Marianas Trekking in Saipan is a fantastic service that has tons of adventure options for checking out what Saipan has to offer! You can chose what will best fit your family and your time in Saipan. Hiking, snorkeling, ATV’s, go-karts, spa entrance, lunch, & more are all things you can choose from! We had a fantastic time during our day with Mariana’s Trekking. They promote spending ‘the best day on the island’ and it was our favorite day for sure!
Saipan is only a short 45 minute flight from Guam, around $200 per person round trip. You can find our Saipan 3 Day Itinerary HERE
The staff was amazing! Chris, the owner was fantastic and is very knowledgable about the area. His staff was also super friendly and the guides were fantastic! The facilities were great as well. It’s really a great company that has so much to offer. There are so many packages and adventures to choose from and the price varies by adventure.
I really wanted to do a few of the ‘must do’ items while in Saipan and both require guides so using Marianas Trekking was the perfect solution as they had these items combined in one of their adventure packages, and really even more than I even expected.
We decided to do the Forbidden Island, Grotto, & Spa package. One of the other reasons I chose this package is because I really wanted this to be an all day adventure and lunch was included with it. While it includes transfer to/from your hotel we didn’t need to use this service as we had a rental car during our stay. Their location was easy to find and it was only a 15 minute drive from our hotel. That package fee is $130 per person, but when you consider what all you get for that price and that it’s a full day experience (10.5 hours for us with the spa) it’s really a great deal.
While we brought some of our hiking stuff with us (small backpack, gloves, hats) I was blown away by all that Marianas Trekking had to offer! You really can show up here without anything and they have you covered! They had backpacks, hats, water shoes, snorkel gear, & water for the Forbidden Island hike. The only thing I’d recommend bringing is gloves if you like to have those for hiking. We used them during the cave part of the hike but we could’ve managed without if we had to.
Forbidden Island hike was amazing! I do need to say that you really need a guide for this hike! Please be safe and let those who are experienced get you safely there and back. Our group was small with 8 of us and 2 guides, which I thought was great.
Our guides were fantastic! For the hike we had Kuma and Fred, Kuma was also our driver. He has such an amazing personality and shared so much knowledge about the island on the drive to the hike. Its was good 25-30 minute drive from Marianas Trekking but the ride was so enjoyable! It was on the ride over that our 14 year old daughter started to get a migraine. Thankfully I had meds with us but it took awhile for them to kick in. She was a trooper and still rocked the hike. Kuma seen she was looking a bit off and got her set up in the shade on ‘Kuma’s Island’ while the rest of us snorkeled near her. Thankfully after her rest her migraine went away and she was able to have a much easier hike up. She’s not a super fan of hiking so this could’ve left her with not so great memories but thankfully we had some amazing guides who helped her have a great experience despite the migraine.
The hike itself is not for those who are limited with mobility or don’t like to get your heart rate pumping 😉 It was .52 miles both up and down. I’d say it’s rated a Medium, if going by Guam standards. Chris told me that it’s rated at 3 out of 5. It took 30 minutes to get back up and that included a few much needed breather and photo op stops. Thankfully there were plenty of stops to catch our breath and take some pics. We did not feel rushed at all either going down or returning up.
Going down provided some gorgeous views!
Once at the bottom they took us over to a cave, this did require hiking through some rocks and a bit of climbing.
At the water we were all ready to cool down and do some snorkeling and drink some water. The snorkeling was fun but the water was a bit cloudy, kinda like Guam where the clarity depends on the day/tides. There was a small beach/island area with much needed shade to relax and enjoy our surroundings. After we were all rested up it was time for the hike back up.
Going up is a bit harder as it’s quite the the incline but the guides are great at making it manageable and stopping for breaks often.
This was a great hike and I’m glad that we got to check it off the bucket list! After the hike it was time to drive back to the office/base camp. Again a 25-30 minute drive the conversation made it feel much shorter.
