Tag Archives: majuro

Fun Times in Majuro

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We make the best of our time in Majuro by hanging out with new cruising friends.  It is Super Bowl time!  We go to a popular restaurant called Tide Table located at the Robert Reimers Enterprise Hotel (known as RRE).  The restaurant had multiple big screen TV’s, food and drink specials and lots of giveaways.

All the cruisers who showed up are in the top photo! Most of us just wanted to watch the commercials and enjoy the food and good company. 

The lower right photo is Matt and I with Kurt.  He built the entire waterfront, including the RRE hotel and many other buildings!  Kurt is a very influential and kind man.

The only beer in town is Bud, not Matt’s favorite.  But the cocktails were delicious! 

Majuro Super Bowl Celebration

Majuro Super Bowl Celebration

Snorkeling Enemonit

Just 5 miles from Majuro is the magical island of Enemonit.  We snorkel on lots of amazing stuff at Enemonit (check out this blog for details on the sunken plan, helicopters and ship).  Matt and I show Kate and Curtis (Sweet Ruca) all of the spectacular sites.

We received permission to walk around Enemonit.  This is a private island. The hotel guests pay to visit for the day. We discover lots of climbable palm trees.

This is one of my new favorite photos:

We have many beautiful sunsets, sunrises, and moonsets.  These particular photos were taken within 1 minute of each other.

We had lots of dinners and happy hours on Sugar Shack and Sweet Ruca.

Kate and I enjoying some ice cream and adult beverages.

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events. 

We were in Majuro Atoll and Enemonit during the month of February. Did you catch our last blog post as we return to “society.”?

Returning to Society

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Matt and I spent 3.5 months in the outer atolls of the Marshall Islands.  It was an adventure to “get away” and experience remote living.  However, we were low on provisions, fuel, propane, and beer which means time to return to society.

We planned to return to Majuro around mid-to late February.  This limits the amount of time we have to spend in this anchorage. You can read the reasons why we don’t like this anchorage here and here.  But we have to endure the industrial anchorage in order to go shopping.  

Uliga Anchorage

The main anchorage is incredibly industrial and packed with supply ships, tankers, derelict boats, and lots of defunct, rotting equipment near shore.  It does not make for a scenic spot.

This is a far cry from the peaceful, scenic anchorages we’ve been in for the past 4 months.

Majuro Errands

We had a lot of errands to do in Majuro but tried to limit our time in the actual anchorage.  We anchored at Eneko and Enemonit when we were not running errands.  Here is our to do list:

  1. Fuel Station for both gasoline and diesel
  2. Propane depot to refill our propane tanks
  3. Markets for food, fresh produce, and beer
  4. U.S. Embassy to pick up Christine’s passport
  5. Bikini  Island offices to collect our refund
  6. Rongelap Island Office to give her drone photos of Rongelap, Rongerik, and Alinginae
  7. MOCIA office to discuss updating the Outer Island Permit for them
  8. NTA the local telecom company to get our local SIM card activated
  9. Post Office to update the phone and names on our PO box account. Pick up parcels
  10. Police Station and Ministry of Finance to get a Marshall Islands Drivers License
  11. General Shopping: hardware, marine, miscellaneous…

Fuel

We mostly sailed between the atolls and did not use very much of diesel.  However, we used a lot of gas as we took the dinghy to a lot of the surrounding islands inside each lagoon.  Sweetie, our dinghy went through 35 gallons of gas and we returned with 7 gallons.  $315 in Diesel ($5.25/gal) and $132 in gas ($6.60/gal).

Propane

Sugar Shack has (2) 4kg (8.8klb) bottles and (2) 9kg (20lb) bottles of propane.  We use propane to cook, bake, and grill.  It had been awhile since we filled our tanks and we were running low.  We took the (2) 9kg tanks to be filled to the closest and most convenient place.  However, when we arrived they informed us that they ran out of propane the night before.  Ugh!  So, we had to taxi over to the only other place called Marshall Energy Company.  They filled our two tanks for $76 and we were on our way!

