The Great Escape!!!

Yahoo!!! We're going on a holiday!!!

Finally a week off work for Steve and it was........we're out of here! But....where???? Maybe China and the Great Wall, Thailand, travel within Japan....then a 'light bulb' moment. We want to leave cities and crowds behind.......escape to a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for sunshine, scuba diving and relaxation!! Great idea!!

We chose Saipan because it can be accessed in 3.5 hours on a single flight from Japan. For this reason it's a popular destination with many Japanese holiday makers, but not too many at this time of the year! Getting to dive in a different location was an attraction and finally it's much cheaper to access from Japan than Australia. We were not to regret our decision. What a great choice!!

Saipan is steeped in history! The location of one of the bloodiest World War 2 battles, it has some very sad tales to tell. I made all our bookings on the Internet....our flights were secured with the US based Delta Airlines and, after checking out different hotels, we settled on Aqua Resort. Preferring smaller resorts which are not high rise was our first criteria. A Google search showed our chosen location was out of town, on the beach and without any other developments around. Perfect!!

We left on a Saturday afternoon having caught the Limousine Bus from Yokohama. In typical Japanese style everything ran to schedule and we arrived in Saipan at 8.30pm, Saipan time. Jenny in her normal style spent the entire trip curled up with a headache, the bane of my life! Very annoying because I didn't get to eat or have my complimentary in flight wines! Whilst travelling we were asked if we had our ESTA for entry in to Saipan. Not really understanding what was meant by this question, I said we didn't need it because we came from Australia .....partially true! As we cleared customs it was explained that even though we were Australian and the need for a visa was waivered, we still needed to have applied for an ESTA and paid the $14US each. Oops! ESTA is an acronym for Electronic System for Travel Authorisation which determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). So now we know! Fortunately, as it was our first time on US territory we were given a reprieve, but only this once. We also now know how strict and thorough the American custom officials are......no checked in baggage can be locked, no shoes on going through and I even had the famous 'pat down'. Lucky me!

We were collected at the airport by Joe, who delivered us safely to Aqua Resort. As we had not booked through an agent we had to pay $20.00 each for the transport. We checked into our room and found that it was too late to eat at the bar or restaurant.  Steve bought a packet of noodles at the cafe located within the complex and I settled for dry biscuits and Vegemite that I had brought from home.

The 14 tropical islands comprising the Northern Marianas chain stretch across 400 miles in the western Pacific Ocean, just adjacent to the famed Marianas Trench, with the world's greatest known ocean depth of 35,810 feet. 

Saipan, the largest and most populated island in the group, measures 13 miles long and 6 miles across at its widest point (area 47 square miles). No my maths is not wrong......it's just that the island isn't a rectangle! Saipan's western shore is almost completely encircled by a huge barrier reef creating a beautiful, calm lagoon with sparkling white sand beaches. It is absolutely pristine and idyllic! I likened it to Gilligan's Island and decided if I was ever shipwrecked this is where I would like to be marooned!

The Northern Marianas enjoy one of the most stable climates in the world with abundant year-round sunshine and refreshingly clean air and water. The average year-round temperature is 29deg C with an average humidity of 79%. The ocean temperature also averages 29deg C. We started our holiday with a lazy day lying by the pool, reading, swimming and walking along the beach.

Unlike the sun we experienced in our very hot Summer in Japan, the sun on Saipan very quickly brought on the typical first day 'tourist' sunburn. We had observed some very sun burnt people at the start of the day and vowed that that wouldn't happen to us. 
Ooops!! 'Himself' ended up with a striped torso......that's what happens when you get burnt lying on a banana lounge!

Our first day drew to a close with a magnificent sunset........the first of many!

Prior to arriving in Saipan I had investigated possible dive companies and made a booking with Aquasmith. Most of the 45 companies on the island cater for Japanese speaking customers only, so I opted for one advertising English speaking guides. At this time of the year most of the companies only have a handful of clients each, meaning for us we had the dive guide to ourselves. I had booked packages, which included 4 boat dives, 1 beach dive and the Grotto dive, to be done on the Monday and Wednesday. On Monday we were collected by Patrick, who was to be our guide. Patrick a local Chamorro, with a plaited pigtail reaching to his waist, has lived on the island all his life. Over the next few days we discovered that Patrick was a man of many talents.  He speaks Chamorro, English, Japanese, a bit of Russian and snippets of others. He plays a selection of musical instruments and writes and composes his own songs and music. He works a second job involved in Disaster Emergency Response for the island and even finds time to be a competitive snooker player as well.