After you get back they show a slideshow (with popcorn!) of pics the guides took on the hike. See you can even forget your camera and still get some great photos! You have the option of purchasing the photo CD. I thought the guides for both the hiking tour and the snorkeling tour took some great photos.
Then it was time to head to our lunch buffet located at the hotel that is just next to Marianas Trekking. We were drove over to the hotel and dropped off with lunch vouchers, informations, and a meeting time for pick up. I wasn’t sure what to expect for the lunch but it turned out that the food was delicious! There was a huge spread as well and we were thrilled by the choices. We were the only ones from the hiking group that went on to the lunch experience, the rest don’t know what they missed out on. It was Japans style but with lots of options for the American palette as well. The potato soup was delicious and Mr. B enjoyed the curry. The seating was plentiful and they seat you when you enter so you don’t have to worry about finding a seat. We had a great view of the pool area while we dined. We had plenty of time to eat and relax before meeting up for our golf cart drive back to the office/base camp.
Back at the Marians Trekking location we headed out to ride the Go-Karts. It was a 10 minute ride/4 large laps. Despite it being hot out the go-karting was nice and cool with the speed. Bea even got to drive her own go-kart. I laughed hysterically watching her and Mr. B race for first place as I followed behind them.
Next up was snorkeling at the Grotto. This was my first MUST do for Saipan, and you need to have a guide to snorkel here due to it being dangerous if you don’t know what your doing. You can walk down to it and see it without a guide but I did see the guard turn some people way without a guide at the bottom. As with hiking they provided everything we needed. Crocs, life vests, and snorkel gear. I do hope to go back and dive the Grotto as well.
It was about a 10 minute drive to The Grotto from the office/base camp. This group was a bit larger probably 15 people or so but we still ended up riding with Kuma and just the 3 of us so it was nice.
The walk down into the Grotto is a lot of stairs, feels like a lot more coming back up, LOL! Once you get to the bottom the guides help you safely cross to the large rock area where you leave your crocs. You do have to jump into the water to enter the grotto. It’s probably a 6-8 ft jump, it was fun watching those who were scared trying to jump into the water. Thankfully Bea is adventurous and has jumped at waterfalls with us in Guam so she had no problems jumping in.
Once in the water you can snorkel around the area and go into the cave area. The water is a brilliant color of blue! It’s fun to watch the divers below you and some of them were even blowing bubble rings up our way. Bea does not like snorkeling so I just had her put her mask up on her head and swim around with the life vest. That way she was still able to enjoy the experience. The guides took some fun photos of each couple/family which was great as well. We spent about 45 mins down in the Grotto.
After snorkeling the guides helped us to get out quickly and and easily and we trekked back up the many steps to the top. On the way back to the office/base camp they did make a few stops which was a bonus. While we had a rental car and had visited the sites the day before ts great for those who may not have had rental cars.
The first stop was at Bird Island which is always a great view and a nice spot for photo ops. The second stop was at Banzi Lookout which also has picturesque views and it a historical location.
Back at the office/base camp it was again time to watch the photo show (with popcorn again) and see the pictures from the Grotto. Again I was impressed with their photography.
Then it was time to head over to the Mandi Asian Spa and unwinded from our day of adventures. I really wasn’t sure what to expect with the spa and it was our 14 year old’s first visit to a spa. I was super impressed with the experience! At check in we were given slippers & towels, and lockers were available as well. We went and changed and stored our stuff in lockers.
There were a variety of pools to choose from, as well as steam room, etc. We loved the hot flower pool that had flowers floating in it and smelled amazing. We headed down to the bottom pool, which was warm, to settle in for the sunset. Chris had told us that the lower pool had a great sunset view and he was spot on!
We grabbed some drinks from the bar ($7 Moscow mules, $8 Pina coladas) and watched the evening sky put on a light show as the sun lowered in the sky.
Overall we had an incredible experience and I can highly recommend Marianas Trekking! It was way beyond my expectations for the experiences and day and it was really the highlight of our trip.
We are going for Spring Break!
Super excited, thank you for posting.
So excited your going for Spring Break! Let me know if you need more info 🙂