Marshall Islands

Likes & Dislikes

Likes

Marshall Islands - beach - r.c. photo

Marshall islands - Majuro - city center - k.a. photo

Marshall Islands - Majuro Atoll - Inner lagoon - k.a. photo

1. The best fresh tuna fish I have ever had

2. The headlands are strikingly long and straight

3. We enjoyed Laura much more than Majuri

4. Decent standard of living thanks to US financial aid

5. People are kind and friendly

6. The Arno Atoll, a real paradise and excellent snorkeling spot

7. Talking to passionate divers who came here to discover underwater shipwrecks

8. Incredibly beautiful sunsets

Dislikes

1. Majuri, the small capital city, is not interesting – for a far-away Pacific destination, it lacks character and is very Americanized

2. The lagoons and beaches in and around Majuri are highly polluted - we did not feel like going into the water

3. Poor Wi-Fi coverage, plus high prices

4. Few accommodation options

Opinions

Diving or snorkeling on the ocean side reefs is terrific!

The Marshall Islands does not have a dynamic tourist industry (it's actually among the top 10 least visited countries in the world). Diving is the primary reason for most of the ones who do visit.

central Pacific Ocean - Marshall Islands - Elter photo

Practicals

Transport

The condition of the interisland ferries mostly falls short of security standards.

central Pacific Ocean - Marshall islands - traffic - Elter photo

Marshall Islands - Majuro - taxis - p.k. photo

Marshall Islands - Majuro - a cruise destination - p.k. photo

Marshall Islands - boat transport - a.v. photo

Marshall Islands - overgrown road - s.v. photo

Marshall Islands - family on the raft - s.v. photo

Accomodation

Marshall Islands - Majuro - hotel reception - d.l. photo

Food

central Pacific Ocean - Marshall Islands - street food - Elter photo

Marshall Islands - Majuro Atoll - Laura Village - pizza, burgers, ice cream - k.a. photo

Shopping

Payment is - mostly - in cash only. Some luxury shops do accept credit card payment. There are some ATMs in the island’s capital, Majuro.

Marshall Islands - Majuro - Food market - p.k. photo

Marshall Islands - Majuro - convenience store - p.k. photo

Marshall Islands - shopping - s.v. photo

Marshall Islands - Majuro - Visitor Center - Practically all regular souvenir items of the country are sold here - k.a. photo

Fun

Marshall Islands - Laura Village - local kids - k.a. photo

Public safety

A safe destination for tourists. The very few visitors are seldom victims of any crime; at most, theft can occur, but no robbery.

Due to the low altitude above sea level, there are no protection options in a tsunami.

Marshall Islands - Majuro Atoll - Laura Village - police station combined with fire station - k.a. photo

Marshall Islands - herse on the shop window - k.a. photo

Health

The sun rays are powerful, so you need to care about skin protection.

After eating carnivorous reef-dwelling fish, poisoning occurs again and again. Although these are rarely fatal, they are extremely unpleasant in an acute case: gastrointestinal problems and neurotoxicity. Relapses and chronic symptoms can last for years.

Only drink the water of safe origin, never tap water. Use drinking water even to brush your teeth. If bottled water is not available, use filtered, disinfected, or boiled water.

The Marshall Islands are malaria-free.

Marshall Islands - Drinking alcohol is prohibited on this weto - wetos are traditionally allotted neighborhoods - k.a. photo

Others

1. To protect the islands' natural life, strict regulations - in most cases, a ban - apply to the personal import of animals, plants, products of animal and vegetable origin, non-processed foods.

2. Sexual acts between same-sex people are prohibited.

Marshall islands - Majuro - beach - p.k. photo

Marshall Islands . beach - r.c. photo

Marshall Islands - Majuro Atoll (Capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands) - international airport - k.a. photo

Background

Marshall Islands - national flag - homemade

Marshall Islands -national flag, conventionally - a.v. photo

Marshall Islands - Majuro -Residence complex - parliament and presidential office - k.a. photo

Destination in brief

Marshall Islands is an independent nation in free association with the USA.

