Asan Cut

This cut is nasty on days with surf and on outgoing tides, as all the water on a large stretch of shallows pours into the cut. Divers have exhausted themselves trying to get out of this cut until they give up and wait for the rescue helicopter to show up. I've never done this dive when the water wasn't flat, and don't want to. When coming up at the cut, stay low, grab a hold of the bottom (wear gloves!) if you're going backward, and if you really can't hold on, allow yourself to get sucked back down rather than hurt yourself. Trying to snorkel your way out of Asan Cut in bad conditions is madness. Once you drop down into the cut, you'll find yourself in a murky bowl that some divers never find themselves out of. I have seen both eel and large scorpionfish here. If you stay left you'll eventually reach a notch in the bowl that lets you out into the open ocean, which normally has some of the best visibility of any shore dive on Guam. I've seen turtle, and other divers insist they regularly see both mantas and reef sharks, and one acquaintance has a legendary story that a pair of curious spinner dolphins came to investigate him. You'll have enough time to wander about a bit, with the sand flats at about 70' but plenty of neat coral and occasional fish to see along the reef wall. If you go right (north) from the entrance notch, you can find another notch at about 20-30' that will drop you back into an extension of the bowl and, if you stay to the right wall, you'll eventually find yourself back at the cut to exit. There is also an Amtrak partially embedded in the landward side of the giant bowl, but it's in pretty bad shape compared to the one at Agat Cemetery and there's really nothing else to look at, so I really can't recommend it to people who are new to the site, given how good the dive can be when you get out into the open water.

July is the best month of the year to dive this site but you need to time it about one hour before a high or a very low tide. Just be aware that very strong currents can occur here and pull you out to sea.

I was forewarned by a local Chamorran resident not to dive here. Apparently, several US military folks were swept out to sea through the 'cut' during a period of large waves. If that isn't enough to deter you (it wasn't for me)...enter the parking lot just to the right of the National park, and park at the end of the lot on the right (facing the water). Gear up, then hike (on a really calm day, when the fishermen are standing in the water at the edge of the cut) over the really shallow (1-2' deep) reef to the edge of the cut. Do a quasi-giant stride, then you're in the 'cut' or channel...and swim on out to sea. The entry and exit are a lot of work, even on a calm day, in the hot and humid Guam weather! Interesting dive, and I'd probably do it again if I lived there!