Guam Become a Disney Travel Agent Near Me

Guam's slogan, "Where America's Day Begins," has been a big draw for Japanese tourists (1 million annually), who get a chance to experience a little bit of Americana in the sun. As a result, Guam is considerably more developed and faster paced than its Micronesian counterparts. It has upscale shopping centers, golf courses and chain restaurants.

Guam is the largest landmass in Micronesia and is the southernmost island in the Mariana chain. It has its share of natural wonders, with a limestone forest and high cliffs in the north and rolling hills and low mountains in the south. The island's center, especially on the west coast, is the most developed. There, you'll find six-lane highways and a mini-Waikiki with major hotel chains lining scenic Tumon Bay.

Guam is a major melting pot, and you'll have to go a bit out of your way to experience its cultural traditions, which have survived primarily in the villages on the island's south. There, residents continue to fish, farm and live at a decidedly slower pace, although a good many commute into the "city" to work.

Guam's residents are a mix of native Chamorros (45% of the population), Micronesians, Filipinos, Japanese, Southeast Asians and immigrants from mainland U.S. Although Guam's culture was almost completely erased by 400 years of Spanish colonial rule and the diseases it brought, many Chamorros are now trying to re-establish an identity by reviving their native tongue and customs. Military land used since World War II is slowly being returned to original land owners. Also, the economy is seeing a resurgence since a major typhoon hit in 2003 and SARS put a scare into Asian tourism.

In all, Guam is a progressive island with a well-educated population that is the central hub of life in the northwestern Pacific.

Geography

Guam is just north of the equator and is not the South Pacific, but the southernmost island in the large Mariana Island chain that stretches northward halfway to Japan. Shaped something like a shoe, Guam is not all that big—it's 31 mi/52 km long and about 8 mi/13 km wide.

The island has sheer cliffs along the northern coast, jungle-covered mountains, flowing rivers and waterfalls in the center of the country, and rolling hills and sandy beaches in the south and along most of the western coast.

History

No one knows exactly who first settled the island, but it's thought that Southeast Asians, possibly from Malaysia, arrived in 1500 BC. Archaeological work in northern Guam shows that a major storm or disturbance may have been enough to cause these people to die out or move on. A second wave of people skilled in farming, fishing and sailing inhabited the island when Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed on Guam's shores in 1521.

The Chamorros had a peaceful matriarchal society. The explorer uncharitably named the island chain the Ladrones (which means "thieves" in Spanish), and he left Guam after burning a village and killing locals. Spanish missionaries had a better idea: They renamed the islands the Marianas (after Spain's Queen Maria Anna) and then claimed them for Spain.

Guam remained under Spanish rule until the Spanish-American War, when the U.S. took over the island. Japanese forces invaded and occupied it for three years during World War II. Guam is the only American soil to be occupied by an enemy power. Soon after Guam's liberation in 1944, it became a self-governing area of the U.S., under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Interior. Politics is a major pastime on Guam, and Guam currently is kicking around a number of status options. It has considered statehood, commonwealth and even independence. The debate goes on. Currently, Guam is a U.S. territory similar in status to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Snapshot

The main attractions of Guam are snorkeling, Jet-Skiing, parasailing, scuba diving, duty-free shopping, golf, deep-sea fishing, dolphin-watching, beaches and World War II battle sites.

Guam will appeal to those who enjoy watersports and ocean activities. It has a special western Pacific flare but provides the major creature comforts found in developed countries.

Potpourri

About 80% of visitors to Guam are from Japan. One attraction for the Japanese is indoor shooting ranges, a type of recreation forbidden in Japan. Fees for golf courses are also much more reasonable than they are in Japan.

Guam is where Shoichi Yokoi, a World War II Japanese sergeant, refused to surrender and remained hidden until discovered by local farmers in 1972. His handcrafted survival tools and threadbare uniform are on display in the Guam Museum.

The best diving is on the leeward (western) side of the island. In addition to 700 fish species, more than 350 species of coral can be seen.

Guam's Apra Harbor has five World War II-era shipwrecks and numerous other war remnants such as fighter airplanes sunk beneath the waters.

Guamanians claim ownership of the world's tallest mountain (measurement begins under water). Mount Lamlam, which rises 36,198 ft/11,033 m from the ocean floor, offers a spectacular view (it rises 1,332 ft/413 m above sea level).

Guam is rightly called the place "where America's day begins"—the sun rises in Guam 15 hours before it reaches Maine.

Ask about the legends of the taotaomona—ancestral spirits—that are said to haunt the island. According to one legend, if you look into the steam of cooking rice, you can see a taotaomona. Another legend tells of how the spirits live in banyan trees.

Guam also is said to have mythical mischievous creatures called duendes that are similar to a leprechaun and the cause of much havoc around the island.

Guam is located at the far end of what has been dubbed "Typhoon Alley." A typhoon that struck Guam in 1997 had winds clocked at 230 mph/370 kph. But Guamanians and the flora and fauna are a resilient bunch. The jungle, which was almost completely defoliated, began to return to its customary lush green within a month after the storm passed through.

When Spain conquered Guam in the 16th century, more than 150,000 of the island's indigenous people, the Chamorros, were killed. Many of them were warriors. However, the Chamorro matriarchs, known as I Maga Hagas, kept the traditional culture intact in the face of overwhelming odds. At the heart of that culture is the principle of Inafa'maolek, or interdependence: The Chamorros believe strongly in the spirit of cooperation, over and above private property rights and individualism.