Provisions & Markets

We were so low on provisions. The boat was completely out of fresh produce, cheese, milk, eggs, butter, peanut butter, beer and snacks.  No snacks!  We had plenty of meats and pastas.  We did not do a “full” provision run because we only have 6 weeks left on the boat.  Matt and I are both coming to the U.S. so we did not want any food to go bad while we were away.

The one ship I won’t complain about…the Costco delivery ship.

U.S. Embassy

My passport expires in October 2025.  It is not a big deal to renew your passport if you are living in the U.S.  However, renewing it while living abroad can be a challenge.  Lucky for me there is a U.S. Embassy here in RMI.  I completed and submitted the application in October 2024.  The new passport was ready for pick up in early December.  However, we were hundreds of miles away from the embassy at the time.  Against regulations, they agreed to hold my passport until I returned.  So,  when I returned in January, I scheduled an appointment to bring in my old passport to get a hole punch and picked up my new one!  Excellent.

It sounds silly to renew your passport one year before it expires, right?  Well, most countries require at least 6 months on your passport.  It was too risky to get it in the U.S. with a short visit.  There is no embassy in Kiribati or Tuvalu.  And I would not have the full 6-months left as we entered Fiji.  So, I had to renew a year early.

Government Offices

Can you believe I have errands with multiple government officials?  Here is the list:

  • Bikini Government Office:  Matt and I paid $250 USD to visit Bikini Atoll for 1 day.  We knew it would be unlikely that we would go for just one day.  However, we had to pay for 1 day for the option to go.  In the end, we were not able to sail to Bikini so we asked for a refund.  To our surprise they agreed to refund us $200 of the $250 which we consider a win!
  • Rongelap Government Office:  The woman in charge of the permits is incredibly nice.  We offered to take drone shots of her three atolls: Rongerik, Rongelap, and Alinginae.  So, we stopped by to drop off a SIM card with all of our land and aerial footage.  She was over the moon excited.
  • MOCIA Office:  This office is in charge of issuing most of the outer island permits (except Bikini and Rongelap). Chief Mabel, the woman in charge, asked if we would help her revamp the application.  We’ve been working with them to perfect this new online form.
  • NTA Telecom:  I had to visit the main office to reactivate my local SIM card and load it up so I have connectivity while on shore.  It also allows me to make local calls and have local businesses call us.
  • Post Office:  We have a “virtual P.O. Box” so we can receive mail and parcels here in the Marshall Islands.  Did you know that USPS is the mail service in the Marshall Islands?  Yep, the USA provides the mail service here.  Anyway, I had to update our phone number and remove one of our cruising friends from our account.  Plus we had lots of packages delivered from Amazon!

Drivers License

A new drivers license is not something I need, but rather something I want.  Why? Well, why not?  It is pretty easy to get a Marshall Islands drivers license.  You go to the police station on Tuesday or Thursday and fill out a form.  Then you go to the Ministry of Finance to pay a $20 processing fee.  A quick return to the police station to show your receipt and take a photo.  Five minutes later you have a colorful Marshallese drivers license good for three years!

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.  We returned to society in early February 2025.  See what it is like to sail between the island chains in the Marshall Islands.

Enemonit & its Sunken Treasures

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Enemonit (also known as Anemwanot) motu is a short 5 nautical miles away from the hustle and bustle of the main town of Majuro.  It is located on the east side of the Majuro atoll and has 5 moorings provided by the local yacht club, Meico Beach Yacht Club.

This beautiful motu owned by the Kramer family (who also owns the largest construction business in Majuro, PII: Pacific International Inc.)  They offer tours and day trips to their beautiful island for $25 per visitor booked in advance.  

We happened to pick up the mooring right in front of the community center and main dock.  The good thing about this location is that we get a nice breeze and are located right next to the artificial reef in the Enemonit lagoon.  The bad news is we get a swell (coming from between the islands),  we get all of the boat traffic from the visiting boats, and we get visitors from shore.  But we make due as this is such a beautiful spot.

