drive around the island

Monday was George's last day off before heading back to work. We got a late start to the day due to calling our families back home. We decided to drive around the southern tip of the island to get some exploring in. We want to experience as much of Guam as possible while we're here and want to get a good feel for the island. We also wanted to find neat spots to show my parents when they come to visit.

Our first stop was Family Beach. Neither of us had been there yet, but we heard from his coworker that it was a nice hidden beach on the other side of Apra Harbor. The short drive off the main road goes past the main port where all shipments come in and where we picked up my car after it was shipped here. There were some decent waves (by Guam standards) on the side of the road, so of course we had to stop and take a picture!

 

The "huge" waves

 

Further down the road, it turns into a gravel road with tons of potholes (thank goodness I convinced George to take his truck and not my car!). There were a few spots off the side of the road that you could swim but at the end of the road was the actual beach area. The water was really calm and blue. There was only one other group of a few people there. It was practically deserted!
 

 

George checking out Family Beach

 

As we continued our drive, I noticed a vista point that I had stopped at a couple years ago with my friend Sara when we were here TDY. It was early evening so the sun was starting to set and the lighting wasn't that great, but it was still gorgeous.
 

 

 

Looking down into Cetti Bay

 

 

Another view of Cetti Bay

 

Driving through the villages on the southern half of the island really makes you feel as though you're in the tropics. There's a much more old world, untouched feeling. There were actually some areas that reminded us of our trip to Maui and our trip to Panama. The village of Agat reminded us of the town Kihei in Maui and the village of Umatac reminded us of the island Bastimentos in Panama. The next place we stopped was the tide pools in Inarajan. There used to be an old concrete diving board that George and his friend Mike jumped off when we were here this past January, but sadly this time we noticed that it had been taken down. The tide pools are nothing fancy and I'm sure the snorkeling is about the same as anywhere else, but it is a neat place to check out. There are remnants of stone bridges and steps and what's left of a gazebo on top of one of the large rocks. The water is very calm within the pools, but right on the edge the waves crash into the rocks. 

 

 

Inajaran Pools

 

 

 One of my favorite things about the island are the flowers everywhere. The plumeria, hibiscus and bougainvillea are everywhere! My favorite is the plumeria. Around our apartment there are quite a bit of the yellow and white plumeria but on our drive I saw a tree with the pink edged flowers and of course George pulled over to pick me some!

Aren't they beautiful?!

We were about done with our drive right around sunset and were both hungry. What better place to eat dinner at sunset than at Sunset Grill? It's one of our favorite places to eat and is situated right on the water with open air patio seating. They have these super delicious BBQ'd pizzas that we always order. If you're ever in Guam, I recommend eating there. During the day you can watch the kite surfers at Asan Beach, but in the evening, you have front row seats to the beautiful sunset.

 

View from our seat at Sunset Grill

 

So that was our trip yesterday. Definitely not the complete tour around the island, but a good quick trip for a Monday afternoon.