We had taken our own gear so only needed tanks and weights. Our boat driver, Ernie, collected us at a small wharf and we headed out through the gap in the reef. The lagoon which runs the full length of the island means that the coastline is very protected. Our first two boat dives, 'Ice Cream' and 'Dimple', were outside the lagoon and slightly south of Garapan, the capital. As promised the water temperature was 29-30 degrees and water clarity was excellent. Due to Global warming, much of the coral is dying but there was plenty of fish life, lots of clownfish and a group of six eagle rays which circled overhead. 'Ice Cream' is a very large submerged coral mound of stag horn corals rising from the bottom to a baseball-diamond-sized summit roughly 16m below the surface. The depth of our dive at this site was 26 metres and on the 'Dimple' only 17 metres. The eagle rays were circling above the 'Dimple'.

Our next dive was the 'Grotto' which can only be accessed by road. It is probably Saipan's most famous dive site....a 'must see' for advanced divers.....is what the brochures said. We returned to the wharf, moved our gear into Patrick's truck and headed off to the north east corner of the island. As there is nowhere to escape the salt air, most vehicles on the island are riddled with rust, Patrick's truck had its share. The drive gave us the required surface interval needed before we headed down under again.

Once there we kitted up and, with weights and tanks, headed off down the 117 steep steps to the entry point.

Once down we had to wait for a break in the surges before climbing around a rock face with a rail attached to it. Like a blowhole the water rushes in through a narrow gap and causes a surge.  The first bit was OK but then holding onto the rail you scaled around the front of the rockface and jumped across to the rock platform.....bit tricky with tank on back and fins in hands.

Between surges the water was flat but then it would rush in, after a final buddy check we stepped off the rock platform and descended quickly, leaving the surging water above us. Looking up we watched the surface disappear and were instantly overwhelmed by the brilliant blue. Our depth for this dive was 23.5 metres.

The 'Grotto' is a magnificent natural sink-hole cave. It is home to a wide variety of marine life, including juvenile white-tip sharks and sea turtles. If you venture outside the Grotto through one of the three passages leading to the open ocean, you see scores of reef fish. I was really impressed with the beautiful Gorgonian fans and wanted to pull my magnifying glass out to search for pygmy seahorses. The fan looks like a plant but is actually an animal like coral. Like its relative, the sea anemone, the gorgonian is a filter feeder. I got a few photos of the fans then realized the other two weren't in view.

I stopped, scanned around and poked my head through one of the passages. No one around. I turned, ready to return to my fan when I felt a sharp tug on my fin. Yeeks....!! Steve and Patrick had been watching me from a cave and it was only when Steve came to get me that he realized I couldn't see inside them in the cave. No drama! Inside the cave we dropped down a shaft into another cave, the whole experience was wonderful! Once out of the water we soon found out why Patrick had said 117 steps down and 430 back up......it was a steep climb with all our gear on!!

As we had done all the dives consecutively, we were back at Aqua Resort by about 3.30 giving us a chance to have a quick lunch and then a relax in and around the pool, in the shade! 'Happy Hour' lasts from 4.30 -7.30 and at the pool bar there is live entertainment..... a ukulele playing local and another pair, who I nick named the 'Los Gringos Brothers'.

We chose to have tea in the relaxed atmosphere of the cocktail bar and then the next night ate in the formal restaurant.  The 'Los Gringos Brothers' serenade guests at their tables in the formal dining room. I requested 'Tears in Heaven' which they did beautifully and then later out in the cocktail bar they did it for me again, as well as lots of other favourites.

On Tuesday we decided to rent a car and brave the roads. For $60US we got a small Toyota for a half day (12 hours). Driving on the wrong side of the road was a challenge.......just getting in the correct side of the car was a big change.......then once in the car the 'Who's stolen the steering wheel?'

