URGENT: how to make hotel booking for Nauru & obtain visa?

Hi there,

Months ago, I planned a visit to Nauru, I bought the tickets, and contacted the consulate in Brisbane. You need a visa before arrival, and to get it, you need proof of your tickets, hotel booking, and a copy of your passport. I contacted the Od'n Aiwo hotel in june, and several times after that, but never got a reply. I then contacted the Menen hotel, who appeared to be full. Calling other hotels is impossible: the country is not reachable by phone, at least from where I am now (Tonga). Emailing them, just gives no replies. The consulate is adamant: i NEED a hotel booking to get the visa. But how can you make a hotel booking if they don't reply to your email and if the phone doesn't work?!

Does anyone have a suggestion how to solve this? Apart from the fact that I am very interested in visiting Nauru, and would be very disappointed if it weren't possible (this time around, I have a lot of time to travel, which is necessary for Nauru considering the sporadic flights); but also: I would have to give up my tickets, and try to find one from Kiribati back to Fiji.

Any suggestions very welcome!

Hi bkester,

in May I stayed at the Od-n-Aiwo and had no problem in contacting them. I used this email-adress odnaiwo@yahoo.com and got every time a response. is that the same adress, you used?

Cheers,
Marcus72

Hi there Bkester,

I was there last month and everything ran smoothly. Maybe the email address you are using is an outdated one. Try this one for the Meneñ hotel:
menhotreservation@yahoo.com

If you get no answer, contact Our Airline. They will certainly help you with your reservation. If you get stuck, let me know.

Enjoy your trip!

I'm having the same issues and am not getting replies from Od-n-Aiwo or the Nauru visa/immigration office. The Menen Hotel replies, but says they are full until at least the end of October.

Please let me know if you have any information on how to obtain a visa.

The only person I know who has visited Nauru didn't even bother getting a visa in advance. He just arrived on a flight on sorted it out once he was there. I believe that's frowned upon, but he didn't get fined or in any trouble. I guess he was lucky that the airline didn't check whether he had a visa before boarding the plane. This was in late-2011, so may no longer be an option (not that it was ever an option to rely on!).

more than a year later, i see these replies.

i managed to get everything sorted out in the end. yes, i used those email addresses, and no, they never replied. once i stayed at the own-aiwo, they confirmed i had used the right email address, but could not explain why they never bothered to reply. i eventually managed to have someone at the menen contact the odn-aiwo, and indirectly got the reservation confirmed through email. this, however, was initially refused by the consulate; they claimed they needed an official letter with the official letterhead.

complicating factor was that, at least during the time of my visit, the australian refugee camp was operating, which i suspect was a reason for the authorities to be reluctant to issue a visa, for hotels to be full, and for the airline to check the visa was actually approved.

nauru was a special experience, quite different from other countries in the region - i thoroughly enjoyed exploring the island and meeting its inhabitants!

http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/oceania/nauru.html

The more I read about Nauru, the more it sounds like an island I defianatly would love to visit. I will be in Australia between January and March, so now it´s my change for Nauru-visit?

I wonder in what way I should get my visa-things going? Should I first get the flight tickets and hotel reservation, and then apply for the visa? What happens if for some reason I don´t get the visa? Or is the visa easy to get?

There´s not so much info about Nauru, so any tip, hint, recommodation and advaice is really welcome! Thank you!

hi hanna,

apologies for not getting back to you before. didn't check thorn tree for a long time...

are you still interested in visiting nauru? or have you already done so?

in any case, feel free to contact me.

best regards
boris

I'm going to Nauru in five days! I can wait!

A woman working for Ourairline helped me with the hotel reservation (I will stay in Menen), I didn't get replies to my emails. And another woman helped me with the flight ticket. I could book them, but couldn't pay online with my credit card. So I did take a risk and sent my cc info to her....and got the tickets.

Visa will be on arrival and probably will cost 100 AUD. A hotel reservation and return or onward flight ticket is needed.

hi hanna, that's good news! did you deal with fabiana harris from our airline? she helped me out a lot. i managed to stay in the other hotel, in town. the menen is a little out of the way. how much time will you spend in the country? one tip: wake up early and walk around the island in a couple of hours, a great experience. you can have a look at my website for more ideas while in nauru: http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/oceania/nauru.html

enjoy nauru!

I read your blog. It's great!

Trini Caleb from Our airline made the hotel reservation and Fabiana helped me with the flight tickets. Which means I sent her my cc info ;)

I have few questions. I ask them here instead of pm if someone else is interested. Did you drink tap water or bought bottled water? If possible, I prefer tap water.

Could you give some idea of food prices? I mean a modest vegetarian friendly meal? (8Ihope there is something for a vegetarian!). I have to bring cash since I guess a credit card isn't that great there, and I'd like to get some idea how much money 8 need. I will stay in Nauru for one week.

ha, the nauru world is small. i know both trini and fabiana ;-)

to be honest, i drank bottled water (and a lot of it; it was pretty hot when i was there). i did not try to drink tap water; not sure if you can drink it at all. don't forget that nauru has a water supply problem. in times of drought, they even have to import bottled water...

i don't remember food prices, but they were certainly nothing extreme. there aren't too many places to go for dinner anyway. if you stay at the menen, you are outside of town, and it's just a little too far to walk back from town in the evening. unless, of course, you'd take your own transportation. there are a few restaurants around the island, mainly at the northern side, at the supermarket.

i recommend visiting the small nature area at the northeastern side of the island; but not sure if you could find everything alone. i was fortunate enough to be taken by locals. you can find the location (and pictures) on my site.

another not-to-miss thing while there: the mining area in the interior of the island. you can walk from "town" towards the interior, then come out on the other side. where, actually, you will find one of the fanciest small restaurants near the small port. that is probably also the most expensive place to eat.

when you fly in, try to be at a window seat on the left hand side. you will have a great view of the island.

if i remember well, the visa price was AUD 50, not 100.

please share your experience!

enjoy your stay.

Can you post what it basically costs for the hotel stay for a week, maybe two, there? I am interested in visiting the island, since reading some articles written on it.