service is friendly, and it's right on the beach. They have a nice pool and lobby bar. Very conveniently located smack dab in the middle of touristy Garapan. Which can be a good or a bad thing.
Palms Resort Saipan (#3)
On our second trip to Saipan, we stayed at the Palms Resort (formerly the Nikko Hotel), an 8-10 minute drive north of Garapan. The Palms is clean and comfortable, and probably looks much as it did when it was first built 20-some-odd years ago. I'm glad they preserved the hotel's 1980s heyday charm, right down to the once-modern-now-vintage Bose speakers, clock radio and telephone in seafoam blue.... I hope these little vintage accents aren't eliminated when the United Micronesia Development Association finally finds a hotelier to manage the property. They are about $60 cheaper than the Hyatt and they have their own beach too, so I'd say they're a better deal.

We got around
In a rental car
There's no public transport on Saipan... Budget, Hertz, Thrifty and Dollar car rentals all have desks at the airport and booking online. Most of the island is well-paved, but a 4-wheel drive might be helpful for the eastern side where dirt roads prevail. The maps available at the rental office are detailed and helpful, but some of those lines that city people might read as "paved road," those are dirt roads on Saipan.

We relaxed
Obyan Beach (#8)
Southeast of the airport, we bumped along a dirtroad that was gradually becoming something more of a footpath, before we spotted a very well hidden sign. The beach itself was quiet and secluded but rather small.
Lau Lau Beach (#9)
It's in a protected bay, northeast of the airport, at the end of a bumpy dirt road... It's marked on the tourist map as good for beach dives. While we were there we would be thinking that we were totally alone, only to be occasionally disturbed by divers popping out of the water and making their way to the parking lot.
Forbidden Island Beach (#10)
We didn't go. After we parked at the end of a dirt road and hiked for 20 minutes, a nice little sign warned us that there was about 40 minutes more of hiking to go, so we turned back.
Micro Beach, Hyatt Regency Hotel (#2)
I think this was the biggest beach on the island. They probably truck in all that sand. The water is shallow and calm for a good stretch so it's good for kids and not so good for snorkelers (murky, nothing to see but sea cucumbers). Nice for relaxing with a frothy drink on the beach chairs. I think technically you need to stay at the hotel to use the beach, but no one will notice if you aren't a hotel resident.
Pau Pau Beach (#3)
My favorite beach on the island, just a little bit north of the Palms Resort (formerly Nikko). It wasn't as wide and the sand wasn't as soft as at Micro Beach, but the water was so clear. It's not totally secluded but the main visitors to this beach seem to be local picnickers. We were there during Christmas, so there were at least two BBQs going on at any given time. On the eastern end there's some live coral that you need to be careful not to step on. But if you swim around the rocks you can see plenty of little fish going about their business.
Managaha Island (#14)
On our last day on Saipan, we went out to Managaha, a tiny rock about a 20 minute boat ride from shore. You can pay $20 round trip at the water sports desk on Micro Beach. Or slightly less to take a boat from the Outer Cove Marina. It's popular with dive tours so there's a lot of bigger boats unloading there. When we went it was rather too crowded and the waves were too choppy to make for good snorkeling. But that water was some of the bluest I've ever seen!

We saw
Garapan (#2)
This is the tourist town located right behind the Hyatt's parking lot. Eh.
During the day it's kind of dead. At night it lights up with private massage parlors catering to... a certain kind of tourist.
Suicide Cliff (#5) and Banzai Cliff (#4)
Where hundreds of Japanese civilians jumped to their deaths during the last days of the WWII Battle of Saipan.
The Grotto (#6)
Wow, I nearly killed my legs going down & up the steps here. If we were scuba divers, this would be an awesome dive spot to try.

We ate
Jhem's
A Filipino diner with a cozy and familial atmosphere. Tasty barbequed meats and other hearty meals. Drive south from Garapan along Beach Road, it's past the Bank of Guam on your left. If you see Jollibee you've gone too far.
Jollibee
Yay! Jollibee!
Cusina * [now closed :-( ]
This was the only Chamorro restaurant we could find on the island. We went there for dinner twice. Their venison and coconut soup was super tasty, the tuna kelaguan (kind of a tuna ceviche?) was refreshing and I loved their coconut milk steamed crabs... Mmm. They don't seem to be open for lunch.
D'Elegance
The bartender at our hotel tipped us off to the good Filipino buffet at D'Elegance (in the strip mall just behind the Galleria). Go early to get the food while it's still hot!
Winchell's
There was a Winchell's there! This was a novelty for me because I'm from the Northeast U.S. and have never seen one before. But I love old-fashioned doughnuts.
Barbeque
We spotted two barbeque stands, but there are probably more around if you keep your eye out for them. They open at night and make for savory late night or pre-dinner snacks. Behind the Galleria is Jullie's Barbeque Special ($1 for a long skewer of pork or chicken), and up Middle Road about halfway between Garapan and Palms Resort is Jane's BBQ (50 cents for short skewers).
Some other places I don't remember the names of
A Vietnamese place in Garapan, just behind the Hyatt parking lot. The food was decent, but it tasted more Chinese than Vietnamese. Also I had donkatsu (Japanese style breaded pork cutlet) bento box at one of the Japanese places behind the Hyatt parking lot. It was okay. By and large the restaurants in the center of Garapan just didn't look that promising.

Twenty to thirty years ago, Japanese tourists used to come to Saipan in droves, but today not so much. Occasionally, scuba divers and WWII history buffs come to explore the WWII relics both on land and underwater. Here and there, an abandoned mall or an empty hotel hint at glory days gone by. But Saipan still has white beaches and sun, so don't cross them off your list of beach destinations just yet...