Hikes on Guam: The Sella Bay to Cetti Bay Trail

Basic Information

• Name: Sella Bay to Cetti Bay Trail
• Where: Umatac, Guam
• Distance: 5 miles
• Elevation Gain: 423 feet
• Difficulty: Medium
• Time: 3-4 hours
• More Information: The Best Tracks on Guam

Topographic Map of the Hike

Narrative

One of the things I like doing on Guam is exploring its various historical sites. With its rich Chamorro, Spanish, and World War II history there is plenty to see on Guam.  Once I heard that the Sella Bay hike had some interesting historical sites that could be seen, I knew I needed to check it out.  The hike to Sella Bay is well known for leading to an old Spanish Bridge, but there is also an old Spanish oven and latte stones from a Chamorro village nearby to see as well.  Additionally if I was feeling up to it I was going to extend my hike by following the coastline over to the nearby Cetti Bay.  Getting to the Sella Bay trailhead is very easy since it is located right off of Route 2 in southern Guam:

When driving on Route 2 look for the Sella Bay Overlook just south of the village of Agat:

At the overlook there is parking for about ten vehicles and when I pulled in at 8:00 AM I was the only vehicle in the lot:

Once in the parking lot I just followed the sign to the Sella Bay Trailhead:

Before heading off on my hike I decided to first walk up the stairs to the overlook and take in the views of what I was about to hike:

From the overlook I could see Sella Bay down below:

Here is a closer look at Sella Bay:

Looking towards the south I could not see Cetti Bay, but I still had a beautiful view of the rugged coastline of southern Guam:

Out in the distance I could also see the very scenic Mt. Schroeder:

To the east rising above the overlook is the highest point on Guam, the 1,332 foot Mt. Lamlam:

The below link has a trip report from my prior hike up Mt. Lamlam:

• Hikes on Guam: The Mt. Lamlam Trail

After taking in the views I walked back down the stairs to the start of the hike to Sella Bay.  The trail is pretty overgrown at its start point:

However, after a short distance the vegetation lightened up and the trail was very easy to follow:

For most of the hike the trail was pretty open of vegetation which meant plenty of great views looking down towards Sella Bay:

Along the route down to the bay there are two stream crossings.  The first one was pretty easy since the water was low enough to where I just walked right through it with my waterproof boots:

After the stream crossing I then found myself surrounded by a lot of the beautiful orchids that can be seen growing all over Guam:

I really like these flowers and here is a closer look at them:

At this point on the trail there were multiple social trails going off in various directions.  There was the occasional tape I would spot that was telling me that I was on the correct path:

I found myself now crossing a large open area which meant I had great views looking back at the impressive Mt. Lamlam:

Here is a closer look at the summit block of Mt. Lamlam that I had previously had some difficulty climbing:

After crossing the open area I next came to the second stream crossing.  This one was too deep just to simply walk through:

Using a few submerged rocks I was able to make my way across the stream with no issues.  After the stream crossing the trail continued to descend with a few occasional trees that could be seen:

The trail was also very easy to follow as I neared Sella Bay:

I knew I was near the bay when I entered into the thick jungle:

It was also very muddy within the jungle which I had no problems with since I had my boots on:

After crossing the mud hole I next came to the Sella River and when I looked downstream I saw the Spanish Bridge:

As I neared the bridge I was surprised to find it in as good of shape that it was in:

In fact it was so sturdy that I was able to walk right across it with no issues:

This old bridge was part of the unfinished El Camino Real road that the Spanish tried to build in the late 1600’s to link the capital city Hagatna with the important port city of Umatac.  I have to credit the Spanish engineers for making quite a sturdy bridge considering it is still standing over 300 years later:

Considering the environment on Guam which includes frequent storms and typhoons the fact this bridge is still standing is quite impressive:

After checking out the bridge I walked over to see where the Sella River empties into the ocean:

Here is a panorama picture I took of Sella Bay:

The snorkeling in Sella Bay is supposed to be quite good, but there was no way I was getting into the water when hiking by myself, plus the water was a little rough for snorkeling anyway.

