just info

Saipan/Tinian/Rota plus about 10 others make up the Northen Mariana Islands. Although a sort of US colony, it's a little different in some respects.The islands maintain their own customs and immigration formalities. However, on 28/11/09, that is due to change (subject to a possibe extension) and from that date, the US itself is due to take over customs and immigration formalities. That won't affect the vast majority of you reading this, it's the Chinese, Russians and the overseas workers who will be affected mostly. There are inter-island flights plus flights to Guam and Korea plus China I think. Apparently, those are for the myriad of Koreans and Chinese who like to gamble and go to the casino on Tinian. No public transport at all. There are car/scooter rentals on Saipan and I did see scooter rentals on Tinian. That one location is located about 100 yards from the Tinian Dynasty (turn left when exiting that hotel). Apparently, there is basic accommodation available from about $45.00 upwards on Saipan. It's about the same in Tinian and it's all available in San Jose village. If you're into hotels like the Marriott, the only place to stay on Tinian is the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Resort. There's a better choice on Saipan. There is a ferry that runs between Tinian and Saipan. The schedule seems to change every now and then. When I was there, there was at least one sailing daily in either direction (except Tuesday). The cost is either $20.00 or $25.00, depending on what deck/level you're on. Also, there's a $2.25 passenger tax collected at the terminal. Cost wise, there's no advantage to buying a return ticket. The ferry is operated by the above mentioned Hotel and Casino. Apparently, if you're staying there, you don't pay for the ferry ticket, only the passenger tax. On Tinian, the ferry port is in the village of San Jose, about 1 km from the hotel and casino. On Sapian, the ferry terminal is about 2 miles north of the city centre. For whatever reason, the windows of the ferry are that frosted opaque sort, which means you can't see anything when looking out of the windows. A great shame. There are no ferries to any of the other islands. There is air transport to Rota. I figure that it wouldn't be that difficult to hitch on either island. Although if you're up for it, the distances aren't that great if you decide to walk. A bicycle would be great too. Either island has an abundance on military related historical sites. Plus, Tinian is the place from where the Enola Gay took off from and into history as it dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Most folks seem to dive on Saipan. Maybe because a lot of the dives can be done from the shore, which cuts down on the expense a bit. I did my open water certificate with Harry Blalock. He's got thousands of dives under his belt and is excellent. He'll even put you up at his home for free. Find him at: http://saipandiver.smugmug.com/ Let me know if you want his g-mail address. He's also on www.couchsurfing.org if any of you are into that. Couchsurfing is a bit limited on any island, but I guess there's no harm in checking it out. Continental, Freedom Air and Taga Air appear to be the local airlines around that part of the world.