Are we ready? Part II

The Deepstar Submarine tour ran by Pacific Subsea Saipan remains suspended until further notice because there just isn’t a large demand for it. (KIMBERLY B. ESMORES)

The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly stopped the world in its tracks over three years ago, with hundreds of businesses forced to close as the public went into isolation. The detrimental effects were particularly felt on the islands because, as visitors stopped coming, virtually everyone who depended on the tourism industry stopped operating. Now, with tourists returning in flocks, are our tour operators ready to meet the growing demand?

Our pristine beaches can only keep our tourists entertained for so long. If you’re visiting the islands for over a week, you won’t be spending every day on the beach or in your hotel room.

Enter optional tours.

The CNMI used to offer a wide range of group-friendly optional tours, from submarine tours, to skydiving, parasailing, and all manners of marine sports, and the list goes on.

However, due to the pandemic, a lot of these tours ceased to exist or were suspended because equipment were either left idle too long, improvements and repairs are costly and there isn’t much of a demand for such tours, or these operator just no longer have the manpower to operate at full capacity.

Saipan Tribune learned that in its prime, the CNMI had over 40 optional tours and operators. However, during the pandemic, the numbers dwindled and to date, only a handful of tours remain.

For example, the once beloved Deepstar Submarine tour ran by Pacific Subsea Saipan remains suspended until further notice because there just isn’t a large demand for it.

According to Scott Eck, Pacific Subsea Saipan operations manager, if the company sees a prospective demand for the submarine tour in the near future, they could consider making the necessary improvements to bring the vessel back up to par with the U.S. Coast Guard requirements.

However, at this point, Eck explained that bringing back the submarine tour is just not sustainable and investing the money needed to bring it back into operation would do more harm than good for the company.

Fortunately, Eck said, Pacific Subsea has been back in operation seven days a week by providing charter boat rides for tourists from Saipan to Managaha.

Although they aren’t making as much as they used to do before the COVID-19 pandemic, Eck said that being able to get three of their vessels back into operation is a small victory that should be celebrated.

In addition, Eck added that Pacific Subsea’s boats—the Yuri, Serenita, and Sta. Rosa—have been improved and are back in tiptop shape.

As for marine sports, Saipan Tribune learned from Sakura Marine sports that they too have been celebrating their small victories.

With the number of tourists slowly increasing, Sakura has been gaining momentum.

“It’s not like before, but at least we have business,” said one of the business’ representatives.

Sakura is currently providing marine sports such as jet skis, banana boat rides, and private charters from Saipan to Managaha.

In addition to these tours, the CNMI still offers ATV tours, diving tours, skydiving, and more.

Still, many of the CNMI’s beach concessionaires—almost all of them small mom-and-pop operation with a tiny complement of employees—were forced to close down during the pandemic and have failed to make a comeback. This has prompted the Department of Public Lands to lift the moratorium on the issuance of temporary beach concession permits on Saipan, which has been in place for many years.

According to a news release from the Office of the Governor, DPL will be accepting applications for beach concession businesses effective immediately. These are the businesses that offer jet skis, banana boat rides, and tents for rent along public beaches.

The lifting of this moratorium will allow DPL to authorize interested individuals to use areas adjacent to boundary corners of hotels or within the vicinity, for commercial activities involving motorized and non-motorized water crafts.

Up to 20 permits will be issued per year due to limited space and safety reasons.