Water Sports on Guam
The island of Guam offers a wide variety of fun things to do for tourists, business visitors and military personnel on temporary assignments or on a 2 or 3 year tour of duty. As a Pacific tropical island, it should not be surprising that water sports on Guam make up a large portion of the islands attraction.
With crystal clear waters that retain temperatures in the 80 degree range year round, spectacular coral reefs and an amazing variety of marine life, Guam is a World-class scuba diving destination. Guam also offers wind surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, para-sailing, submarine cruises, sport fishing, boat charters and dolphin watching, sunset dinner cruises, water parks and beach clubs. Some folks just enjoy lying on the white sand and swimming in Guam’s warm, clear waters.
Scuba Diving and Snorkeling
Guam‘s exceptionally warm clear waters, unspoiled coral reefs, extensive variety of marine life and large numbers of WWII ship and airplane wrecks to explore make Guam one of the best diving destinations in the world. Located just off the Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean in the world, Guam offers the dedicated diver numerous reefs and sheer walls, hundreds of varieties of coral and fish and wreck diving on WWII and earlier era ships. Guam waters maintain temperatures between 82-86 degrees year round. A number of marine preserves have been established to protect Guam’s undersea life which are open to, and offer great experiences for, divers and underwater photographers. Dives can be initiated from the shore or boat, depending on the destination. There are a number of commercial dive operators on Guam that offer tours and instruction. Both Andersen AFB and Naval Guam have on-base dive shops with bargain prices for military personnel.
Fish Eye Park is an undersea observatory that descends into a World War II bomb hole a couple of hundred yards off the beach in Piti. During the shelling of Guam during WWII, a number of bombs dropped between the shoreline and coral reef surrounding the village of Piti , the site of a number of Japanese coastal gun emplacements. An abundance of coral and marine life abound in these craters which have become prime dive locations and have been designated marine preserves. The 71 foot Fish Eye Park marine observatory extends 31 feet below the surface into one of the bomb holes. Visitors walk down into the air conditioned observation chamber where they have a 360 degree view of the surrounding coral and marine life. Visitors often find themselves being viewed by the marine life and scuba divers. Cost is $28 for adults and $15 for children under 12 years.
Atlantis Adventures Submarine. Enjoy water sports on Guam in air-conditioned comfort. Explore Guam ‘s tropical reefs and expansive marine life up close without getting wet. Atlantis Adventures offers underwater tours aboard a 65’ submarine. The submarine carries up to 48 passengers in air conditioned comfort. Each tour begins with a 15 minute boat ride from the Atlantis docks at Aqua Marine World in Piti, to the dive site just inside Apra Harbor . The dive lasts approximately 45 minutes after which passengers are shuttled back to the docks on one of Atlantis’s large surface tenders. Atlantis tours are popular with tourists and military personnel stationed on the island. Current prices are $82 for adult and $42 for children under 12 years. Tour guides speak English and Japanese.
Deep Sea Sport Fishing. Located in the Pacific Ocean just to the West of the Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the Ocean in the World, and ringed with coral reefs, Guam offers some of the best open ocean sport-fishing in the world and still holds the world record for Pacific Blue Marlin. Book one of the local fishing charter boats, such as Lucky Strike Guam Sport fishing Charter, and head out for sailfish, marlin, yellow fin, mahi-mahi, skipjack, wahoo and more. Your charter captain will provide the gear and bait and know where to go to bring back the fish. All you need to do is relax and enjoy.>
Water Sports Parks and Beach Clubs
Onward Beach Club. Guam has a number of water parks and beach clubs that offer a wide range of diverse water sports such as swimming pools, water slides, swim through aquariums, kayaking canals, water zoos, scuba and wind surfing lessons, water aerobics and more. Two of the largest and most extensive of the water parks are located at the Onward Beach Resort and Pacific Islands Club. Both offer an extensive variety of watersport activities, restaurants and live Island style entertainment. The Pacific Islands Club has a windsurfing pool sufficiently large to allow would-be wind surfers to learn the basics from trained instructors before hitting the ocean. Somewhat smaller than the Pacific Islands Club or Onward water parks, Tarza is conveniently located in upper Tumon behind the Guam Plaza Hotel overlooking Tumon Bay on the Philippine Sea.
Beach clubs offer various activities on Tumon and Hagatna Bays such as wind surfing, kayaking, paddleboats, jet skiing and parasailing. The Pacific Islands Club and Onward hotels offer beach club services as well as their water parks. The Alupang Beach Club is located next to the Alupang Beach Tower on Hagatna bay with full selection of activities. The Ocean Jet Club is located just south of Alupang Beach Tower on Hagatna Bay. Activities vary among the various parks and clubs. Click on the above links to visit their web sites.
Cocos Island. Cocos Island is a small 100-acre island located approximately 2 miles off the Southern tip of Guam surrounded by a vast barrier reef and blessed with good beaches and turquoise lagoons. Cocos Island has recently gained international notoriety as the site of a major Spanish treasure galleon wreck with billions of dollars worth of treasure that has yet to be recovered.
Cocos Island Resort offers water sports activities such as diving, jet skiing, windsurfing and parasailing. The club house has full facilities including restaurant, bar and swimming pools. Wind surfing is a popular sport on Guam and windsurfers can be seen daily down the coast and in the Cocos Island bay. The Cocos wall is also a popular scuba dive spot. Dives can be arranged through one on Guam ‘s many dive operators. Although Cocos Island is mostly privately owned, Dano Park on the West Side of the island is part of the territorial park system, has picnic and camping facilities and is open to the public. There are no commercial accommodations on Cocos, so plan on staying on the main island of Guam. To get to the park, you must either hike over from the resort dock or arrange for a private boat. While somewhat off the beaten track, Cocos island offers many attractions for those who make the effort to visit.
Boat Charters. Enjoy sport fishing, dolphin watching, snorkeling or scuba diving or just cruising in a chartered boat. Let the boat operator do all the work, rigging and cleaning. Just lay back and enjoy. Guam has a number of boat charter operations providing day charters, sport fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling, dolphin watching and on-board bar-b-q.
Gentle Easterly trade winds average between 3 ½ to 10 knots. The island provides a lee on the Western side keeping the sea relatively calm. A number of moorings are available for snorkeling, diving and fishing. Currently, there are no bare boat or crewed sailing charters operating on Guam.