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Lau Lau Beach
on Saipan Island, C.N.M.I.
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Recommendation: Lau Lau Beach on other websites: photo gallery at Saipandiver.smugmug.com Shorediving.com saipanscuba.blogspot.com Notes:Depths bottom out at 95'/31m. Best diving is at 15 to 60 feet in the sand-filled coral canyons in front of the "sports entrance". No bathrooms, no phone, no manmade facilities of any kind. The only manmade improvements here are the posted security guard, the dirt road, the trodden-grass parking lot, and a handful of large concrete blocks meant to inhibit vehicular traffic at the left side of the beach. A smart diver will therefore bring water, first aid kit, and cell-phone. Your vehicle should be the 4WD all-terrain type or a rugged van, with a good spare tire, power to spare, and lots of gas. A typical rent-a-car is not capable nor insured for dirt roads like this. If you have a typical rent-a-car, then go to Obyan Beach or the Grotto instead.If you have trouble walking in surf or on unstable terrain, this is an ideal divesite since both the water and the bottom in the shallow portions near the beach are flatter than dinner plates. Fun bits: This area is home to a dozen clownfish anenomes and a large "basket"-type anenome along the pipe. The canyons in front of the "sports entrance" have a sandy bottom, good viz, overly friendly sargent-major fish, and frequent seaturtles. Dangerous bit: The few permanent inhabitants of the left side of Laulau Bay put up the large concrete blocks along the beach, and illegally assume that the beach area beyond is theirs. Rumor has it that the locals will enforce their opinions with bad language and lead hollow-point punctuation. On the other hand, they *do* have a point, that sea turtles lay eggs on this beach and therefore driving on it will kill these increasingly rare animals...so don't drive on the beach. |
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| 1) | How
to dive it: Getting down there is rough...or was, back when I dove there in the
mid- to late-90s. The dirt road The remoteness and lack of facilities will cause a good diver to take precautions. Let someone know you'll be there, and roughly when you'll be back. Bring drinking water, a cellphone, a save-a-dive repair kit, and a first aid kit. Check your gas, engine strength, and tires.
Once you get down to the divesite, placed dead-center in the Bay, park in the grassy field
Try to park on the concrete pad under the red van pictured in the map, or at least near
the security guard The guard's mostly there to protect cars and the property within, while you're diving. He's not, as far as I know, lifeguard-trained.) Absolutely do not park on the beach, nor walk along the beach to the left past the concrete blocks. |
| 2) | Do your dive briefing on the beach before putting on hot, heavy scuba gear. Be sure the car's locked as long as it's out of your line-of-sight. The water's not usually clear enough to see the bottom terrain, but you can at least see the two most popular entry points. These are in shallow ankle-high water 10 meters from shore. With luck, you'll see others making their entries and exits, easing the burden of explaining how it's done. Note that you have the option of doing walk-in, back-roll, or giant-stride entries here, and that the walk out to the entry points is across flat water and a flat, hard, featureless bottom. It's a VERY forgiving, inviting site, except for its extreme lack of manmade conveniences !
Now's a good time to choose your entry point, |
| 3) | Gear up almost fully at the car. Leave your mask in your fin's footpocket (unless it's a prescription lens that you need to see above water), and let the chest-strap on your vest hold the fins (pass the strap through the fins' heelstrap), leaving your hands free. Turn your air on fully, and mostly-inflate your BCD so if you fall, you're cushioned and will float. Be sure your fins are not the barefoot full-foot kind because if you're walking barefoot or fin-footed out to the entry point, it's rough going. Felt-sole "tabi" reef-walker boots are best for most beach diving. Put your weight belt on now, too, and do your buddy-gear-check now before you lock up the car. Start walking in hot, heavy gear down to the beach. |
| 4) |
Show the exit chain Entering a t the Sports Entrance, either do a giant-stride entry along the sides, or a walk-in entry at the nearest part. There's a small overhead portion as you twist and turn through the narrow canyons out to the wide room-like sandy-bottomed area Entering a t the normal entry/exit point, you'll probably want to have your divers sit down, hold the rope, and slide out and down into the 5m/15-foot-deep murky valley. Warn your group to stay together and stay on that rope-- it's too easy to get lost and disoriented in that area. If the rope is missing, please notify the local pro diveshop association. |
| 5) |
If you're in a small, high-quality open water dive lesson, your instructor will probably bring you to Fun divers, night divers, and photographers should play in the valley at |
| 6) |
Any dive should probably end with a trip beachward along the pipe |
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Back to ShoreDiving.com All dive maps, art, and text in this website are copyright 2004/2005 by Seth A. Bareiss. Reproduction, in part or in full, is by in-advance written permission from the author/artist only. ![]() These divesite descriptions are not intended to be a complete substitute for local diveguides, local orientation by experienced professionals, or your own good sense & caution. Please remember that dive sites do change over time, & daily variations in weather can cause extreme changes in currents, waves, and surf. Whenever possible, consult with divers who are exiting a site as you enter, and seriously consider the value of consulting with local professionals whenever using a divesite for the first time. Please use these divesite descriptions to help plan your dive trips, help decide which sites would be the most suitable for you, and to enhance your enjoyment of the dives. full disclaimer This page last updated 2009.12.30 |
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