Kiribati (Tarawa) trip report June 2017

Well, in the past Lonely Planet writers went everywhere but nowadays they only go to places that sell guidebooks. Kiribati is not one of them. As I recently visited, I hope this trip report helps a few fellow travellers.
To my knowledge at the moment there are only two ways to reach Kiribati, two flights a week from Fiji and the other option being Nauru Airlines which links Kiribati with the Marshall Islands and the Federate States of Micronesia on Fridays and with Nauru (and on to the Solomon Islands, Fiji or Brisbane) on Sundays. I was told that in the future there will be more options as direct flights to the Solomons are supposed to start and Air Kiribati is supposed to acquire its first Airbus enabling flights to Kiritimati Islands and other countries. Let's see what of these plans will become reality. Kiritimati (Christmas Island) can be reached on separate flights from Fiji but I have not been there so this report does not cover this part of Kiribati.
Kiribati's Ministry of Tourism has a fairly good website at http://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/ that I should have paid more attention too before leaving. They are actually really helpful, have informative leaflets and maps and if you plan a more in-depth journey it would be worth contacting them beforehand to check out some transport options. Kiribati consists of numerous atolls and the real fun of exploring starts if you get to one of the outlying islands but unfortunately that is not that easy. Abaiang, the closest Atoll to Tarawa, has a speedboat (20 AUD) going from Betio most days of the week but that is often booked. When I enquired the next available seats were in six days, unfortunately I did not have time to wait that long. If you consider going it makes sense to contact the Tourism office and they will make the bookings for you in advance. They can also book accommodation, the Terau Beach Bungalows www.teraubeachbungalow.com look really nice and are cheap at 20 AUD per night, and meals are 5 AUD (10 if you want fish). As stated, I missed out on going there because I did not arrange transportation early enough.
To some other outlying islands there are boats going but for the current timetables you have to contact the tourism office. The other option is Air Kiribati. From what I have been told they have greatly improved their reliability but flight schedules are still subject to changes on short notice. If their planes are your only way back you should have some flexibility in your schedule. Again it might be wise to arrange things beforehand with the tourism office.
I was on a fairly tight schedule on my trip through the South Pacific so I had only four days for Kiribati. That was enough to explore the Tarawa Atoll but not enough to get to any outlying atolls and I regret that.
The Tarawa Atoll is separated in the North and South which are like two different worlds. In the South numerous islands are connected by causeways, enabling driving from Buota (technically a part of North Tarawa) to the airport and on to Bikenibeu, Bairiki and finally Betio. The road is always busy and numerous minivans can be boarded to get around (0,5 AUD to 1,5 AUD). North Tarawa in contrast is car free as the islands are not linked and some existing bridges have been allowed to fall into disrepair. From Buota a ferry carries people to the next island but from there on you will have to wait for low tide to walk (sometimes wade) to the next islands.
What is there to do/see? Not much, to be honest. In Betio is the harbour and a few old Japanese guns and bunkers, Bairiki is the biggest settlement with a small "town" square and a stadium, around Ambo you can have a look at the interesting Parliament and close to Eita you will notice the highest point (3m above sea level!) Kiribati is the first country I visited where the word “fragile” comes to my mind when I try to describe it. For most of the world rising sea levels are something fairly abstract but here it is a massive threat. In Bikenibeu there is a small museum that is worth a visit if you are around. The Tourism Office sells postcards as do the post offices (nicer ones). South Tarawa is actually fairly cramped, every available square meter is used for houses etc. What I found a bit painful is that there are no nice places to swim. The reefs prevent easy access to the Ocean side and I am not sure if I would want to swim on the Lagoon side. Although I cannot confirm reports that the Lagoon was stinking (as I heard from other people) I am still not sure if I would want to swim there giving the proximity of tens of thousands of people with often inadequate sanitation. I was told the best places to swim were before Betio and at the bridge linking Buota with South Tarawa. Both places are not too attractive in my view. For me, the most interesting thing was just to see the island life going by, buying cheap but really good food at the roadside for 2 AUD for example.
I stayed at FEMA Lodge which was a good choice with friendly and helpful staff but the room was a bit smelly. A nice touch is the kitchen and living room that guests can use. They pick you up and bring you to the airport. The hotel restaurant lacks soul, but only 100m towards Bairiki is a nice restaurant right on the Lagoon, the only nice place to eat I found in all of Kiribati.
Well, as the plan to go to Abaiang had failed I wanted to go at least to North Tarawa. This is a lot easier and there are a few accommodation options (see kiribatitourism.gov) and two daily boats (except Sunday). One goes from Bikenibeu to Tabiteuea (1AUD) in the Eastern part of North Tarawa and the other option is to go from Bairiki to the Western part of North Tarawa around Abaokoro (don’t know the exact details of that boat/these boats). The exact time of these boats changes with the tide but generally they go to South Tarawa in the morning and back to North Tarawa in late afternoon to allow people to sell stuff in the market during the day. I settled on Santa Faustina Homestay (http://www.santafaustinahomestay.com/) which was a perfect choice. Amon works in South Tarawa and commutes with the boat every day so you can just join him on his way back. They have a nice hut over the water and charge 50 AUD per day including three meals. I found Tekimati and Amon very pleasant hosts and learned a lot from Amon about life in Kribati. They food was great and at high tide you can swim perfectly in the Lagoon (at low tide you have to walk quite a bit). It feels a long way from South Tarawa but at night you can easily see the cars moving on the other side of the lagoon. I took one day just to explore the island.
To get back to South Tarawa I actually walked. It takes 90 minutes to two hours of your time, a bit of wading and a ferry ride (0,50 AUD) to get back to the road and the minivans. When you get to the ferry there is a boatbuilding business to your left and on the same property is a clam farm. Unfortunately at the moment their biggest giant clam is only about 40cm and not that impressive.

It is easy to buy a SIM-card right at the airport. There is a small red booth to the left of the parkin area. 10 AUD bought me a SIM-card and 450MB of data. Speed in South Tarawa was okay, in North Tarawa non-existant.
There are several ATMs in South Tarawa including one outside the airport.
Happy travelling to Kiribati!

Thank you so much for this - I'm planning a trip there alone at the end of the year - sadly Kirimati is harder to get to but they're setting up flights between there and Tarawa in 2018!

Hi Wittli. Which area is the best area to stay in Tarawa, that also has "biggest" selection of accomodation/restaurants and supermarkets?

Thanks

South Tarawa is fairly stretched out but you have three main population centres, that is Betio in the far west, Bairiki also still in the western part and Bikenibeu. These are the places where you find more amenities like bigger supermarkets. Small supermarkets are everywhere but bigger ones as far as I remember only in these places. I didn't see many restaurants at all. Fema Lodge, where I stayed had one and luckily there was another restaurant nearby (a nice one). These were the only two restaurants I ate, besides that I only had streetfood. In general, the most urban part of Tarawa is Betio. Hope that helps.

Thanks!

Wittli, do you remember how long it takes from Bairiki to the Bonriki Airport by car?
Just tried to figure out about how to estimate the distances between places there :)

For the distances I would recommend GoogleMaps or maps.me ;-)

Traffic is moving slowly, not because there is such heavy traffic but because people are used to take is slow and easy. There are plenty of minibuses running along the island road(s). I would say from the Airport to Bairiki it takes about 45 minutes.

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