Saipan’s west side is one continuous lagoon. A barrier reef breaks the Philippine Sea well offshore, leaving calm, pale-blue water that runs from Garapan south past Susupe and Chalan Kanoa to San Antonio. Beach Road follows it for roughly 15 kilometres, with a paved coastal pathway beside the sand for much of the way — the island’s favourite place to walk, jog and watch the sun go down.
Garapan is the main town for visitors. Under Japanese rule it was the administrative capital of the Marianas, a town of around 15,000 people in the 1930s; it was destroyed in the fighting of 1944 and what you see today is a compact, rather functional grid of hotels, duty-free shops and restaurants around the pedestrian Paseo de Marianas. Its great asset is at the northern edge: Micro Beach and the green lawns of American Memorial Park, with the marina where boats leave for Managaha Island. Further south the mood is more local, and the beaches where US Marines came ashore on 15 June 1944 are now village beach parks with two or three Sherman tanks still sitting in the shallows.
Highlights
- Sunset from Micro Beach with Managaha Island on the horizon
- The Court of Honor and wartime exhibits at American Memorial Park
- Walking or cycling the coastal pathway along Beach Road
- Seeing the Sherman tanks stranded in the lagoon off Susupe
- Barbecue and island snacks at the Garapan Street Market
- Using Garapan as a base for Managaha, the northern cliffs and Tinian
Garapan & West Saipan in pictures
How long to stay and where to base yourself
How long: three nights covers a beach day, a boat trip to Managaha and a half-day round the memorials of northern Saipan. Five nights lets you add a day trip to Tinian, a dive or snorkel at the Grotto and an unhurried day on the wilder east coast.
Where to base yourself: Garapan is the most convenient — you can walk to Micro Beach, the park, the marina and dozens of restaurants, and every tour van collects here. Susupe and Chalan Kanoa, 10 to 15 minutes south, are quieter and more residential, with resort hotels directly on the lagoon and the landing beaches on the doorstep; you will want a hire car or taxis in the evening. Compare the island’s areas on the where to stay page.
