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Hafa
adai,
Today I’m introducing Emerald Valley, a spot that’s become popular with visitors in recent years. It’s about a 30-minute drive from Tumon. It’s a bit of a trip, but getting there is easy — just head south on Route 1. Highly recommended.
After
passing through Tumon, Tamuning, Hagåtña, and Asan, you’ll arrive at a village
called Piti. Once you enter Piti and drive along the coastline for a while,
you’ll see the smokestack of a power plant on the right. From there, if you
take the road extending west, you will reach the commercial port of Apra
Harbor. That’s why container trucks run through the area all day long.
Emerald Valley sits just off the road to Apra Harbor. By the way, the scenery from Route 1 to Emerald Valley is also
exceptional! While the sea in Tumon is beautiful, this place offers a different
kind of beauty. It’s so picturesque that you’ll want to stop the car and snap a
photo.
Just beyond this view is Emerald Valley. Here it is!
The water is crystal clear and shines with an emerald green hue.
The weather was decent that day, but it was cloudy with passing light showers. When I took these photos, a big cloud was covering the sun and it was drizzling. If the sun had been shining, the water’s surface would have
sparkled even more, and the colors would have been even more beautiful.
The name comes from this beautiful color, but despite the word ‘Valley,’ it isn’t actually a valley or a canyon. The long, protruding land leading to
Apra Harbor was once an island separate from Guam before the war. After the
war, it was connected to Guam Island by a road, and the section resembling a
waterway where the two meet is what we now call Emerald Valley. Walking a few
dozen meters along this beautiful waterway, you’ll find that it leads to the
sea.
Since it’s seawater, you’ll see small tropical fish swimming in the shallows. The water is so clear you might be tempted to jump in, but it’s deeper than it looks — even for adults — and there may be sea snakes or sea urchins, so it’s not a place for swimming.
Looking
at it like this, you might wonder why only this place has such a beautiful
emerald green color. The color seems to be created by a combination of various factors,
including water transparency, depth, the color of the seabed, and the
refraction and reflection of sunlight. So the color changes with the season, the weather, and the time of day — one of nature’s little mysteries. If you’re driving this way, stop by on the way back, too. You may see a completely different side of it.
There’s an open lot right next to Emerald Valley where you can park.
