The sights
Cetti Bay Overlook
A flight of steps from the roadside leads to a platform high above a roadless bay, with jungle running down to the water and a line of bare volcanic hills behind. It is the best single view of the south’s landscape and shows at a glance how different this half of Guam is from the limestone north. Sella Bay Overlook, a few minutes earlier on Route 2, is a second stop of the same kind.
ℹ️ Free, open at all times. Small roadside car park — lock the car and leave nothing on show. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough. Best light in the morning.
Umatac Bay
A small, steep-sided bay with a village strung along the shore, traditionally identified as the place where Magellan’s ships anchored in March 1521 — the first contact between Europeans and Pacific islanders. A monument marks the event, the ruins of San Dionisio church stand near the road, and you enter and leave over a whimsical bridge with towers at each end. For two centuries this was the watering stop for the Spanish galleons sailing between Acapulco and Manila.
ℹ️ Free. Park near the monument or the bridge. Allow 20–30 minutes. Guam History and Chamorro Heritage Day in early March is marked here, usually with a re-enactment — check dates.
Fort Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
On the bluff at the southern end of Umatac Bay, the Spanish built this small fort in the early nineteenth century to guard the galleon anchorage. A few cannons, low walls and a much-photographed stone sentry box remain. The view takes in the whole bay, the village and the coast running north.
ℹ️ Free, open site with a car park at the top of a short access road. Allow 20 minutes. Little shade; there are often stalls selling cold coconuts, but do not count on it.
Merizo & Cocos Island
Guam’s southernmost village, Malesso’ in Chamorro, faces a wide turquoise lagoon with low, wooded Cocos Island about 1.6 kilometres offshore. By the road are the Kampanayun Malesso’ bell tower of 1910 and the Merizo Conbento, a priest’s house dating from 1856. Memorials in the village remember the people killed in the Tinta and Faha massacres of July 1944. Cocos Island is also known as a refuge where the ko’ko’, the flightless Guam rail, has been reintroduced.
ℹ️ Village sights are free and open. Boats to Cocos Island have traditionally left from Merizo pier, but the island resort has had long closures — check whether it is operating. Please be quiet and respectful at the memorials.
Inarajan Pools & Gef Pa’go
Inarajan (Inalåhan) has the best-preserved Spanish-era village architecture on Guam, gathered around St Joseph’s church. Just north of the village, lava rock encloses the Salaglula pools — clear natural saltwater pools, refreshed by the sea, with a diving platform and picnic shelters. Gef Pa’go, the cultural village on the bay, has demonstrations of rope-making, salt-making and weaving. Bear Rock, a sea stack shaped like its name, is on the coast road before you arrive.
ℹ️ The pools are free and open daily; busiest at weekends when local families picnic. Stay out when surf is breaking over the outer rocks. Gef Pa’go often opens only on limited days — check before you go.
Talofofo Falls
A privately run park in the hills inland from Talofofo Bay, where a cable car crosses a pair of waterfalls. The park also holds a small museum and a replica of “Yokoi’s Cave”, the underground hide-out of Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese soldier who stayed hidden in the jungle here until January 1972, unaware for years that the war had ended.
ℹ️ Entry fee of around US$12–20 — check the current price and opening hours. Facilities are dated, so go for the falls and the Yokoi story rather than polish. Allow one to one and a half hours.
Mount Lamlam
At 406 metres this is the highest point on Guam, and — measured from the floor of the nearby Mariana Trench — it is often claimed as the tallest mountain on Earth. The trail starts opposite the Cetti Bay overlook and climbs through sword grass and patches of forest past a line of wooden crosses, carried up each Good Friday by pilgrims. From the top you can see both coasts.
ℹ️ Free. About 1–1.5 hours up; start early, as there is almost no shade. Wear proper shoes and long trousers, carry plenty of water, and avoid the trail after heavy rain, when the red clay is very slippery.
