Half a day on Pohnpei

I will have a stopover on Pohnpei on my flight from Guam to Hawaii in April that gives me 13 hours to explore the island. Unfortunately I arrive at 00:30am and leave at 13:30pm, so half of the time it is still dark and not too much to see. However, I want to see more of Pohnpei than just the airport. I read about Nan Madol that sounds amazing, but is it possible to visit it in that short time? Or are there any other nice places near the airport?
Thanks for your recommendations!

I think you can make it, when you start the trip from the airport to Nan Madol soon after sunrise. Ask a taxi driver to bring you there and back again.
I toured all of the island in six hours, including Nan Madol.

Thanks for the hint. That sounds good.
Do you have an idea how much this would cost? I think I'd have to hire a cab for 5-6 hours, letting it wait for me while I'm in Nan Madol. Are there cabs at the airport (and do they charge the same or expensive airport rates) as or do I have to go to Kolonia?

I can't remember any details, since I was there in 1998.
The problem for you might be to organize someone at 00.30 to make the tour with you in the morning. If there is no tourist information booth, just ask around - airline/aiport staff can be helpful, or just anyone.

I'm not sure you can get to Nan Madol by car. I had the impression that it was only accessible by boat ?
Anyway, you may find this website useful : http://www.pohnpeiheaven.com/ground_transport.htm for taxis, click around for more info on pohnpei.
This site on Nan Mandol seems interesting : http://www.pohnpeiheaven.com/nanmadol.htm Seems you can get there after a 15 minute walk also over land, so that answers my doubt above.

Hi

Contact Patty from http://www.thevillagehotel.com/ ahead of your travelling dates. She will arrange an early bird boat roubdtrip from her place. The tourt takes you 3/4 hours. The Village is only 10 minutes taxi ride from the airport. Nan Madol is worth the trip.

Sorry, forgot to mention that you have to make a short walk.

nothing will be open until the morning, the town will be totally shuttered and deserted after about 11pm.
you can also rent a car, Budget and some other agencies are on the island, in the main town, and drive around the island, which is a nice 2 hour drive on a paved road, stopping and seeing the waterfalls and nan madol along the way. this might be a nice way to do it....great place.

L.P. makes it sound as if you won't see much of Nan Madol if you go by car.
Is this not true?

Oh, just saw this thread again.
Well, I took a taxi for the day that drove me down to Nan Madol (the driver had actually never been there as well). We stopped at the end of a road and then walked through the forest for a while before reaching the coast. From there we could wade through the shallow waters to the impressive ruins. Due to my short stay on Pohnpei I only had a few hours in Nan Madol, but it was definitely worth the visit.

Look up tour guides and arrange something before you go. Nan Midol is best seen by boat. You will have been on a plane for quite some time and trying to arrange something on island will be trying. There is a great boat ride around the island, through the mangroves and to nan midol, including going across a shallow area where we saw literally hundreds of sting rays all slapping their stingers. But I don't remember how long it took.

A am rather curious- are you taking the island hopper? How is it that you are going to be on Pohnpei for 13 hours? Be sure they don't have the times messed up- it seems very odd to me. I don't remember the hopper ever stopping for that long anyplace and we lived there for 4 years.

Well, it was just coincidence (or luck) that I had this flight connection. Usually the island hopper only stops for less than one hour. And if you want to have a stopover of a day or so Continental charges you hundreds of dollars more. But in my case it seems the the Continental booking machine found a flight (CO958) leaving from Guam in the evening (maybe around 8pm, don't remember exactly), stopping in Chuuk and arriving in Pohnpei around midnight. And apparently the flight terminated there so I had to wait for the real island hopper to Hawaii 13 hours later.
Well, of course it would have been nicer to have one or two days or even more in Pohnpei, but I did not have much time fore my holiday anyway (working in Japan), and visiting Pohnpei "for free" on a stopover wasn't to bad anyway.