Gold Beach Hotel

Currency

by Eurasian68

The U.S. Dollar is the official currency.
All major Credit Cards, Japanese Yen and Korean Won are also accepted in most tourist oriented businesses.
Both American and Asian banks can be found in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Banzai Cliffs

by rhondav_2004

During WWII the island inhabitants, mainly Okinawans, Korean, Phillipine, Chamorro and Carolinians were so frightened of the U.S. Marines coming ashore that they took their families to the north end of the island and leaped from the cliffs rather than be captured. Approximately 10,000 people died.

OffTheWallOfSaipan

by s.miles

"ThisOneGetsUsAfewLaughsFromOurFriends...."

...Mark, 'photoman', is relaxing in his Kings 'easy-chair', while tom 'hams-it-up', dreaming about a Broadway hit 'in-the-making'....
Bev, Marks wife, snaps the photo, while laughing at the production in front of her.
We are always being 'silly' together...
Isn't that great--- to have friends like that??...
[you can "double-click" this photo to get the 'enlarged' version of them----try it; and see them better!:-)]

"A Spotlight of Light Hits Me just Right..."

...I love photos where the eye looks at the big bright area's first and then, as the eye moves around, finds things 'hidden' in the shadows with a little light thrown on them---such as me in the lower-left-hand side of this photo. Sometimes I hear it so 'jumps-out-at-you', that folks are totally surprised by the person in the photo...

"TheOldManGetsHisSmooch...."

...the old man by-the-sea had it comin' to him...finally! Its been years and years since someone, anyone was captured giving the guy his due. His been loyal, watching far out to sea for any invaders, and, well, besides someone hollerin' at him and giving him a pair of glasses, I hadn't seen anyone give him a jolly ole kiss. Well, maybe I'm the firt, hopefully not the last!!....

InAndAroundN.E.Banzai...

by s.miles

"ThisIsNo'Big-Fish-In-The-Park'I'mSittin'OnHere!!!."

...this be a HUGE opening in the coralRock with a 'tube' opening that leads out to the ocean---see it there BEHIND me?!
I understand that during Typhoon season, the water actually surges through there soooo incredibly hard and fast that it makes it a 'blowhole' that 'jets' up into the air J'Dau in Geneva!! (and that shoots skyward some 500 feet!!!!) So, right now, the water has been 'breathed' into its 'mouth', surging to its highest point in this 'bowl', and then, it 'exhales' and the water is sucked back down and out the tube to the ocean. Sort of like the ocean is 'breathing'; to be watching this over and over again...
Also, they scuba dive t-h-r-o-u-g-h this!!! Yeah, I ain't kidding!! You wait for the water to come in, like they do in Alcapuco, and then you jump in!!!
{of course, I also heard about the guy who had 'bad-timing'---jumped in as the water was rushing out, and, well, hit the coralRock and broke his foot, but, still went on to scuba dive anyways!!!}
Me? I'm just intent on sittin', thank-you-very-much!

"TheCompleteHoleTheWholeHole&Nuthin'ButTheHole..."

...see, its totally "enclosed", like one BIG footprint left in that sharp coralRock...
[double-click to see Bev and I in the upper-right. We give this big opening a bit-of-scale'...]

"MakingOurWayOverVerySharpAndSometimesBrittleRock.."

...here is a great view of this sharp CaralRock I have been talking about. DoubleClick the photo to bring it up to a size you can admire and look at the texture of this stuff...
...impressive, hUh?!

"Ok,NowTo'Catch-A-Few-Waves'!...."

...we are down by the ocean now on that coralRock watching as the tide comes in and sends water up and over that smooth rock-shelf you see there to the left. Mark was able to 'catch' a few r.e.a.l.l.y great waves here---check out my "Waves-in-the-Making' page...
[I got 'sprayed a few times here---water came up so fast and thrown so far that the mist was hurled my way!]

"While I'm 'Out-there' Bravin'-the-Elements..."

...Bev is 'save-'n-sound'; doing what she very much likes to do most of all, in her little, as I would call them, "piddle-puddles"!.!..!...!

"...WhileBevIsSittin'I-Am-Runnin'!!!..."

...double-click this one---check out "the-guy" lower-center-right
making a "run-for-it"!...
Yeah, 'the-guy' is me, and I was a little too close to the edge of the coralRock there, and, well,
I saw this BIG monster-of-a-swell building 'right-before-my-eyes' and, so, you-know, being sort-of the intelligent chap that folks have made known to me that I somewhat am,
I saw that T-H-I-S wave would, surely, ah, come over and 'greet-me-one'...
So, like all smart folks do, when given the facts,and they know they are 'whooped', I made a run for it, over brittlecoralRock, and, still got WET!!!

"See,StillStanding,And,Well,Back-To_The_Edge_I_GO!"

...one thing they say about 'smart-people'...
...they never learn because they are 'always-learning'!!!!;-))))

"Ok, One More on THIS page, hMMMMM, let-me-see...."

...did he, or, didn't he?
That be the question alright!
SeeYaLater----where its DRY!
:-)))))))))))) -<~. .~>-