Dean originally posted this report as a comment on the Guam pages. As it is a very detailed and long report, Noonsite contacted him for permission to post as a cruisers report.

All comments on Noonsite regarding Guam still apply, except the one about there being too much bureaucracy. There is not. This is the USA, but the most laid back USA you can imagine.

Apart from a big increase in military presence, currently, time has forgotten Guam. Love it! A great stop over for passages anywhere in the NW Pacific and a nice change of pace from the developing world of the SW Pacific. Eating out is easy – if not a “tad” expensive. Local fresh produce is hard to come by.

Clearance Procedures

Marianas Yacht Club (MYC) by email is the best initial point of contact. They will provide links and forms for the Port Authority.

Port Authority require an electronic advance notice of arrival 96 hours before arrival or before leaving your last port. Both the commercial port and MYC are entry points. Port Authority use VHF Channel 13.

Do do do call before entering the breakwater leads as this is a busy 24-hr commercial and military port and everything painted grey has right of way!

Apra Harbour Special Anchorage at the seaplane ramp:

On arrival we were not staying at MYC, so were directed to the “special anchorage”, adjacent to the seaplane ramp and tank farm in the NE corner of Apra Harbour.  We anchored in 12m sand with good holding. Don’t take the giant steel mooring buoy they may offer.

Customs met us ashore at the ramp, then Immigration. Both charged no fee. Nice friendly officers and surrogate tour guides. Port Authority also met us there. My advance notice had gone astray and they weren’t expecting us.

Port Fee:

There is a Port Authority arrival and anchor fee based on LOA or tonnage. Ours was US$48 and included a free drink of Coca Cola.

Yachts that moored at the MYC directly on arrival, didn’t have to pay a Port Fee, but one other yacht had a big port fee last year when they arrived broken and unexpected. They negotiated something reasonable.

Apra Harbour has a new harbour master and things might change again. I suggest co-ordinating your visit through MYC. I didn’t, but don’t begrudge the harbour fees at all, it’s a friendly, professional, well-maintained and administered place. And the lead lights work!

Standard formalities are cheaper than most places we’ve been to in the South West Pacific.

Other Fees:

The Authorities do expect clearance immediately on arrival. So, not the next day if arriving at night and not on Monday if you arrive at the weekend.

Overtime is charged out of hours, but isn’t unreasonable. There is a flat hourly rate with no double time etc. There may be two officers or possibly four. They tend to travel in pairs. Your total fee for customs/immigration should thus be about US$80 to US$160 if arriving after-hours. We have paid that in other places for in-hours arrival.

Given the Apra Harbour Special anchorage at the seaplane ramp is an easy night entry, with 24h port control on duty, if your choice is another night at sea or $150 then I would suggest you choose wisely, not miserly. We arrived 12 hours early and chose the night at sea because of supposedly “hefty” overtime fees. Wrong choice. That night another inbound yacht lost his steering in squalls necessitating a tow in and the Coastguard completed a 2 out of 3 rescue in the Rota channel after 26 hours of searching. Sad.

Marianas Yacht Club

MYC is a friendly place with nice grounds. They had three visitor moorings, all full, when we arrived. Apparently they have more blocks than balls. Cost is US$7 a day, which even on anchor is worth it for its more scenic location – navy ship watching, nice grounds, nice people, rubbish disposal and secure car park.

The NE trades do howl through here making for some crazy swinging on anchor and for a wet dinghy trip ashore. Most of the anchorage is 15 to 20m deep, necessitating lots of scope. We had good holding in soft mud over sand and coral rubble.

No place in a gale

However, the MYC anchorage or mooring is no place to be in gale.  The Harbour of Refuge is the place to be in a storm. It’s not a scenic place and is down wind of the power station. It is administered by the Commercial Division which is downstairs at the Port Authority. Costs are based on LOA and should be about US$10 per day for a 40ft yacht. It was closed while we were there as the Authority serviced the mooring blocks and removed some derelict boats that sunk there. They said they would be open again in April.

The usual procedure is to book in early if heavy weather or a typhoon is threatening (Agat Marina boats move up here). Move into the basin and temporarily secure fore and aft on the block marker buoys. These are NOT mooring balls. Secure your own lines or chains to the blocks by diving down. Port Authority will confirm that procedure on booking. I’d suggest book here before you arrive if traveling in typhoon high season and staying any length of time.

Agat Marina

Book at the Commercial office at Port Authority. This is a standard marina but there is no on-site manager. There is power and water, but the public ablutions (toilets) are a bit dodgy. Nice enough overall with new docks in good repair after a 2018 typhoon destroyed the place. A very busy place for commercial tour boats so don’t arrive at 9am, midday or 1430. More sheltered than MYC.

It’s the best spot for easy provisioning and you can get tanker fuel delivered to A dock. The entry is well marked, but not lit. Transient slips are sometimes available, but its not really designed for yachts over 42 ft or catamarans. The monthly fee is US$240 for a 40ft slip. They will pro-rata – so about US$10 a day. Cheap. Plus a key deposit. The likely location will be D dock.

If over 40ft, the reef north of D dock will restrict manoeuvarability on that side and it’s shallower. We draw 1.5m and just snuck in with a bow thruster. If I had a spade rudder I wouldn’t risk it. Similarly the space between D and C dock is tight but deeper. I suggest book in, then drive down to check your slip. Go down early AM or late PM, becuase if your slip buddy is a beamy commercial boat he might not be in and you might not fit when he comes back. Sensible deck security mandatory as gates don’t get locked, but everyone is friendly and there’s a really good bar ‘n grill.

Car rental

A car rental is a must and book it in advance if you can. When we arrived most companies had advance bookings two weeks out.

Other anchorages

Anchorages at Cetti Bay and Merrizo Channel in SW Guam are scenic, with easy entry and good snorkelling.

Marine services

There are next to no marine services on Guam and everyone resident here we spoke to does everything themselves.  Order from West Marine and have major repairs done in the Phillipines. In theory you can use a crane for haul out at Hagatna.  Talk to the Port Authority if you need to, but locals say getting the crane is almost impossible and always expensive.

No marine diesel fitter, although the truck and bulldozer guys will give it a go. No rigger, no sailmaker, no marine electronics, limited metal fabrication. For provisioning and other supplies there are the normal big continental US home depot and grocery stores.

Unfortunately, Guam is full of sad yacht wrecks, some still floating as squats in Agat Marina – yachts that got here in a broken state and never moved on.

However, overall, we thoroughly enjoyed Guam as a stop over en-route north whilst waiting for northern winter gales to abate.

Dean Isherwood

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.

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