Marshall Islands (Majuro Atoll) Trip Report June 2017

Two posts since 2012, it's not exactly busy here, time for an update. I recently spent two glorious days on Majuro Atoll. I stayed that short only as I combined it with visits to Kiribati and Nauru and in this case your flight options are limited. Naura Airlines flies from Nauru to the Federate States of Micronesia on Fridays and the plane comes back on Sundays. The only other option of getting to the Marshall Islands is with United Airlines extremely expensive island hopper from Honolulu to Guam a few times a week.
Nowadays, the Marshall Islands Tourism Authority has some information online but it is not very comprehensive. There are several hotels but only the Marshall Island Resort can be found on booking.com and it is a big and fairly soulless place. It has though the best beach in town but you can also swim there if you are not staying there. The RRE (Robert Reimers Enterprise) Hotel seems to have more atmosphere. I took the cheap option and stayed at the Backpacker Hotel at the Flame Tree. This place has been mentioned before in this forum but has been shrouded a bit in mystery, google for example calls it permanently closed but that is not true. You can contact them at marshallislandsjournal@gmail.com. The rates are 40$ for a single and 50$ for a double room. Air-con is 10$ extra. I stayed in the dormitory though at a rate of 20$. I saw reports on the internet that people complained of other guests being noisy and shouting during the night. The Backpacker Hotel is right behind the Flame Tree bar which seems to have a reputation for rowdiness. When I was there on a Friday night it wasn’t that rowdy but loud and with a mostly older clientele, some pretty drunk, on the Saturday night it was fairly quiet. The food is okay. The funny thing about the Backpacker Hotel is that the dormitory seems by far the best value. It is actually in another wing of the building further away from the bar. An extra door separates it from the rest of the hotel and there is even a small kitchen and a living room. The dormitory is curtailed into several “rooms” each with a single bunk bed in it but the walls are left open towards the floor and the ceiling so have no real privacy in your “room”. While I was there I was the only person staying so that was the perfect deal for me. The manager, Isaac, seems to be a really nice person.

What is there to do? Not too much. The only classical tourist attractions are the museum next to the courthouse in Uliga which is small but I found it very interesting and the Canoe House next to the Marshall Island Resort, where they build traditional canoes and apparently can also take you out on the water in one. Both are open on weekdays only so I missed out on the Canoe House but could at least get a glimpse inside on the Saturday. Besides these two things just take a walk around town and have a look how the Marshallese go about their lives. To get around town just flag on of the shared taxis down, the fare is 75c)
I enjoyed taking a ride across Majuro Atoll all the way to Laura village. There is a yellow and a blue minivan that ply this route, they start from the parking lot at the Robert Reimers Hotel. Alternatively some of the bigger taxis also take this route. The fare is 2$. (Going to/from the airport in one of these is the same prize, a smaller taxi charges 5$ to get to town from the airport) Along the way you realize how narrow the Atoll is in most places before it gets wider at Laura. At the far end of Laura village you find a picnic area with a nice beach (entry 1$). To get to Laura you could also think about hiring a car, the Reimers Hotel charges 65$ per day but I was told that at some of the Chinese shops you could rent one for as low as 25$.

Majuro has a surprising number of well stocked supermarkets, you can get postcards at the post offices and the Tourism office. Stamps are only sold at the main post office in Uliga opposite the RRE complex. There are a few ATMs in town to supply you with cash.
A nice trip goes to Eneko island which has a nice beach with good snorkelling. The Reimers Hotel runs day trips at 30$. As I went on a Saturday we were about ten people but I was told that on weekdays you might have the island all to yourself. The times of the boat are flexible and can be adapted to your wishes. On that Saturday there were also plenty of local families on Eneko but there was enough space for everybody. If you got more time you could also stay the night on Eneko (enquire at Reimers Hotel), there is an expensive honeymoon suite but also cheaper rooms at 40$ (single) or 50$ (double).
Majuro has kind of a system of Wifi-Hotspots at different locations in town where 15$ give you access for a week. For SIM-cards you need to go to the NTA in Uliga and it costs 15$.

Similar to Kiribati the really interesting thing would be to get to some of the outlying islands but this is fairly difficult. The easiest option is Arno Atoll, the closest to Majuro, as it is easy to reach (I think it is 30$ per person) and the Arno B&B seems to be decent accommodation. All the other Atolls seem fairly difficult to get to and even the tourism office advised me against flying with Air Marshall Islands as that would leave me in danger of getting stranded on some island due to cancelled return flights.

At the airport you have to pay a departure tax of 20$ before leaving.
Happy travelling!

Thanks.

Cheers,interesting report on a place I know almost nothing about.....

HI,

I've been looking at different options to try to get here and the only thing I've been able to find is that island hopper between Honolulu and Guam.. this is the first I've heard of any way to get to Majuro from Nauru. Do you know of any others?

No. ;-)

Hi Wittli. Good info. Thanks.... Just a quick question. I assume when you landed you got a visa on arrival. If so, did they ask for the medical and police record documents that apperently are required? Cheers...

I am a German citizen. I did not need a visa to enter the Marshall Islands. Immigration was absolutely hassle free. I do not know about any requirements for medical and police records and did not need any.

OK. I just checked and saw that EU citizens are visa free. I'm Canadian so require visa on arrival and apperently those documents mention which are a bit of a hassle to get. Wondered if they are strict on this... Thx for the reply

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