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Some residents new to the islands as well as the tourists find "boonie stomping" in the jungle and exploring for relics of World War II an interesting past-time. While much of the battle-wreckage was removed by scrap dealers after WWII some interesting artifacts and structures remain, now crumbling with age and often hidden by dense jungle vegetation.

There are several interesting caves which were used by the Japanese during the war and an occasional piece of live ordnance can be found which, under no circumstances, should be touched but reported immediately to the police for proper disposal.

Occasionally the skeletal remains of some fallen combatant are unearthed and these should be reported to the Office of Historic Preservation or the police for proper identification and burial. Also, be careful not to enter private property without first obtaining permission from the owner. The Marpi area (northern Saipan) is largely public land and is an interesting area for exploration.
 
The cliff lines are steep with caverns. Upland from shore, dense tropical vegetation flourishes on soil which gently slopes toward the cliffs. At its deepest points the bay is from 2,400 to 3,000 feet. The current within the bay is circular flowing from the southern portion and following the inside contours around the bay and exiting at the northeast.

The Saipan Lagoon still harbors a variety of coral encrusted invasion material, much of it now camouflaged by natural surroundings and somewhat difficult to distinguish in the underwater environment. Take notice of the reef line where the sea foams white as it breaks upon the fringing coral reef and washes over into the warm, jade colored lagoon. Marine biologists have determined that portions of Saipan's reef are dying as a result of pollution contained in run-off from rain and other island sources, sediments from erosion and increased fecal coliform bacteria. The reef protects Saipan’s western shoreline from the destructive force of ocean wave action.

The variety of botanical species is limited and there are no vegetation zones. This results in part because of the islands' isolation and geological formation. The Marianas are not considered to be tropical rain forest. Plants consist of vines, shrubs, ferns, grasses, including Savanna and trees. The more common trees are: coconut, flame tree, Formosan koa, ironwood (Casuarina), Banyan, papaya, tangan-tangan, mangrove and a few other varieties. There are very few citrus trees. There are several nurseries on Saipan and one commercial botanical garden where a wide variety of tropical flowers may be enjoyed such as Bougainvillea, Plumeria, etc. The islands are a photographer's delight when the flame trees bloom, (June and July). The official flower of the Commonwealth is the Plumeria, (Flores Mayo), Plumeria acuminate.