I next decided to go look for the old Spanish oven that my guidebook said was located just a short distance to the south of the Spanish bridge in the jungle.  After about five minutes of searching I stumbled upon this rock pile:

After closer inspection I was able to determine that this was in fact the Spanish oven:

There was at one time a Spanish settlement here next to the bridge where today the only thing left from it is this oven.  All the buildings had to have been made from wood which would not be able to survive the elements very long compared to the stone oven.  Besides there being a Spanish settlement here there was also the old Chamorro village of Sidya.  To reach the village I had to hike a short distance to the north:

This meant I had to recross the Spanish Bridge and then hike over to the Asmafines River:

I found a place to cross over this river and then descend into the jungle.  Finding the Chamorro village was a little challenging because of how thick the jungle was.  I methodically walked around the jungle trying to find the village with no success.  Just when I was about to turn around due to all the vegetation and the amount of mosquitos that were swarming around me, I wandered right into the village:

I found the latte stones at this village to be larger than the ones I had previously saw over at Haputo:

This Chamorro village of Sidya was supposedly abandoned about 200 years ago, but much like the Spanish Bridge the stoneworks of the Chamorro people that lived here still remains to this day:

So far on this hike I was able to experience both Spanish and Chamorro cultural sites.  Little did I realize that I would also have the opportunity to experience American culture and what is more American than a porcelain toilet!:

Yes, on my way back to the beach from the Chamorro village I ran into a toilet in the middle of the jungle.  It appears that many years ago there was a wooden building here that the toilet was inside of that was destroyed probably by a typhoon at some point.  Some of the wooden beams from the building could still be seen standing:

Unfortunately I did not feel the urge to go to the bathroom, but if I did there was a toilet available.  From the toilet I then walked back over to the beach:

Once back on the beach I walked back over to the Spanish Bridge:

From the bridge I made an assessment of the weather and how I was feeling and decided to go ahead and hike south over to Cetti Bay.  Cetti Bay is considered one of the most remote and beautiful bays on Guam.  I began hiking south towards Cetti Bay which brought this large impressive rock into view:

This rock was pretty cool to check out once I got up close to it:

As I continued to hike to the south I next came across this nice sandy beach:

At the beach I noticed a boat and a jet ski come towards me:

They stopped and looked towards me and I waved at them.  They waved back and left.  Maybe they thought I was lost or something, but they ended up being the first people I saw all day.  The only other living things I saw during my hike along the beach was a bunch of shellfish:

I knew I was nearing Cetti Bay when this high hill that formed the northern approach to the bay came into view:

This hill is actually where another hike that starts at the Cetti Bay Overlook ends at.  I could kind of see a trail through the swordgrass on the side of the hill:

After looking at all the swordgrass on the side of the hill, I was glad I walked in from the Sella Bay Trail.  I hate the swordgrass on Guam which can be very difficult to walkthrough and leaves cuts on exposed skin.  As I walked around the hill I spotted this little island with two lone trees growing on it:

I then spotted an even bigger island, Cocos Island out in the distance:

As I walked along Cetti Bay it did not take me long to see this sign from Cetti Bay Tours:

The next thing I saw as I walked along the beach was the Cetti River:

The Cetti River was easy to cross since a large sand berm had made a natural bridge that dammed the river from flowing into the ocean.  After crossing over the river I walked over to the middle section of Cetti Bay where a large campsite is located:

It appeared one of the tour operators had set up this campsite.  If so is this legal?  Cetti Bay is part of the Guam’s Territorial Seashore Park and a private tour operator setting up shop and leaving garbage on the beach seems to go against the definition of a park.  Maybe they pay a usage fee to the government, but whatever the agreement is the campsite is in my opinion an eyesore.  Anyway here is a panorama picture I took of Cetti Bay from the campsite:

From Sella Bay I had hiked 1.2 miles to reach Cetti Bay.  Considering how close the two bays are I highly recommend doing the walk over to Cetti Bay.  After spending sometime hanging out at Cetti Bay I turned around and headed back up the beach to Sella Bay:

It took me just over a half hour to walk to Sella Bay and begin the hike back to the trailhead.  The weather was still beautiful out which once again provided some nice views of southern Guam:

On the way back I actually passed by the first people I saw the whole day on the trail which was a couple hiking down to Sella Bay with their dog.  Here is one final picture of Mt. Lamlam I took before reaching the trailhead:

Conclusion

From the trailhead I measured this hike roundtrip to be 5-miles long, with 423 feet of elevation, and took me 3 hours and 17 minutes to complete.  For those interested in just going down to Sella Bay the hike is just over 2-miles roundtrip.  Overall this was one of the best hikes I have done on Guam which made the fact that I  saw a total of two people on the trail the whole day surprising.  The trail is in good shape, the views were great, and there was plenty of historic sites to see as well.  Plus who doesn’t get a kick out of seeing a porcelain toilet in the middle of the jungle?  My definition of a good hike is one that I would not mind repeating and this hike is definitely one I would gladly do all over again.

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