Go Guam

If you want to ride a Water Buffalo and snorkel by day, and catch a nightclub show the same evening, then Go West, happy traveler. West of Hawaii and west of the International Date Line lies a US territory that offers island paradise resorts and the comforts of US currency, language, and driving. You'll also find the intrigue of the friendly local Chamorro culture, influenced by the Spanish, Germans, Malaysians, Japanese, and Americans.

Guam offers fantasy beaches, great scuba diving, and water sports in 82-degree water. Local caves proffer ancient pictographs, and a Chamorro Village provides opportunities to help make salt, rope, and coconut candy. The island also offers a duty-free shopping zone of high-end brands.

Guam Then & Now
Guam was a pivotal island during the last century's wars. In this century, Guam would like to be the key to your peaceful vacation. It is one of the top ten destinations worldwide for Japanese vacationers, but many Americans haven't even thought of it -- yet.

Whether you choose the island as your sole destination, take an island leap from Oahu, or make it a memorable stop-over on your way to Asia, Australia, or other Micronesian tropical isles, Guam can be worth adding to your passport. Guam is the Pacific hub for Continental Airlines with multiple flights that include meals, an airline rarity these days. Even a short visit can load you up good memories and beautiful crafts.

The Resort Zone
Tumon is the resort zone, with white sands beaches and high-rise resorts, including Hilton, Sheraton, and Westin. Nearby attractions include one of the world's great underwater tunnel aquariums, with turtles, sharks, and rays gliding inches away from you. You'll also find quality restaurants, like Sam Choys and the Sand Castle, with lively entertainment that includes acrobatics, animals, gymnastic wonders, and beautiful magic.

Balcony From the room balconies at the pleasurable Pacific Islands Club in Tumon, you can enjoy a lovely view of the Pacific, some cool coastal architecture, and the variety of a creative water park's pools. They stretch from the hotel to the beach, with slides, waterfalls, aqua sports, kayaking routes, gardens, an aquarium snorkeling pool, a mini-golf course and hammocks. The Pacific Islands Club makes it easy to spend days and nights just at the hotel, where there are Japanese and American buffet cafeterias, an in-house spa, and al fresco dining a la fire-pit cooking at your table. It looked like many happy families were enjoying the inclusive R & R.

There are 20 other villages, though, on this 30-mile island, and many represent more of the Guam character. Driving around the island can make for the lovely serendipities of a great road trip. Some highlights for road tripping may include:

Romantic Lover's Point

*Two Lover's Point provides infatuating views of beautiful blues and greens, and a wall inscribed with the many marriages that took place in the love lore epicenter.

*Talofofo Falls, the largest waterfalls on the island, can be seen on foot pathways and a suspension bridge, and via a gondola ride along the double falls. The tourist park also offers botanical beauty, a simple museum, and kid pleasures like a red train ride, food to feed ducks, and a fun Ghost House. (It's too scary for little ones, but it's a corny chance for screams and laughs for others.)

Chamorro Village
*The seaside village of Inalahan is well worth the journey to the island's south, if you like firsthand glimpses into other cultures and other eras. You can actually help make sea salt, and scrape coconut to help make delicious, fresh coconut candy. Wonderful local people also demonstrate how to weave pandanas and how to make rope. Being in the thatched roof compound for even a little while gives you a sense of the compassion and interdependence that the Chamorro there say is a core part of their culture.

Judy Flores, a local resident and artist, is President of the Historic Inalahan Foundation. She also provides informative walking tours of the "Stilt" houses in the part of the village that's not on the beach. She happily shares her knowledge of the Malaysian, German, and Spanish influences on the island.

Cave Dwellings
*If ancient pictographs excite you, arrange for a guide in Inalahan to take you across the picturesque bay and lead you on a short walk through jungle flora and then some cliff hugging over the waves to Gadao caves. Make sure someone has a flashlight, or give your eyes time to adjust, to see dozens of ancient drawings. When you start the rock hugging along the short cliff' edge to get to the cave, look down at your feet at all the round scooped rock holes. Cindy Hanson with the Guam Visitor's Bureau says this is where the Chamorros in this area used to eat - their bowls literally set in stone.

Forts, Fruit & Water Buffalo
Remnants of the Spanish Fort Soledad provide a good vista spot overlooking Utamac Bay. People no longer scan the horizon for Malaysian pirates, but they still enjoy lovely curved coastlines. A distant rock tower is part of the Chamorro's origin story. A picturesque fruit stand near the parking lot offered shade and Guam hospitality. If you are curious, buying some local sweet bananas from John may lead to riding Bessie, his Water Buffalo, while younger Amanda, also a water buffalo, ignores you.

Water Buffalo, or Carabao, as they are known locally, were introduced by the Philippines during the Spanish era and were the main land transportation in the 18th century. Bessie had a broad back that can prove slippery, but she is gentle and sturdy.

International & Local Shopping
Fancier shopping stops in Guam can range from a zone called Pleasure Island, with high- end international brands, touting their duty free goods for all travelers to the iconic Chamorro Village with handmade crafts and savory local food. A cute young girl and her grandmother may welcome you with friendly hospitality as you look at the many items made of coconut shells. Locals say the Wednesday night markets at Chamorro Village are a must.
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You may elect to take informative tours of Guam's rich WWI, WWII and Spanish history. Or you may want to head underwater to enjoy corral topography, gorgeous tropical fish, and a unique wreck dive. Much of the Island's history is below the waterline. One hundred feet down scuba divers can touch a WW1 wreck and a WWII wreck, allegedly the only place in the world that you can do that. The German SMS Cormoran and Japanese Tokai Maru now rest an arm span apart, with tropical fish weaving between their skeletons.

Undersea Wrecks and Wonders
GTDS (Guam Tropical Dive Station) is a relatively inexpensive, multi-cultural dive outfit. Dive master Dominic who is Chuukese, says he speaks five languages, and gives the dive briefings first in Japanese, then English to accommodate the mix of visiting divers. GTDS also takes people out for boat trips to see spinner dolphins, snorkel the reefs, and be pulled on Scubaroo banana boats.

The People
Whether you chat with Chamorro, or spend time with a local expert or make friends with a great family like the Bergs, the people are the Island's wealth. Going through customs to leave this US territory, a young woman said, "Tell them about the warm friendly people!" She added her beautiful genuine smile to the many others that had complemented the warmth of the tropical breezes and the 82-degree Pacific waters.