Guam is a tropical paradise located roughly where the Philippine Sea meets the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. There’s plenty to do while visiting Guam, whether you like to walk the beach, shop at the mall or relax at one of the many luxurious resorts on Tumon Bay.

Guam's real treasure, though, lies beneath the ocean's surface. There are a variety of dive sites scattered all over the western side of the island that include wrecks, reefs, wrecks, walls, and did I mention wrecks? Guam was inadvertently involved in both World Wars, and there are many shipwrecks that were left behind as a result.

One of the most significant dive sites in all of Micronesia is named after two wrecks that are virtually lying side by side: the German SMS Cormoran and the Japanese Tokai Maru. These wrecks make for a very unique dive because the Cormoran was sunk during WWI, and the Tokai during WWII. An advanced diver can descend to approximately 90 feet and actually touch the hulls of both wrecks at the same time!

The SMS Cormoran sits on its starboard side and, as a result, is a deeper dive than its counterpart. You can swim nearly the entire length of the ship inside hallways that are pocketed with light from circular portholes that face the sun—which makes for a stunning lighting effect. Divers can also visit the intact engine room, and can even see several porcelain claw-foot bathtubs that are still as white as the day they were made.

The Tokai Maru sits in the sand with a list to port and is hands-down the best wreck dive off Guam. Its intact engine room includes catwalks, cargo holds with depth charges, truck frames and various scrap metals. The wheelhouse starts at 40 feet, so it is accessible to newer divers, but the bulk of the wreck’s excitement lies deeper, between 90 and 110 feet. To really get the most out of these wrecks, divers will want to be nitrox and deep certified.

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The Kizugawa Maru is a WWII-era sunken cargo ship that sits in 130 feet of water in Apra Harbor. The wreck sits upright in the sand and boasts an intact 3 cm anti-aircraft deck gun on its bow, which is where you’ll want to take your photos. The wreck has several cargo holds you can swim through as well as a number of other swim-through spaces. It was damaged quite heavily during the war, and the decomposition is starting to wear it thin, so caution should be observed near the midship area. This dive is enjoyed at an average depth of 110 feet and should be reserved for advanced divers who are nitrox certified.

Blue and White is a fantastic reef drift dive on the western side of the island that takes you along the glass breakwater of Apra Harbor. This dive is suitable for divers of all skill levels. The bottom of the breakwater is about 20 feet and slopes gradually to 70 feet, then drops sharply to several hundred feet. If you decide to cruise the breakwater, you will be drifting along a mile-long artificial reef full of marine life that uses boulders for safe places to sleep at night and good places to hunt for food during the day. Divers who would rather look for larger pelagic fish, eagle rays, sea turtles and the occasional manta rays, would want to drift along the edge of the sharp slope. This area is pocketed with beautiful white-sand channels, which is a stark contrast from the deep blue water of this site.

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Guam is home to another very special dive site located on the south side of Orote Point, appropriately named the Blue Hole. After stepping off the dive boat, you will see the bottom at 60 feet, and you cannot help but notice the ominous dark hole in the ocean's floor. If a diver is brave enough to plunge in, he or she will descend through 60 feet of darkness before being met with the beautiful blue of the open ocean. Exiting the blue hole at 120 feet is just the beginning of an amazing wall drift dive. While diving the blue hole, divers will be accompanied by colorful triggerfish, sharks, large pelagics and many colorful sea fans along the wall. On occasion, whale sharks and hammerheads have been spotted along this area of the wall, which is a wonder in itself.

Guam’s most prominent shore dive is located in the Fish Eye Marine Park, across the street from the island’s largest dive operation. The Marine Park is unique and has a 1,000-foot walkway extending into the preserve and an observatory at the end of the pier that descends to the ocean floor 40 feet below. As a diver, you can walk the length of the pier and descend on the outside of the observatory. Here you will find a significant abundance of reef fish, spadefish, sea turtles, sharks, eagle rays and occasionally a manta or marble ray. As a bonus, you can swim up to the portholes of the observatory and greet the tourists inside.

Gab Gab Beach is on the Navy base and is the training dive of choice for those with military base access. This area is in the protected harbor, so it is always calm, and the reef is a gentle slope from 15 feet down to 75 feet. This is a protected area, so there is a very high turtle density, as well as two large resident anemones home to many clownfish and colonies of cleaner shrimp. There is an abundance of beautiful parrotfish that are scarcely found on other parts of the island as well as trumpetfish. Gab Gab is known as the unofficial “home reef” on the island of Guam, and is one of the most relaxing shore dives you may ever experience.

Important note: Gab Gab access is at the discretion of the current base commander and the current status is you must possess a valid military ID, or acquire a visitor's pass and have a sponsor to bring you onto the base.

If going deep or extending your bottom time is a thrill you seek, there is a solid tec diving community that calls Guam home. Many of the recreational sites double as tec sites by way of extended bottom times on wrecks, or greater depths on our walls. There are many sites that are not accessible to recreational divers and are exclusive to the tec diving community. Black Coral Kingdom and the depths of Sharks Pit are two absolutely breathtaking options. Oxygen and trimix are readily available, as are technical scuba diving instructors and guides.

For those who are not yet certified scuba divers, there are several shops on Guam that have excellent instructors available for dive training all year round! Check out Micronesian Divers Association, Axe Murderer Tours or one of the many other dive shops on the island. Dive shops carry all major brands of scuba gear and service the major brands such as Aqua Lung, Scubapro, Mares and Dive Rite.