Village to Village: Piti

This is #4 in my V2V project where I post a picture of a village sign and some info about the village.

Hafa Adai, Piti!

Piti comes from the Chamorro word puti. Puti means hurt, pain, ache, discomfort (physical or emotional). Piti is approximately two miles long and wide and, as of the 2010 US Census, has a population of 1,454. The mayor of Piti is Vicente “Ben” D. Gumataotao.

Piti started out as a small pre-Spanish settlement, with plentiful fishing for the ancient Chamorros and remained a small village until the Port of San Luis of Apra (Apra Harbor) became the chief harbor of the Spanish government.

Ships anchored in Apra Harbor and transferred cargo to a nearby pier. From Piti, goods were transported by two-wheeled carts pulled by steer or oxen to the government store in Hagåtña. For many years, the road connecting the pier in Piti to Hagåtña, made of crushed limestone, was the only real road on Guam.

On April 7, 1917, at the start of WWI, Piti and Apra Harbor were the site of a confrontation between U.S. naval officers and the German ship SMS Cormoran II. After agreeing to surrender his men, the Cormoran captain scuttled his ship and it sank to the bottom of the harbor. Zee Germans were taken as prisoners of war.

Underwater, the Cormoran rests beside the WWII Japanese cargo ship Tokai Maru, (sunk by the USS Snapper). It is one of the few places in the world where divers can explore a World War I shipwreck next to a ship from World War II. You can actually touch them both at the same time. Pretty neat.

Learn more about Piti from Guampedia: http://www.guampedia.com/piti-piti/

Some of my favorite things in Piti are Micronesian Divers Association (MDA), the always amazing snorkeling/diving around the Fisheye underwater observatory, Family Beach, and Patrick Palomo. Shout out to my homegirl Pia who works hard at the Port. Pia, let me know if you see any spiders.

Piti might not be the biggest village but it’s one of the island’s most important for it contains the commercial port of Guam, Apra Harbor and the super important Cabras Power Plant that hustles 24/7 to deliver A LOT of megawatts of power for us all. Raise your hand if you’re from Piti! High five, Piti!