Saipan

Saipan's west coast is one long sheltered lagoon behind a barrier reef, so the water off Garapan, Micro Beach and Susupe is calm, shallow and warm enough to swim every month of the year, at around 27°C to 29°C. The best sand is on Managaha, a small island in the lagoon a short boat ride from Garapan, with powdery white beaches and good snorkelling straight off the shore. Pau Pau Beach in the north is quieter and good for families.

On the east and south sides the coast is wilder. Ladder Beach and Obyan Beach are small coves under limestone cliffs, and Lau Lau Bay is better for snorkelling than lying on sand. Inside the lagoon, parts of the bottom are seagrass and very shallow at low tide, so pick your spot. Beach life is the centre of most stays here, and the drier months from December to June are calmest.

The local cooking is Chamorro and Carolinian: red rice coloured with achiote, kelaguen of chicken or shrimp cured in lemon and coconut, grilled short ribs and chicken from family barbecues, and coconut crab when it is in season. It is best met at the weekly street market in Garapan and at small local places rather than in hotels. Because most visitors come from East Asia, Garapan also has a solid run of Korean barbecue, Japanese and Chinese restaurants. Beyond that the choice is narrow, much of it is resort buffets, and a food-minded visitor will have tried most of what matters within a few days.

Saipan's heritage is above all the Second World War. The battle of 1944 left a landscape of memorials across the north of the island: Banzai Cliff and Suicide Cliff, where civilians and soldiers died rather than surrender, the Last Japanese Command Post set into the rock, tanks rusting on the reef and bunkers in the scrub. American Memorial Park in Garapan tells the story clearly, and the Museum of History and Culture covers the island's Chamorro, Spanish, German and Japanese past. Latte stone sites, a ruined Japanese jail and the old sugar-era remains add to it. It is a sobering, worthwhile day or two, but there is no historic town to wander.

Going out happens almost entirely in Garapan, the tourist district on the west coast, where a few blocks hold beach bars, karaoke rooms, hotel lounges and a small number of late venues. Sunset drinks on the lagoon are the high point of most evenings. The scene is modest and leans towards karaoke and casual drinking, and outside Garapan the island is quiet after dinner.

The best of Saipan's outdoors is underwater. The Grotto, a collapsed limestone cavern on the north-east coast open to the ocean, is one of the best-known dives in the western Pacific, and the reefs and wartime wrecks off the west coast are good for diving and snorkelling. Above water, the east coast is rugged limestone cliff: the steep trail down to Forbidden Island and the lookout over Bird Island are the walks to do. Mount Tapochau, at 474m, gives a view over the whole island and lagoon. Kayaking, paddleboarding and parasailing work well in the sheltered lagoon. It is a pleasant tropical island to be active on, not a place of great wilderness.

The realistic day out is Tinian, a quiet neighbouring island a short hop away by small plane, where the airfields used for the atomic bomb missions, the bomb-loading pits and the giant latte stones of the House of Taga are the draw. Rota, further south, is a slower, greener island with a small village, reached the same way and better for an overnight stay. Beyond these two there is nothing within reach, so most visitors spend their days on Saipan itself.

Saipan works well for a straightforward beach vacation with young children. The west-coast lagoon is calm and shallow, Managaha has easy snorkelling straight from the sand, and several of the large resorts on the Garapan and Susupe shore are built around families, with water slides, pools and kids' clubs. Distances are short and the island is relaxed. What it lacks is anything else made for children: no zoo, aquarium or theme park, and the war sites in the north suit older children more than small ones. Families come for the resort and the sea, and that is what they get.

Saipan is about 20km long, and with a hire car nothing on it is more than half an hour or so away on quiet roads. Garapan is walkable within itself, and hotel shuttles and taxis cover the tourist strip, but there is no public transport worth relying on, so seeing the north cliffs, the Grotto or the east-coast beaches means driving or joining a tour. Boats run out to Managaha, while Tinian and Rota mean a small-plane flight.

Shopping is thin. Garapan has souvenir shops, island convenience stores and a few resort boutiques, and the weekly street market sells some local crafts and snacks alongside food. Woven coconut-leaf items and Chamorro-themed souvenirs are about the extent of local craft. Nobody comes to Saipan to shop.

Saipan sits in the middle for price. Rooms in the beach resorts are often more reasonable than on better-known tropical islands, and package deals from East Asia keep many of them good value. Against that, almost everything is shipped in, so groceries and restaurant meals cost about what they would on the US mainland, and a hire car is close to a necessity. Local barbecue stands and the weekly market are the cheapest ways to eat.

There is very little to attend. Chamorro and Carolinian dance appears mainly in resort dinner shows, and the island's annual arts and crafts festival brings local music and dance to Garapan for a few days in spring. Otherwise there is no theatre, concert hall or regular live-music venue.

Saipan has no bathing tradition of its own, and wellness means the spas in the larger beachfront resorts and the many small massage and foot-reflexology shops in Garapan. What it does offer is a slow pace. Outside Garapan the island is quiet, evenings end early, and long days by a calm lagoon are easy to come by. It suits someone who wants to switch off, not someone looking for spa culture.