Majuro Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
Frequently Asked Questions
At Uliga wharf, in the central part of the atoll, alongside or by tender depending on the ship. The landing opens straight onto local life: fishing boats coming in with the day's catch, families out watching the turquoise water, dockers at work.
Like a ribbon of land a few dozen metres wide, curving for kilometres between a turquoise lagoon and the Pacific Ocean. A single road runs from one end of the string of islets to the other. Yet this is where the Marshall Islands' heart beats, a republic born of atolls.
The Alele Museum and a walk between Uliga and Delap fill the half day, since restaurants and shops are within walking distance of the wharf. The excursion to Laura Beach, at the far end of the atoll, takes most of a day: it is one or the other.
It is the first visit to make, a short distance from the landing, next to the courthouse. Its rooms display the famous stick charts, those assemblies of wood and shell by which Marshallese navigators read the swell between atolls, along with canoe models and shell artefacts.
It is the photographic collection of Joachim deBrum, held at the Alele Museum: more than 2,500 plates taken between 1880 and 1930, documenting island life with moving precision. Faces, celebrations, schooners and landscapes of a vanished Pacific.
It is the finest beach on the atoll, at the western end, at the end of a road strung with villages, coconut groves and churches. White sand, clear water and coral reefs within reach of swimmers with mask and fins. Allow most of the day for the round trip, by negotiated taxi or organized excursion.
By shared taxi, the most common way to travel along the main road. Keep small notes: they make both fares and market purchases easier. Everywhere else on the atoll, it all comes down to that single road.
The US dollar, legal tender everywhere: simplicity itself for a North American traveller. Still, bring small denominations, which are handier at stalls and for shared taxis.
Ask permission before photographing people. Marshallese are reserved but welcoming, and courtesy opens every door here. The humid heat also calls for a hat, water and pauses in the shade.
Watch the lagoon, quite simply: vast, ever-changing, dotted with sailing boats and cargo ships at anchor. Fishermen chase tuna and trevally there, and traditional canoe races sometimes bring the whole atoll together. Sitting facing that expanse with a coconut in hand is a perfectly legitimate activity here, and perhaps the truest to the spirit of the place.
