San Isidro

After spending the morning snorkeling the lagoon in search of Humbug Dascyllus populations for Lucy (oh, the rough life of the ecologist), Mina and I found ourselves with down-time to explore the beach. We were working out of San Isidro, a surprisingly beautiful beach well hidden in the more industrial area of Saipan. Take a right on Juan Nong Rd from the main drag, just past the dilapidated building complex, maneuver around the monstrous potholes in the gravel alley, and you’ll find yourself in an unexpected paradise. The beach is uninhabited except for a handful of locals BBQing in the shade of the ironwoods.

At any given day, any given time, you will find (without fail) a handful of locals BBQing and fishing at any given beach. The local Chomorro and Carolinian friendliness is matched by their generosity and surpassed by their size. And they know how to enjoy life.

The white sand and turquoise waters of San Isidro beach stretch seemingly endlessly. Imagine Mina and my surprise when we stumbled (or snorkeled) across this reef 500m from shore, a zoo of colorful corals and fish. It seemed no one else had discovered the amazing snorkeling out here and we were left to explore the reef, uninterrupted, for the remainder of the morning.

Mina investigating the wreck

leopard wrasse
freckled hawkfish