Saipan & Tinian · Northern Mariana Islands · Wall
Naftan Rock
Coral rim at 14 m, then a wall past 40 m
Area photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 4.0
A boat dive on the wall off the southern end of Saipan, described as one of the best wall dives in the CNMI. The top of the wall is at about 14 m, with coral formations and huge clams along the rim, and the face drops away past 40 m. Because this is the edge of the abyss, the encounters here are the large-fish kind.
Also known as Naftan.
Where it is and how deep
15.1078° N, 145.7481° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The boat drops you on the rim. The top of the wall starts at about 14 m, shallow enough that the first stretch of the dive runs over coral formations along the edge, where huge clams sit among the heads. Visibility along this section is usually good, which is part of the problem: with clear water and no bottom in sight, depth is easy to lose track of once you go over the lip.
Below the rim the wall drops past 40 m and the dive becomes a matter of picking a depth and running the face. This is the edge of the abyss, so the large fish are the point — Napoleon wrasse along the wall, and the possibility of sharks out in the blue. Come back up over the rim and finish the dive in the shallow coral rather than hanging in open water.
Marine life and season
- Napoleon wrasse
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows Saipan & Tinian: Dec–Jun is calmest and clearest; Jul–Nov is typhoon season, when swell regularly closes the Grotto entirely.
Know before you go
- The wall runs past 40 m with nothing underneath to stop a descent; agree a hard depth limit before going over the rim and watch the gauge while running the face.
Dive videos
Naftan Point Dive, Saipan 나바탄 포인트 스쿠버 다이빙,사이판 #gopro #scubadiving #사이판 #스쿠버다이빙 · Richard Morgan on YouTube
SHARKS @ Naftan! · lunatikasaipan on YouTube
Sources
- Diving in Saipan — Wikivoyage
- Naftan, Saipan — OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap
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