The Marschall Islands are located in the western Pacific Ocean, in the Oceania geographic region, and within this, in Micronesia.

The Marshall Islands is part of the Micronesia geographic region.

Size (land area): 181.3 km² (70 mi²) - The country consists of 29 atolls and 5 islands.

Population (in 2020): 59,240 . The overwhelming majority of the population is the Micronesian people.

Capital city: Majuro

Languages: English and a hodgepodge, called Kajin Majol

Religion: Christians, mostly Protestants

Political system: parliamentary democracy which is combined with a hierarchical traditional culture

Currency: USD

Average monthly salary (in 2020): about 2000 USD

Closest territories are the Federated States of Micronesia (east), Nauru (south).
The flight time between Hawaii and Marshall islands is 5 hours and 20 minutes.

The Marshall Islands is the third on the 2019 list of least visited countries in the world. Only two other destinations of the Oceania region, Tuvalu and Kiribati, have even fewer visitors. Diving is a primary reason for those few who do visit the Marshall Islands.

Most of the few tourists visit the Majuro Atoll (made up of 53 islets) only. The coral banks are barely half a kilometer wide.

Optimal timing of a tourist visit: May-October.

Geography

The official name of The Marshall Islands is the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the local Marshallese language: Aolepān Aorōkin M̧ajeļ

The Marshall Islands are near the equator, slightly west of the International Date Line.

All the islands and atolls of the Marshall Islands are grouped into two main chains - Ratak ("Sunrise") in the east and Ralik ("Sunset") in the west and stretched from north to south. The most important and largest island is Kwajalein, which has the largest lagoon in the world, with an area of 2,174 sq. Km.

Only five of the nearly 1200 islands are actual islands; the rest are tiny coral atolls. The average height of the country is 2 meters above sea level. The highest "mountain" of the country is 10 meters (32,8 feet).

About 5.18 million square km (2 million square mi) area around its islands is a declared shark sanctuary.

Climate

The climate of the islands is tropical with high humidity. The rainy season is between May and November. The main period of tropical cyclones runs from June to December, but there is some probability of heavy storms in other parts of the year too.

History

From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. military used the Marshall Islands as a nuclear test site. During that period the U.S. detonated 64 atomic bombs. The most famous of them was the Bravo H-bomb detonated at Bikini Atoll in 1954. That was the most potent nuclear weapon ever detonated above ground. This Bravo bomb had a force thousand stronger than the Hiroshima bomb. The Marshalls got instant infamy. Morbidly, a newly introduced bathing suit, was named after the Bikini atoll.

The US granted the Marshall Islands full independence in 1979. In granting independence, Americans were presumably motivated to get somewhat rid of the responsibility for the consequences of the experimental nuclear explosions and the damages to the environment. On the other hand, the locals demanded independence because the U.S. wasn’t working to make up for the damage caused by nuclear experiments. After gaining independence, the Marshall Islands squeezed a hefty amount of compensation out of Washington.

Marshall Islands - Majuro -National Museum - Atomic&Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands - 1946-1958- k.a. photo

Nowadays

The local political situation is calm.

Government organizations employ one-third of the workforce.

The citizens of the Marshall Islands are permitted to work in the U.S. as nonimmigrants for an unlimited amount of time, but they are not “citizens or nationals of the U.S.”

U.S. aid supports about half of the country's budget. The U.S. pays a regular fee for the use of a military base on Kwajalein Atoll.

The subsistence economy is based on fishing, cultivation of breadfruit, banana, pandanus, and taro.

,, In 2018 the country's parliament approved the release of a sovereign cryptocurrency called SOV. It will exist on a par with the US dollar used as the official currency in the country. To prevent inflation, the government decided to issue a maximum of 24 million tokens. Thus, the Marshalls became the second country in the world after Venezuela with its cryptocurrency. A large pre-sale of tokens for investors will begin very shortly, by which the Marshalls hope to replenish the budget significantly. "