Let BLOUIN ARTINFO be your guide to the small island of Guam, the USA’s most far-flung territory.
Situated in the far west Pacific, south of Japan and east of the Philippines, the small island of Guam is the USA’s most far-flung territory. Part of Micronesia, a group of islands that includes the diving paradise of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, it is often overlooked as a destination compared to the more well-known tropical paradise islands of the region. But the fact it is less frequented by independent travels is part of the appeal. Escape the resorts booked full by Japanese and Korean tourists, and Guam has plenty to offer.
Home to the indigenous Chamorro people, who have exhibited Hispanic customs in their language, music and cuisine since Spanish colonial rule from 1668 until 1898, Guam is Hawaii-lite. Though lacking Hawaii’s rampant commercialization, Guam nevertheless combines modern American conveniences of megamalls, fast-food restaurants and a strong military presence, with a surprising amount of untouched greenery, hiking trails, white sand beaches, and small local towns around its coastline.
Visitors will need their own four wheels to explore, but once out on the road, visitors can find plenty of essential places to stop; from lively night markets and the romantic “Two Lover’s Point” to one of the most extraordinary remnants of World War II – The Yokoi Hideout. Let BLOUIN ARTINFO be your guide.
Guam is sprinkled with its fair share of resorts rammed with package tourists, mostly from Japan and Korea, but it does have one gem of an independent boutique hotel in a prime location in Hagatna Bay, where jetskiers skim across turquoise waters in front of the picturesque tree-lined Alupang Island.
With its own line of beach and “infinity” swimming pool, the privately run Hotel Santa Fehas a local island atmosphere to it, with an Oceanside Cocktail Bar and terrace in the shade of palm trees.
Despite its seemingly small size, it contains 105 guest rooms with ample room, some of which include large Jacuzzis in their centers. Live music is performed nightly at The Grille, which specialities in Spanish heritage food including paella and empanadas.
Hotel Santa Fe also perfectly located and will offer guests all the help they need to get around, including to the nearby Chamarro Village and night market.
Hotel Santa Fe: 132 Lagoon Drive Tamuning, Guam 96913, tel. +1 671 647 8855
Most of Guam’s restaurants cater to a distinctly American taste, but it's in the markets where the locally grown food can be food, from fresh coconut to star fruit, tuba to papaya. To taste these and more cooked the Guamanian way, the best place to stop is Lemai Café & Restaurant, where the menu features exotic names like kadu, fritada, beef tinaktak, and chicken chalakilis, was named after a grove of breadfruit trees that lay right beside the open-terrace eatery, and where you can see the fruits growing before they are picked when ripe to eat. The breadfruit are used in Chamorro-style doughnuts called buñelos lemmai, baked with seasonal yam, banana or mango.
For those unlucky to find themselves in bad weather, Lemai is prepared for that too, offering its homemade dishes in a Quonset hut, a corrugated metal structure that originated in Rhode Island and spread during to Guam during World War II.
Lemai Café & Restaurant: 673 Purple Heart Highway, Route 8 Maite, Guam 96910, tel. +1 671-475-6262
Just outside of picturesque Talafofo, Jeff’s Pirates Cove is quite the trek, but a stop well worth it for those circling the south of the island. Established in 1952, it’s much more than just a bar, offering a Sea Museum and some of Guam’s most famous seafood – but the bar itself, shaped like a ship and named the S.S Genereux, plays center stage.
The Cove comes with quite a story too. It was acquired as a quiet beach bar by Jeff Pleadwell in 1979, who was named one of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 10 environmental heroes for his work improving ocean safety, and preserving coral reefs. The former Las Vegas chauffeur then set about developing the property, opening a 5,000 square foot A-frame Seaside Museum in 2000.
Still a local spot for islanders in the south, those who stop by can expect to occasionally wander in on local community events, as well as share a tipple on the port or starboard of the S.S Genereux.
Designated a National Natural Landmark, Two Lovers Point (“Puntan Dos Amantes”) is not just a place for romantics – it also offers one of the best views of Guam’s coastline. Perched high above the sea, the lookout is the site of a legend that dates back to Spain’s rule of Guam.
According to the story, a wealthy aristocratic father and his Chamorro wife arranged for their daughter, known for her beauty and charm, to marry a Spanish captain. Upon discovering this, the young girl fled, and hid on shores in the north of Guam, where she met and fell in love with young warrior from a local Chamorro village. Her father heard of the news, and along with the captain chased the two lovers to the cliffs over Tumon Bay, where the couple tied their hair together and jumped in to the sea.
The area is ablaze with messages tied along the railings on pink heart-shaped tablets, written in languages of visitors from around the world.
Little remains of Guam’s old culture, but fortunately there are efforts to preserve it, and a drive to southern town of Inarajan can give a little insight into past times. The Gef Pa’go Cultural Village has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1977, and though a small area, gives a sense of traditional culture, with eight thatch-roof huts and a small store selling crafts.
The highlight though is the living museum, in which some of the elder Chamorro people show how they used their rudimentary tools for making rope, and cutting and craving coconuts into sweets.
Just opposite the village, and well worth a wander, are streets the represent another step in Guam’s history. Houses occupied by early Spanish settlers, with colorful painted murals still visible on the walls, are largely being returned to nature. But ask at the village and they will take you inside one locked house that is being kept for posterity.
One of Guam’s most famous ever resident’s is one of the least likely. There are many tales of Japanese soldiers who were left stranded across Pacific islands at the end of World War II, but perhaps the most famous of these is Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, whose story led to him meeting Emperor Akihito in 1991.
Yokoi hid in the jungles of Guam in July 1944, when U.S. forces stormed the island. With contact to command lost, he dug a hideout below the ground, covering it in bamboo, where he committed to waiting until his fellow soldiers came to recover him. It wasn’t until 28 years later, in 1972, that farmers from Talofofo found him, and though he begged to be killed, he returned to Japan to a heros welcome.
His cave was eventually destroyed in a typhoon, but a recreation of it can be found at Talofofo Falls Resort Park, while his tools are preserved at the Guam Museum in Hagåtña.
Observing is as much fun as purchasing crafts and gifts at Chamarro Village, a bustling night market that takes places every Wednesday night from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Traditional villages dances entertain hundreds of visitors, mostly from Japan and Korea, on the outdoor stage, while in the market’s center, live bands perform Latin music and the elder locals persuade their guests to dance tango and salsa with them.
The best purchases are the local food, including BBQ meats, banana lumpia (banana eggrolls in honey), and all manner of fresh juices. But with tiny independent stores tucked away in the old-Spanish style buildings, there are also plenty of unique artworks and crafts to be had.
Guam has failed to gain the reputation of other Pacific islands when it comes to idyllic beaches, but anyone claiming that the resorts have claimed them all is probably just trying to steer you away from the quietest white beach that can still be found deserted – Ritidian.
Visitors will need their own four wheels to reach the island’s most northern tip, Ritidian Point, reached via access road 3A, a bumpy gravel track that might seem like heading to nowhere. But at its end can be found the Guam National Wildlife Refuge Ritidian Unit, and pristine white sands which are weekdays especially, you can have all to yourself.
