Posted by Seth on April 15, 2011 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports | 
As a travel destination it is hard to rate Guam to incredibly high, especially coming in from the mainland US or Hawaii. Sure, it is warm and generally sunny, but so is most of the Caribbean or the beaches of Mexico and they’re a LOT easier to get to than Guam is. If you happen to be in Japan or Korea already I can somewhat see the appeal – only 4-5 hours away by air and a much different environment that caters to you as a tourist – but really a hard sell coming all the way from New York City. Still, I managed to find a few things to do while there and it wasn’t like the beaches were particularly bad as visiting goes.
The main drag of Tumon Bay Beach is where all the resorts are based and where most tourists end up. The area is just a couple miles from the airport and pretty much serves as the focus of the tourist industry on the island. And with good reason. Other than one section of particularly nice beach that I saw on one of the Navy bases, the beach at Tumon Bay is one of the nicer stretches of land available in Guam for enjoying the Pacific Ocean and it has most of the restaurants and shops, too.
The wide, shallow bay plays more like a lake than an ocean, with virtually no surf to speak of but that’s great for the folks staying at the resorts who are looking to snorkel, windsurf or sail in the area. And the white sand beach is wide enough that there is generally enough room, though it is not particularly deep which can make it a bit crowded at times.
One of the nicer features of the beach is that it is readily accessible both to the guests of the high-priced resorts that sit right on it and to the general public, thanks to Governor Joseph A Flores Park, a public access facility, at one end. With free public parking and access everyone can enjoy the sun and sand.
A bit further south along Marine Corps Drive the tourist population dwindles and the locals dominate the scene. The coast is lined with parks, providing parking and access to the waterfront, though generally much less in the way of actual beachfront. There is a grassy area adjacent to most of the parking lots but no sand to relax on. For some folks that’s probably an ideal sort of beach, but not me.
In addition to the large, calm stretches of coastline there are also some areas where the surf break line is close enough to shore for folks to take advantage of it. Just off of Paseo De Susana Park there were a number of surfers and body boarders doing just that.
The park also has a replica of the Statue of Liberty on display. I happen to like ours in NYC a bit better, but this one is certainly more convenient to visit if you’re in Guam.
Finally, there is a small park adjacent to the regional government building that provides some pretty cool views of the region. The plot of land that now houses the government was used as a fort in the days of Spanish rule and as an anti-aircraft emplacement during World War II; evidence of both eras remains in the park area.
Construction in the region was historically performed by elevating the buildings, both to protect against rising tides or floods as well as to keep critters out. The towers that the buildings were set on are known as lattes and they are rather significant to the history of the island. Traditionally they were built of two pieces, the long, tapered column and then a chunk of coral set atop that. The government recently built a look-out tower that mimics the design and style of a latte. It is actually a pretty neat tower and it provides great views of the coast line.
There is also a marker signifying the base reference point on Guam for all GPS location points on the island. Vaguely interesting for the geek in me.
Between these beaches, the view from Two Lovers’ Point and the diving available on the island I managed to fill my 49 hours on the island well enough. I’m quite certain that I don’t really need to go back as I got my fill and there are more interesting destinations still on my list.
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Posted by Seth on March 30, 2011 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports |
Two Lovers Point, or Puntan Dos Amantes, is one of the few tourist attractions in Guam. Perched high above Tumon Bay, the point offers perhaps the best views of the coast. It also offers couples an opportunity to express their love for each other, keeping with the history of the site.
The legend of Puntan Dos Amantes tells of a wealthy local family with a beautiful daughter. When the father arranged for the daughter to be married to a Spanish Captain she became distraught and ran off, up the island to a high point along the shore where she met a young local man and they instantly fell in love. Not surprisingly, the father disapproved of the new beau and moved forward with the wedding plans he had arranged. The girl stole off again and, again, met the young boy at their favorite spot atop the cliff. Pursued by her father, the Captain and his soldiers, the two embraced, tied their hair together and leapt from the cliff to their death on the rocks below.
Rather than leaping to their death, couples visiting the site today buy heart-shaped combination locks in the gift shop. They write their names on them and attach them to the fence where they stay forever, or at least until the folks running the park come through and clean them up.
It is pretty clichéd as an experience, but the tourists came in throngs. Bused in 30-50 at a time they came, passing through for their moment atop Guam and atop Two Lovers Point. Five to ten minutes later they were headed out of the little park and back on to their bus to get to whatever the next site on their itinerary is.
The park itself is free to access but it has limited views of the coast line. For that you have to cough up the three dollars to get in to the small lookout facility that juts out from the cliff top. Oh, and if you don’t have a rental car you’re on the hook for a $50 taxi ride round trip from the hotels along Tumon Bay up to the site.
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Posted by Seth on March 29, 2011 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports |
With my trip to the Pacific somewhat rerouted this past weekend I suddenly found myself looking for things to do in Guam. Not being a member of the military my options were pretty limited. With 48 hours on the ground I’d have plenty of time to do some diving and not risk the bends when I boarded my onward flight. And given no other compelling options of things to do I scheduled my day with the folks at Micronesian Divers Association.
I was originally booked for both the morning and afternoon boat trips. Sadly, life got in the way and I ended up working instead of diving in the morning but I made the afternoon boat and got in two pretty mediocre dives.
The first dive, at Barracuda Rock was mostly lacking in coral, sea life and much scenery at all. Still, there were a couple cool swim-through areas and I couldn’t really complain too much. After all, I was diving and that is always a good thing.
