Tinian is flat, green and very quiet. The island covers roughly 100 square kilometres, yet only two or three thousand people live here, almost all of them in the village of San Jose on the south-west coast. Beyond the village the roads run dead straight through scrub and cattle pasture, and you can drive for half an hour without meeting another car.
Those straight roads are the island’s history. After US forces took Tinian in late July 1944, naval construction battalions built what was then the largest airbase in the world, and because the island’s outline reminded them of Manhattan they named its roads Broadway, 8th Avenue and 42nd Street. At North Field you can still stand on the runway from which the Enola Gay and Bockscar took off, and look into the two concrete pits where the bombs were loaded. Far older is the House of Taga, with the tallest latte stone ever raised in the Marianas. Add two fine small beaches and you have a full day out from Saipan — or a restful night or two for travellers who like islands with very little going on. Much of the northern two-thirds is leased to the US military, so access can change; ask locally before you set out.
Highlights
- Standing on Runway Able at North Field, where the 1945 atomic missions began
- The two glass-roofed atomic bomb loading pits
- The House of Taga and its five-metre latte stone
- A swim from the steps at Taga Beach in vivid turquoise water
- Watching the Blow Hole spout on the north-east coast
- Driving Broadway and 8th Avenue with the road to yourself
Tinian in pictures
How long to stay and where to base yourself
How long: one well-planned day is enough to see North Field, the House of Taga, the Blow Hole, Suicide Cliff and a beach, as long as you have a car waiting and book a morning flight out and a late-afternoon flight back. Staying a night takes the pressure off the flight times and lets you have Taga Beach to yourself at sunset.
Where to base yourself: the only real choice is San Jose, where the island’s few hotels, shops and places to eat are within a short walk or drive of each other. Accommodation has been very limited since the island’s one large casino resort, the Tinian Dynasty, closed in 2015–16, so reserve a room before you buy a flight. If you would rather keep a wider choice of hotels and restaurants, sleep on Saipan and visit for the day — see where to stay.
