Eneko Island is an affordable place to stay close to Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands
Island Hopping through Oceania - Idyllic Eneko Island
Eneko Island’s sparkling-white arc of sand glistened in the morning sun as we approached aboard the steel fishing charter that doubled as the island ferry. The swaying coconut palm backdrop and the copious coral beneath the boat completed the picture of tropical idyll as we glided into shore. It was day two, and the Marshall Islands were already surpassing our expectations.
Eneko Island is a tropical idyll
Eneko Island is a small islet in the Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands is a country of roughly 40,000 people scattered across 34 main islands and atolls in the Central Pacific. Independent since 1979, the country’s tourism infrastructure is minimal to say the least.
The Marshall Islands is comprised of over 1,200 separate islands
And the online presence is practically stone-age. An online directory had a smattering of accommodation options. But emails went unanswered, booking enquiries were declined, or pertinent questions ignored.
So, by the time we landed at Amata Kabua International Airport, the runway occupying the full width of Rairikku Island, bar the skinny main road, we had no plan, nowhere to stay, and a whole week to fill before our departure to Micronesia. Thankfully, almost as soon as we cleared customs, things started falling into place.
Hotel Robert Reimers can help arrange your itinerary in the Marshall Islands
Passing through the dilapidated open-air arrivals hall, towards the atoll’s main road, we were approached by Sam. He offered us a taxi ride into Majuro town for $2 (the Marshall Islands use US currency). It turned out he was already taking someone else from our flight to Hotel Robert Reimers (one of those we’d unsuccessfully emailed before our arrival). This other visitor, working on water infrastructure in Majuro for the Asian Development Bank, wanted to stop at an ATM and get a SIM card en route, which aligned perfectly with our needs.
On arrival at Hotel Robert Reimers, the receptionist apologetically explained that they only had a budget, windowless room left. Again, this couldn’t have been more perfect for us. It was over $100 cheaper than anything we had found online, and at this stage in the trip, cheaper was always better.
It turned out the owners of Robert Reimers also ran Eneko Island, a small islet in the north of Majuro Atoll, where guests can camp or stay in basic beachside villas. So, on check-in, we also booked two nights of beachside camping before heading out to arrange the rest of our stay in this micronation.
Eneko Island has a pristine beach, fringed by coral reef
Arno Atoll is another great getaway close to Majuro
Arno Atoll is the closest outer atoll to Majuro, taking roughly an hour to reach from Majuro by boat. With basic beachside accommodation and a semi-regular ferry, it was the ideal destination to experience outer island life.
The booking office (actually a small handicraft shop) for accommodation on Arno Atoll was just across the car park from Hotel Robert Reimers. Once booked, all we had to do was secure our spots on the ferry.
That was easier said than done. After trying the phone number we were given at the handicraft shop with no luck, we were directed to find Barbie, who worked at Western Union, in the far corner of the same car park.
After jumping the queue in the packed air-conditioned office, Barbie gave us two more phone numbers to try. It took a few more hours before we finally got through and secured our places on the ferry. So, by the end of our first morning in The Marshalls, we had our whole week planned and booked. And with six nights of camping at $10 per night, it was an insane deal too!
The ferry to Arno Atoll can be booked through the handicraft shop near Hotel Roberts Reimers
Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands
With our whole week planned and booked – one night in Majuro, two on Eneko Island, 4 on Arno and a final night back at Hotel Robert Reimers – we spent the rest of our time in the country’s pocket-sized capital shopping for the outer islands, getting much-needed haircuts, and generally making the most of how developed the American-influenced capital was.
The Marshall Islands were an American colony until 1979, and still retain close ties with the old colonial power. This takes the form of the Compact of Free Association, whereby the US provides the country with economic assistance and defence. At the same time, the Marshall Islands allows the US to maintain a sizable military presence in its strategic location in the Pacific. All this meant that the Marshallese capital was significantly more developed, manicured and western-feeling than ramshackle Tarawa in Kiribati, where we’d just flown in from.
Majuro has well stocked supermarkets and some basic but tasty eateries
MISCO Market sold tasty raw tuna and octopus
Eneko Island
Supplies bought and sporting new trims, the following morning, we caught the Robert Reimers ferry across the Majuro lagoon to Eneko Island, alongside a couple of other westerners on a day trip from the capital. When we arrived, we wandered the tidily cropped lawn above the sparkling beach in search of the ideal camp spot.
We settled on a shady spot between a pandanus and a coconut palm on the edge of the beach. It was the perfect location to string up our tarp, so we could leave the outer tent off and maximise the breeze through the mesh inner tent while we slept.
Eneko Island is a great place for camping
Eneko Island is popular with day-trippers from Majuro, and on our first day, one of the beachside shelters was taken up by Ministry of Health employees, barbecuing and raucously enjoying team-building games. In the evenings, when the day trippers left, the few people staying in the island’s villa or self-catering rooms settled into their accommodation, and we had the beachfront all to ourselves. We would watch as the wispy clouds over the lagoon were lit up in pinks by the setting sun, and the yachties on the catamaran moored offshore chatted quietly over dinner prep.
Day trippers visit Eneko Island for its white sand beach and snorkelling
Eneko Island is a great place to snorkel
Camp made, we stripped down to our swim shorts, donned masks, snorkels and reef shoes, and dived beneath the rippling aqua surface of Majuro’s lagoon. The beach at Eneko Island runs straight down to its shallow reef, where at low tide we swam out through a narrow channel to the deeper lagoon beyond and snorkelled around the back of the reef, where the coral tumbles down to a sandy bottom.
Eneko Island has easy access snorkelling right by the beach
Vast shoals of little iridescent turquoise tiddlers and larger black and white striped fish threaded along the edge of the reef, erupted through gaps and wound their way around the satellite blobs of bulbous coral that dotted the sand.
At high tide, we floated over the mass of coral as baby black tipped reef sharks prowled by, gulls dived for fish off the back of the reef, and psychedelic tropical fish glided by in ones and twos.
Turquoise tiddlers on the reef at Eneko Island
On the far side of the reef, we continued out to the pontoon floating offshore before making our way back to the beach. When we weren’t in the water, we strung out travel hammocks between trees and whiled away our time reading, napping and watching the occasional plane land at the international runway directly across the lagoon from us.
The clear waters of Majuro Atoll made snorkelling at Eneko Island a dream
Getting to and from Eneko Island is easy
The ferry to Eneko Island doesn’t have a set timetable, and pickup and drop-off are easily arranged through Hotel Robert Reimers at a time that suits. As such, we’d arranged an early pickup on our final morning, so we could get back to Majuro in time for the 10am ferry to Arno Atoll. We’d had a taste of outer island life; next, we were going to experience the real thing.
Passengers disembark the ferry on Eneko Island
This Leg
Days: 3
Flights: 1
Boats: 1
Islands: 4
Countries & Territories: 2
Total
Days: 66
Flights: 16
Boats: 26
Islands: 25
Countries & Territories: 9