Managaha — properly Mañagaha — sits about two and a half kilometres off Garapan, inside Saipan’s barrier reef. It is very small: around ten hectares, and you can walk right round it on the sand in 15 to 20 minutes. There are no residents and nowhere to sleep. What it has is the best easily reached beach and snorkelling in the Northern Marianas, which is why a boat trip here is the one outing almost every visitor to Saipan makes.
The island and the water around it are protected as the Managaha Marine Conservation Area: no fishing, no feeding the fish and no taking shells or coral. It is also a place of real meaning for Saipan’s Carolinian community, because Chief Aghurubw, the navigator who led his people here from Satawal in about 1815, is buried on the island. And among the trees are Japanese gun emplacements from the Second World War. Expect a managed day-trip island, not a deserted one — there are lifeguards, sun loungers and a snack bar, and at midday it is busy — but go on the first boat and you will see why people love it. Boats leave from the marina beside American Memorial Park in Garapan.
Highlights
- Stepping off the boat onto white sand and clear, shallow water
- Snorkelling over the reef on the north and east sides
- Walking the whole shoreline in a quarter of an hour
- Paying respects at the memorial to Chief Aghurubw
- Finding the Japanese coastal guns among the trees
- Parasailing over the lagoon on the way out or back
Managaha Island in pictures
How long to stay and where to base yourself
How long: Managaha is a day-use island. Half a day is enough for most people: an hour or two of snorkelling, a walk round the shore and time on the sand. Boats usually run from the morning until mid-afternoon, with the last return at about 16:00 — confirm the time when you buy your ticket, because nobody stays overnight.
Where to base yourself: there is no accommodation on the island and camping is not an option for visitors. Stay on Saipan’s west coast instead — the hotels of Garapan & west Saipan are closest, and those in Garapan itself are within walking distance or a few minutes’ drive of the marina. See where to stay for the wider choice.