Artificial Reef

I am not sure who decided to make the lagoon in front of Enemonit an artificial reef but we are sure glad they did.  Snorkelers and divers can find a DC-3 airplane, (2) Huey Helicopters, a large ferry ,and several mechanical parts strewn around the lagoon.  The depths of these artifacts range from 5-60 meters.

These items provide a place for corals, anemones and fish to flourish. 

Most of the artifacts are right next to our mooring (as you can tell from the image below).  The 2nd Huey is behind our boat about 100-150 meters along the ridge.  But you can easily partk your boat in the first mooring and snorkel to all of these sites including (2) Huey Helicopters, (1) DC-3 Airplane, and a large, double decker ferry.

These are shots taken from the boat looking down at both the airplane and the ferry – that is how close we are to them. The bottom photo has our swim ladder in the lower right corner.

The Douglas DC-3 Airplane 

The DC-3 transport aircraft is the world’s first successful commercial airliner.  It was easily adapted to military use during WWII.  The DC-3 first flew in 1935 and was a low wing, twin engine monoplane that could carry between 21-28 passengers or carry 2,724kg (6,000lbs) of cargo.

The sunken DC-3 here in Enemonit was acquired by Sea Star in the early 1980’s (a Marshall Islands company that operated for a few years).  The airline went defunct and the DC-3 sat at the airport for many years.  It had no engines and was finally scrapped and sunk in the Enemonit lagoon (a short distance away from a Huey Helicopter).

The DC-3 is sunk in about 4-5 meters of water which is really shallow considering its size.

As you can see, Matt can easily free dive down to the plane. I am about 3 meters (12′) deep and he is maybe 6-7 meters.  He is pointing out the name “Sea Star” which is partially missing.   There are six windows on this plane but most are missing.  The tail (top right) is completely missing.  Check out our svSugarShack Instagram page for videos.

Huey Helicopter

The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, aka “Huey” is a utility military helicopter.  It was the first turbine-powered helicopter in service with the U.S. military.  This helicopter had a single turboshaft engine with two blade main and tail rotors.

The Huey helicopter sits in about 12 meters (40′) of water on Enemonit’s sea bed. Visitors can see the Huey from the water’s surface.  Locals placed this helicopter here on purpose with a missing tail and propeller.  

It provides a place for many corals and fish and sits next to the DC-3 (C-47) and a ferry boat.

Matt was able to swim down to the Huey and took a great video. These photos were from the video (you can see the video on the svSugarShack Instagram page.  Pretty eerie to be honest.

There is a second Huey Helicopter with a little bit different design (you can see it only has one side door) and it was a little more intact.  However it was much further down so the photos are a bit grainy and blurry.  We hope to go back and dive this entire site and maybe we can get better photos.

Ferry Oleanda

The Oleanda Ferry was used as the main source of transportation at the Rongelap atoll (a Northern atoll).  The ferry was decommissioned and moved to Majuro. Oleanda was eventually added to the artificial reef at Enemonit. The ship is about 10 meters deep and was located right under our boat!  My photos (bottom two) are grainy because I could not get down close enough without my dive gear.  However, I was able to snag a photo from Sailing Double Trouble’s YouTube video, top photo.

Future Coral Pieces

We found several pieces of debris around the reef as well.  These are very large and could be used as a mooring.

The Reef

There are lots of vibrant bommies with tons of sea life including several beautiful Feather Duster worms. Feather Duster Worms (Corallimorphs) thrive on a specific amount of elevated iron concentration.  The high number of WW2 wrecks provide the correct percentage.

There are also loads of little fish all around the bommies and small amounts of grouper swimming around.

So many schools of little fish around each coral bommie.

We were here during a King Tide which brings really big tides, about 2 meters (over 6′).  You can see the dock before and after each tide.

Being at the first mooring gave us the best view to watch the beautiful full moon rise over the palm trees.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We visited Enemonit toward the end of October.  Don’t miss our adventures at Eneko which we shared in our last blog post.