The second dive was somewhat lower visibility but better scenery. We followed the captain’s directions in search of a huge anemone but came up empty in finding it (though apparently others on the boat did find it). Instead of that we made friends with a turtle camped out on a coral head.
It is amazing to watch them move underwater. They glide so effortlessly and quickly; keeping up is a challenge and almost certainly means spending more air than you really meant to.
After the turtle experience we headed back towards the boat, cruising along the coral heads and enjoying the scenery.
One of the nice things about this dive is that it maxed out at only 50 feet or so and most of the pretty stuff was up around 15-30 feet. This means more bottom time and better light for actually seeing the stuff down there. Both good things in my book. And we had plenty of time for the dive; the captain wasn’t in much of a hurry to get back. I was down for over an hour on the second dive and had a blast.
I suppose I should confess at this point that there’s no good reason that I should have passed the underwater navigation portion of my certification. The first dive of the day was a drift dive, meaning that navigation didn’t matter much. The second, however, had us returning to the boat. Easier said than done.
It didn’t help that another boat showed up on the mooring line between our boat and where the good stuff was on the dive. Needless to say I was very confused when that boat disappeared a bit later and I thought I was completely lost. Fortunately I was shallow enough that I could easily surface and find the boat, but I was rather embarrassed. Right up to the point that I got back on the boat and several others mentioned that they made the same mistake. At least I was in good company.
Overall it was just mediocre diving. The boat was a bit crowded and the sites aren’t fantastic. That said, it was pretty cheap (~$50 for a two tank boat dive) and certainly beats the heck out of sitting top side. Guam doesn’t offer a lot of options if you’re not looking for a massage parlor. The diving was definitely a welcome alternative.
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Posted by Seth on March 26, 2011 under Dining, Flying, Mileage Run, Review, Trip Reports |
Traveling from New York City to Guam in a single day is a challenge, to say the least. The good news is that Continental offers a pretty reasonable schedule that can get you all the way there (and on to a few other out-lying areas if you’re so motivated) in a single day. The bad news is that it is nearly 24 hours of travel, and that’s assuming the best-case scenario for the connections.
For me the itinerary is pretty simple. Start off at the ungodly hour of 4am with an alarm clock buzzer that causes shock and awe, but not in the good way. From there, it is a fight to grab a cab from the Club Kids who are just wrapping up their night out on the town (I lost a couple rounds but eventually won) and then the quick ride to LaGuardia. The Presidents Club lounge is not yet open so any dreams of a Bloody Mary or a granola bar are dashed, but at least the line at security was minimal.
The flight from LaGuardia to Houston was uneventful, mostly because I was asleep the better part of it. Arrival into Houston was right on time and a 45 minute connection to the Honolulu flight was easy to make, though not so much in terms of time to visit a Presidents Club there, either. I was “late” to boarding which put me a bit in the middle of the zoo that is loading up ~200 passengers for a flight to the islands, and for some reason the gate agents were insistent that there was no priority boarding for elites this morning. My face showing a dumbfound incomprehension of why that should be was met with a reasonable agent (not the one I first encountered) and eventually I boarded the flight.
Oh, there was also the part where they told me that I had to change seats to help keep a couple together (something I generally do without objection, though I prefer to be asked not told). But then they weren’t really sure where i was supposed to actually sit or where all the other parties were supposed to be. Given the list of seats in play I managed to figure it out, but not before the folks on the plane had already done so. Needless to say, when I got to my seat and tried to start shuffling all the other players who had already moved themselves they were very confused.
Continental’s service up front from Houston and Newark to Honolulu may be considered a modified version of the BusinessFirst offering but the seats are still pretty good for a daytime flight and the food is still one of the better options available headed to the 50th state. Lunch is a five-course marathon, starting with a salmon appetizer and ending with an ice cream sundae. The truly shameful part is that that coach cabin has only food for purchase available on the 8.5 hour journey. Had my upgrade not come through I would’ve been in big trouble trying to find a decent meal or two for the second segment during the short connection.
As I wrapped up my ice cream sundae (caramel & chocolate, plus whipped cream, if you’re curious) along with my traditional beverage side-car I happened to look up at the moving map screen. Nearly two hours into the flight and we’re still in Texas; just short of El Paso, it turns out. I know Texas is big, but damn. I was not expecting to still be here.
Overall, a relatively uneventful trip so far, which is really the best one can hope for most days. With any luck the rest of the 23-ish hour journey will be similarly smooth.
Posted by Seth on March 23, 2011 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports |
As part of the planning for my trip to Hong Kong and Guam this weekend I have finally started to look for some hotel options. In the end I’ll probably stay at the same place I stayed last time; it is a good price and a good location for a decent hotel. But I was curious what other options I have so I did some digging.
Expedia.com was nice enough to present their opaque bidding options to me so I figured I’d take a look. If the border of the neighborhood was reasonable enough Id be happy to save a few dollars and see a new hotel. Somehow, however, I do not think that their map of Kowloon is completely accurate.
That’s right, folks. Apparently Kowloon covers most of North America.
Sorry, Expedia, but with that level of incompetence I won’t be booking with you any time soon.
Construction in the region was historically performed by elevating the buildings, both to protect against rising tides or floods as well as to keep critters out. The towers that the buildings were set on are known as lattes and they are rather significant to the history of the island. Traditionally they were built of two pieces, the long, tapered column and then a chunk of coral set atop that. The government recently built a look-out tower that mimics the design and style of a latte. It is actually a pretty neat tower and it provides great views of the coast line.