We headed north and stopped at each of the significant places. As mentioned, Saipan was a major battleground during World War II and more than 3,000 Americans and 30,000 Japanese soldiers and other civilians were lost.....all on an island of 47 square miles! To stop and read about the horrors of war and to see where the Japanese holed up in bunkers, where they committed suicide rather than be captured and the memorials commemorating  US and Japanese lives lost....as well as Saipan inhabitants who lost their lives....was very moving!

At Suicide and Banzai Cliffs, many Japanese soldiers and their families jumped to their deaths following the final orders of Lt. Gen. Yoshitsugo Saito, who said, "Whether we attack or whether we stay where we are........ I will never suffer the disgrace of being taken alive." 

At the Last Command Post you see a cave, where the Japanese readied themselves for their last push against American forces, and bunkers where the pots and pans still lay untouched. Very haunting indeed! 

We made our way around the island also visiting Kalabera Cave and an assortment of beautiful beaches. The views from all aspects were lovely. Finally we head back to town for water and food then went off exploring again.

At about 4.30 we decided to call it quits.....Steve had had enough of driving on the wrong side of the road because as his concentration lapsed he found he really was on the wrong side of the road and I was a bit over ducking every time I saw the edge of the road on my side rushing at me!!! Time to return to the pool and 'Happy Hour' again. We left the car in the hotel carpark and, although we still had 5 hours left, didn't go near it again!!

Wednesday dawned sunny, hot and clear....what a surprise! Patrick collected us 8.00am and we were off for another day's diving. Travelling by boat to the very south-eastern tip meant we had to pay a little extra in surcharges but we wanted to dive the Naftan Wall and Obyan Beach. The dive on the wall was very good but within minutes the current became very strong. We descended to 23.5 metres and enjoyed the scenery. It was good fun drifting around but when even the guys found they couldn't swim against the current we ascended, clinging onto the shot line for our safety stop, then back into the boat.

Our next dive was at Obyan Beach. It was a relatively shallow dive at 15 metres but was beautiful. As we were about to enter the water, the o'ring on my regulator blew off with a bang so it needed a quick repair job. Rolling off the boat into the water normally activates our dive computers, not for me this time.....the battery warning did one last flash then shut down. As my depth gauge is part of the computer, I had to rely on the others for my depths. Very annoying!! The dive site was a wonderful underwater garden teeming with fish and corals, it even came with its own population  of garden eels.

The sandy bottom was like a huge lawn with little outcrops scattered across it. Lying on our bellies, we enjoyed investigating between all the nooks and crannies searching for critters. Using a new camera and without my normal strobe and lenses, disappointingly my underwater photography was far from successful. 

Our last dive for the day was on a wreck and this was really enjoyable. Not an ancient wreck but really good fun, with lots of swim throughs, heaps of life and, best of all.....we had the site to ourselves. I could happily have gone down again and again!!

As normal it was back to our hotel for a relaxing time around the pool, followed by dinner and lots of chatter about our day!!

Thursday was spent lounging around and doing 'not much'. Very nice! That evening was one of the trip's 'memorable moments'. Thursday in Saipan, was a public holiday to celebrate 'Thanksgiving'. The day before we had been overwhelmed to get an invitation from Patrick to celebrate, Chamorro style, with his family. Patrick collected us and drove us to his house on the other side of the island. The friendliness, hospitality and closeness was delightful. Young kids were happy to talk with us, as was Patrick's mother and wife. The uncles, aunts, cousins etc etc were just one happy group. Families here are very tight knit and close.

On the Friday we moved to the Hyatt for our last night. It was sad leaving our lovely accommodation. The Hyatt was a bit more high rise and not really our style, but very beautiful. We swam.....

 ....walked around Garapan through parks and along the beach and finished with tea at a beach bar.

 Another lovely, lovely day!! That night it was early to bed, as we had a 4am start the next day.

Sadly it was...... Farewell to Saipan, our tropical getaway in the Pacific Ocean. 

 What a wonderful place!!

Footnotes:

.....I think it's very sad that the average life expectancy for the locals is very low and the major health problem is diabetes due to poor diet! Even Patrick's dad died at 50 of diabetes related illnesses.

.....After zooming in and closely examining my fan photo, I believe there was a seahorse. Not a good picture but gives an idea of how tiny they are.... only mm's! 

Maybe it was just my imagination or wishful thinking!!