Tanapag Beach, Saipan

Low tide 8:42 am High tide 4:10 pm Entry 3:45 pm Visibility 50 ft Moderate current enough to drift New sightings: octopus, (3) yellow spotted trevally

Sunday family beach activities. Music. Children. Chillin’ Snorkeled out from the rock to 1/2 way to the reef. Routine activity: coral and reef fish abundance. Unidentified wildlife: urchin(?) anemone (?) backed into rock hole off the beach; medium sized horned fish with spear tail; symbiotic fish and shrimp sharing a hole; cylindrical fish laying about and on the rock. Upwelling cool currents near the beach.

Beach entry. Shallow lagoon averages 3-5 ft up to 1/2 mile off shore and continues along western side of the island up to 12 miles. Warm. Good visibility. Mild current SSE between low and high tides. Sea floor fine sand, coral debris, patches of sea grass and sea weeds, live corals, abundant reef fish: trigger, parrot, puffers, discus, eel, pipefish and too many species that I can’t identify.

Tide going out Visibility 50’ Water temperature cooler than normal Scattered clouds New sightings: Flounder (bothus mancus) barely visible and confirmed only after it moved.

High tide 6:54pm Entry 3:30pm Total time 1:15 Current SE Visibility 30’ Route: the Rock then NW and back Routine sightings: trigger fish, blowfish, discus, clam, stag horn coral, sea cucumbers, brain coral New sightings: flounder, manta ray, 3-ft unidentified bottom dwelling snake-like creature with tentacles, purple coral sheltering schools of fluorescent light blue fish that sparkled in sunlight, shoreline rock pool crab Note: used mask clear solution with excellent results

This is the most crowded intro-diving spot on Saipan. An occasional 40-passenger greyhound bus will show up. More often, there are one or two pickup trucks with 3 or 4 customers. Find it north of Garapan, south of Nikko Hotel. It's a bit off the main road, on a suburban street, so plan to hunt, ask locals, or follow a dive truck. Bathroom's defunct, no phones unless you ask a local to use his home phone. Park on grass next to an outdoor theater/pavilion, use the theater's outer wall as a bench. Gear up, walk 10' to the perfect sand beach, look for a rope headed out to sea. Follow the rope; it slopes verrrry slowly to 10' deep, in a sandy trough (perfect for open water and intro lessons, unless there's one of the occasional fast currents blowing longshore back toward Garapan). Beware of lots of scrap metal cans (sausage "fishfood", the scuba equivalent of tying a pork chop around your neck so the dog will play with you). The rope will turn right (north, away from Garapan) and circle a few shallow coral heads with good viz. PERFECT place to use a disposable snorkeling camera. Beware of stone fish. Enjoy hordes of tiny sky-blue penny-sized fish that will "kiss" your hands in search of sausage. Also look for flounder, tiny boxfish & puffers, and at least one anemone with clownfish. Except on days with strong longshore currents or when a bus pulls up, this is the PERFECT place for an exceptionally timid diver's first intro dive. Some day, a smart businessman will probably set up a dive shop with assembly-line diving (Snuba?) at this spot. Wish it were me!