asancut

This is a well-known local shore dive next to the Asan Beach invasion site park (where the Americans landed to take back Guam from the Japanese in WW2). The "Cut" refers to a gap in the shallow reef that surrounds most of the coastline. This allows you to swim out past the shallows into deeper water. Normally the breakers created by even a small swell would prevent you from swimming over the shallow reef. The cut provides a corridor for a diver to swim through, but it also acts as a pass for the current to flow outward when the tide is falling. For this reason, this spot is considered to be a potentially dangerous dive. Divers have been unable to return to shore against this current and have had to be rescued. There have also been diver deaths here. The trick supposedly is to only dive here when there is minimal swell and during the slack period between tides.

I dove here on March 1, 2019. It was a calm day and I was diving on slack. I parked at a small park right next to the water and waded/snorkeled across the knee-deep water towards the cut. This long, shallow stretch is common to most shore dives on Guam.

I reached the cut and descended to the bottom 15-20' deep. I turned right (when looking out from shore) and followed a maze of sandy channels, small walls and pinnacles. My maximum depth was about 60'. I was almost shocked by the lack of coral. The rocks were mostly bare compared to most sites on Guam and there weren't many fish.

There is supposed to be a wrecked amtrack (around 20' deep) from the WW2 amphibious landing, but I didn't see it. I turned around and swam out to the left of my entry-point. There was more coral in this direction. I also saw an anemone with clownfish.

This ended up being my least-favorite dive on Guam. The lack of coral and fish was very different from the other dives I did on the island. I don't think the potential risk of diving here is worth it.