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Exclusive Yacht Club in Rongerik

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Rongerik is an uninhabited atoll.  The only visitors here are private yachts seeking solitude and remote beauty.

However, if you are in the know, you can find a hidden treasure on one of the small islands, tucked into the woods.  What kind of treasure? A small “yacht club.”  Seven years ago some very creative cruisers established a private space for future cruisers.  There are no coordinates, no markings, and no indication of a club.  You have to know exactly what island it is on and where it is located in order to find it.  It is not visible from the beach.

How it Started

Fishing floats, random items, and trash float up on to the windward side of every island of every atoll.  The clever cruisers gathered some items and the yacht club was born.  

Cruisers made the table from an old crate and fishing floats. The swing was made from a large fishing float cut in half and the RYC sign at the entry appears to be an old surfboard.  Then of course several floats with boat names and random items hidden in trees.

Please keep in mind that we are not leaving our trash behind, we simply took items off the shores and created this unique and interesting space to enjoy.

Matt and I wanted to scope out what already at the yacht club before we started our search. We were looking for unique items to mark our visit.  

It was great fun to recognize several of our friends that have been here over the years.

Some cruisers got super creative.  They made wind chimes, a seat, table, and more.

Go Big or Go Home.

We had a lot of different ideas.  But they all hinged on what we could find on the island.  We scored the best item!  Matt and I found HUGE 2′ 5″ long pair of binoculars. They had a 25 x 150 zoom!  Makes you wonder how big the ship was that they came from.

We had to schlep the binoculars 200 meters to the corner of the island. We picked them up with the dinghy and brought them closer to the club.

RYC Signage

Matt and I found a large piece of drift wood on the windward side of the island. It became the perfect canvas for a sign so we carried this drift wood back to the beach. My creative husband hand carved “Rongerik Yacht Club.”    I think this is super cool and it looks really sharp!

A New Hammock

We picked up a large net from a FAD and made a hammock.

Matt and I spent several days cleaning the space. We then hung our new sign, hammock, binoculars, and float. 

We are felt pretty proud of ourselves.  Hopefully, others will enjoy our contributions when they visit.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events.  The events from this blog post occurred in December 2025. 

Check out the Enchantment of Rongerik in our last blog post.

The Enchantment of Rongerik

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Despite the hardships this beautiful atoll has endured over the last 80+ years it is one of the most beautiful places to visit.  We had the pleasure of visiting 8 of the 12 islands on the perimeter of the Rongerik Atoll.

This is our beautiful anchorage between Rongerik Island and Bird Island. Look at the various colors of blue!

Most of the island have this stunning pink sand on the lagoon side that has crystal clear turquoise waters lapping up their shores.

On the windward side (ocean side) you can find these pretty little pools of water with crabs, fish, and eels thriving.

A few of the islands have coral walls that put on an impressive water display when the waves crash against them.

Sand dollars covered one part of the beach on Rongerik Island. It was a treasure trove of beautiful shells.  I tried so hard to walk around them so as not to ruin the beauty for others.

Loads of Bird Colonies

One island has been apply named “Bird Island.”  However, most of the islands are heavily populated by a variety of birds, including boobies, frigates, terns, and oh so many more.  When humans come ashore, the birds become super curious. These birds are not used to seeing two legged creatures.  Many will fly right over your head or swoop down you to check you out.

We did our best to stay on the outer perimeter of the island – as close to the water’s edge as possible so as not to disturb the birds and their nests.

So Many Babies

The good news is that we came across many birds nests with 1-2 eggs in each nest.  I’d say half were on the ground and half in the trees.  The nests on the ground are a clear indication that there are no rates on the islands.  Check out this beautiful blue egg.

We also came across over a dozen infants and teenagers.  They are so cute when they are so fuzzy!  Yes, I have a very good zoom on my camera. We tried to always be 10 meters from the nest and the babies.

Turtle Nests

The other beauty about rat-less islands is the survival of the turtle nests.  We encountered so many nests but never saw any baby or mamma turtles.  

We came across an old ship wreck. Only the bow remains.

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual events.  We were in Rongerik during the last week of December and early January 2025. Don’t miss out on our last blog post on The Haunted Past of the Northern Atolls.

A Haunted History

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Far up in the North West side of the Ralik Island Chain lies several remote and isolated atolls.  These beautiful atolls were once alive with communities and abundant in wildlife.  However, today, they are still recovering from the nuclear tests conducted by the U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s.  The impacted atolls include Bikini, Enewetok, Rongerik, Rongelap, Alinginae, and several others.

Bikini Atoll was the detonation site of many nuclear tests and the famous Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb.  This atoll received the largest contamination and destruction. 

The Bikini residents were temporarily relocated to Rongerik.  They were told they could move back to their homes after the nuclear tests. This proved to be incredibly false.  Bikini is still radioactive today and remains uninhabited 80 years later. 

Residents leaving Bikini Atoll in 1946 – Courtesy of WikiCommons

Residents leaving Bikini Atoll in 1946 – Courtesy of WikiCommons

The Bikini islanders tried to create new communities. However, Rongerik could not provide enough food to support the population.  Many locals were extremely malnourished and or starving so after two years they were all relocated to Kwajalein. The Bikinians were relocated to Kili Island for their third move. 

The Damage to the Northern Atolls

On March 1, 1954, these atolls were exposed to radioactive fallout as a result of the detonation of Operation Castle‘s Bravo.

Bikini’s neighboring islands: Rongelap, Alinginae, Enewetok, and Bikimi make up the north west atoll groups.  Rongerik and Alinginae being the smallest of the four atolls.  All of the islands across all of these atolls are still uninhabited today.

Haunted Legend of Rongerik

Rongerik is an unpopulated coral atoll consisting of 17 islands.  The total land area is only 1.68 kilometers (.065 sq. miles), but the islets surround a lagoon of 144 sq kilometers (56 sq. miles).

In addition to its sad past with nuclear weapons, the beautiful atoll is thought to be haunted by the Demon Girls of Ujae.  The legend states that the irooj (chief) set to kill two demon sisters from Ujae after they stole yellow fragrant flowers from his sacred and very beautiful tree.  But once he saw the sisters he decided to take them both as his wives. 

They lived in harmony until the girls convinced the irooj to allow them to visit their family in Ujae.  Once they returned to their home island, the sister’s family sought to kill the irooj.  The elder sister escaped but the younger sister wanted to stay with her husband.  After a fight the irooj and the younger sister escaped back to Rongerik. 

The gods allowed them to escape.  However, they told the irooj that he had to keep his wife with him at all times. The irooj forgot once and went fishing on his own.  The angered gods killed the irooj and forced the sister to remain on Rongerik. Broken hearted and trapped. Locals tell stories of how they’ve heard her screams late into the night.

We did not hear her screams, but we did hear lots of birds.

Rongerik Today

Rongerik is a beautiful, thriving atoll, despite the unhappy history and legend of the demon sisters.  The waters are incredibly beautiful with millions of shades of clear blue sparkling water.  The birds and turtles are thriving here along with the flora and fauna making it a true paradise to visit.

Getting to Rongerik

It was a 20 hour passage from Likiep to Rongerik (an overnight sail).  We flew the genoa in 18-25kts of easterly winds and 3m seas.  It was a bit choppy, but not horribly uncomfortable.  We had 3 fishing lines out. We landed two yellow fin tuna while we were still in the lee of Likiep.  The poles went away for the rest of the trip as both freezers were full.  Can you see both tuna in the bottom right photo?

More Fun Links on Rongerik

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Rongerik during the last part of December 2024.  We discover European artifacts from the 1800’s in Likiep – check out the last post.