Guam Part 1: Cetti Falls & Sella Bay
There is so much to talk about when it comes to the island of Guam. I was lucky enough to live on the island for half a year due to work, and even though I was busy, I kept the mind set of making the most of my time there. Being away from home for long periods is not fun, but like the old saying goes… there is no use crying over spilled milk.
My hard drives are full of content from my time in Guam, so I have decided to break up the posts in multiple parts. I did not get to see all of the sights the island has to offer, but I sure tried! Lets begin…
Guam is an island in the South Pacific halfway in-between the Philippines and Hawaii. It is a part of what is known as Micronesia, an island chain that is literally in the middle of nowhere. This place is extremely isolated, with Guam being the largest island. Like Puerto Rico, Guam is a U.S. territory.
The island sits right beside the Marianas trench, the deepest part of the ocean. Due to the location, the waters around Guam are treacherous! Roughly two people a month die from water activities, and many of the beaches are “no swim” due to strong currents that can slam you into reefs or drag you out to sea.
This place is full of rich history, and you can read all about it by clicking here, but my posts will not focus on history. Instead, we will be going towards the adventure route. For those that don’t know me, I am a very intense person. I am full speed ahead, or not moving at all. It is no surprise I would make my first hike on the island one of the hardest… and, oh yeah, by the way… I planned an alternate route to include a 2nd trail (also rated as difficult) just in-case the first trail wasn’t enough.
You’d have to be insane to hike two of the hardest hikes on the island concurrently… and I might be.
Cetti Falls is a multi-tiered waterfall on the southwestern side of the island in, you guessed it, Cetti Bay. Looking at the landscape from above, it is a little cove tucked away from the coastline. Directly around the point is another Bay called Sella Bay. This stretch of coastline was used as a trading highway by early Spanish settlers to get from the Southern side of the island to the capitol city of Guam called Hagåtña for trading goods.
Hiking down to the waterfall was pretty tough. I was not physically prepared for the hike, but I took it as an opportunity to shred some calories and get in shape. Thankfully, even though I was not physically prepared for the hike, I did have all of the appropriate clothing. This became apparaent when descending the mountain with some friends.
Travel Tip: Check the weather before you go out on a hike. You never know when a storm could ruin your day. Also, dress appropriate for the conditions you are hiking through.
For this particular hike, it was highly recommended to bring gloves. Why you ask? There are actual spots on the trail where you need to do some repelling. Ropes are in place, but make sure they are not rotted or in poor condition before you go putting all of your weight onto them. I know this sounds really sketchy, and it is, but once you start going down, you will find a groove, and get a feel for where to step and which trees/ropes to use.
Another piece of clothing that is highly reccommended are long pants and long sleeves. The reason for this is the native grass that grows on the mountain side can cut you similarly to a paper cut. It’s not a bad idea to protect yourself from all of the weeds too.
My personal favorite for these types of situations are the Columbia PFG hiking pants. They are breathable, lightweight, and dry quickly when wet. Plus you get Dad points for unzipping the legs and turning them into shorts if you so choose. Click Here to check them out on amazon.
For shoes, I highly recommend a good pair of hiking sneakers. During our time in Costa Rica, I wore my Adidas hiking hi-top sneakers and they did great. They proved invaluable on this hike. While everyone else in my group were slipping and sliding down the mountain, I was casually hopping from ridge to ridge without worry of my shoes slipping out from under me. These shoes are tanks, and I greatly appreciated the climaproofed shoes and the traxxion cleats on the soles. Click here to check out these invaluable hiking shoes.
A view of the many different waterfalls that make up Cetti Falls.
The trail was marked with flagging tape. Once we got to the stream, it was a straight shot back uphill to the main section of the falls. Surrounding the stream was dense jungle, and the mosquitoes came out of nowhere. Make sure you bring bug spray if you are trekking through the jungle!
Once we got down to the mouth of the bay, it was an amazing site to see the Cetti River spill into the Philippine Sea. Just down from the mouth of the river, we could see a structure from afar. We decided to go explore, and glad we did. This place was the perfect to rest and get a bite to eat!
After filling our bellies and letting our aching joints rest for a while, we headed around the point into the next bay over, Sella Bay. Coming around the point, there were beautiful blue waves were crashing into the bay. It was very violent, but peaceful at the same time.
As we started up the bay, there was the strangest rock formation. It was a towering mass of land that jutted up unrivaled with some small growth on the top. It was pretty amazing.
At the mouth of Sella Bay, we came across the remnants of an old Spanish Bridge. This was part of the trade route to Hagåtña.
There were times during this hike when I questioned my life choices. I’m sure I even used a few four letter words. By the last quarter mile, I was best friends with every tree I could find that would let me lean on it, but it was one of the most thrilling hikes I have ever done. If you are looking for a difficult hike, this one is highly recommended! Also, If you do decide to go, make sure you bring plenty of water and have the right gear. Thanks for making it to the end. See you next time! – Roving Dad
