I have always been curious about United Airline's famous Island Hopper route in the Western Pacific, and few years ago did a vacation to visit this vast and more rarely visited part of the Pacific Ocean.
Flights along this route are expensive as there is only one airline flying to most of these destinations. I have never had a travel itinerary like this and there were altogether 16 flights with all the layovers on small islands, some of which are not listed here.
Our first destination was the island of Guam which is a territory of United States of America. It's a long 7-hour flight from Honolulu which itself is 5 hours from west coast.
The deepest place on Earth, the Challenger Deep, is located only 304 kilometres southwest of the island as in an incredible 10,929 meters (35,856 feet) deep. Until 2019 year only three people had visited the ocean floor.
Guam being a tropical, there is no other way to explore it than renting a cabriolet.
Some 167 000 people live on the island and the Tumon is the center of tourism. It's a mini version of Honolulu's Waikiki Beach.
Tumon Bay has beautiful sand beaches that go on for several kilometres.
It was end of December and we spent the Christmas Eve in Guam.
For Christmas dinner we ate at a fine dining Thai restaurant at one of the hotels.
Sunsets are legendary on paradise islands.
More to come from Guam and several other islands in the area.
Great pictures! I don't think I've ever seen Guam on here.
Tumon also looks like it could almost be parts of Florida. Even the standardized construction signs make it easy to think that the pictures were not from half a world away.
I've never heard someone call it a cabriolet. We call them convertibles. I think British people call them spyders.
Hard to believe people live in such remote environments like this. Tumon looks pretty honky-tonk, but the beaches seem superb and way better than Oahu's.
we looked into doing this french island freighter cruise around the pacific but backed off after seeing it got popular with oldens. seems like a great way to see a lot of islands though.
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Sorry guys. I will post replies whenever I post new photos!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrnyc
if you dont mind, how much did this all cost???
Our 16 flight itinerary cost us C$3,700 per person. You can fly several airlines to Guam but the Island Hopper route is exclusively served by United Airlines. Accommodate on these islands is less than Hawaii but but not cheap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xzmattzx
Great pictures! I don't think I've ever seen Guam on here.
I've never heard someone call it a cabriolet. We call them convertibles. I think British people call them spyders.
Haha, I meant to write convertible but got my thoughts mixed with the word Germans use.
And thanks! I agree that it is rare see any photos from this remote part of the world, so I am happy to provide a glimpse into how life over there looks like.
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Originally Posted by destroycreate
Hard to believe people live in such remote environments like this. Tumon looks pretty honky-tonk, but the beaches seem superb and way better than Oahu's.
We were a bit disappointed by the scuba-diving in Guam, as we have seen better in Hawaii. Palau, which we would visit later, on the other hand was jaw-droppingly great!
Time to explore the island of Guam! It's a short drive from Tumon to Hagåtna which is the official capital of Guam.
Governor's residence is located at Adelop Point.
During WW2, Guam was center for fierce fights. The island has several great war museums detailing these bloody battles.
T. Stell Newman Visitor Center offers a great history lesson to the events.
U.S. Naval Base Guam is located next to the visitor center and is a highly strategic naval base.
Driving around the island is easy and relaxing. We were listening to Christmas carols while driving around in our convertible.
Fouha Bay
Beautiful coastline is protected by coral reefs.
Panoramic view from Cetti Bay overlook.
Statue at the south end of the island.
Next day we drove to Two Lowers Point lookout which is one of the main tourist attractions on the island. This cliff offers beautiful views of the ocean and the nearby Tumon.
Crystal-clear waters surround Guam.
A dolphin pod happened to swim underneath the lookout while we were there!
Tumon Bay panorama.
Driving around the north end of the island one passes by the Andersen Air Force Base which is a critical US military base in the Western Pacific.
Not much of the base can be seen from outside but it is home to B-2 bombers and all the newest fighter planes the Air Force has.
Overall, we really enjoyed our few days over Christmas in Guam. Next we would be flying to Saipan which is one of the North Marianas Islands less than an hour north of Guam. More photos to come!
if you like this kind of thing, i just finished this breezy book about a boomer era surfer who traveled the pacific and much of the rest of world surfing, recommended!
It has been a while but here is part 1 of Saipan! This small island is located some 190 kilometres north of Guam and is the main island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which all the 14 islands in the region except Guam are part of.
Saipan is a small piece of United States and the island used to be home to 19 American garment factories that exploited trade agreements allowing them to run sweatshops technically inside the United States. Since these agreements ended in the early 2000s, Saipan has lost almost one third of its population and relics of the former glory are everywhere.
The newest "industry" is gambling and it is estimated that billions of dollars are being money laundered in local casinos. The most outrageous sight is definitely the Chinese mega-casino which has been under construction for years (still is in 2022!) and is such stark contrast to anything else on this tropical paradise.
The marble facade and golden decorations are just so tacky and out-of-place with everything around it.
Inside, the humongous marble lobby is a sight to behold with a massive and super bright LED ceiling. In here, it is easy to forget that you are actually in the tropics!
There aren't many sand beaches on Saipan but Micro Beach is great for dipping in the warm ocean. Saipan is said to have the most stable temperature in the world, so it is guaranteed to be always warm in here.
Sunsets in the Pacific are simply amazing.
After the sun had set, we headed for a cultural dinner show for some soothing Pacific island melodies and beautiful dancing.
The mega-casino looks even tackier in its nightly lighting.
In part 2 we will explore the bloody battle sites of this lush paradise. Stay tuned!
Looks great! The marble facade is nice, but you can also tell it's tacky Asian over-opulence.
I'd love to be on that beach, even if it's small!
Were the coconut bras for show, or do/did they really do that as part of their history?
What are the NMI license plates like? I actually saw one here in Delaware a couple months ago in Dover, but I think it was just a front one, for decoration. But being a military town, it is surprisingly common to see rare plates in Dover. Every time I'm in town, I see an Alaska plate, and many times a Hawaii plate, and a couple times both in the same drive around town. I've also seen 4 Prince Edward Island plates in Dover, and a few American Armed Forces in Germany plates in Dover.
very cool to see more! after hawaii and easter island i got a taste for more pacifica.
i never took a cruise in my life, i'm against them, but ... i did sign up for a french polynesia cargo/cruise hybrid ship website that looks intriguing (the sorta downside is they try to hide it a bit, but it looks like only 'adventurous' rich old people do it). so now they send me ads to try to temp me.