Waves of Memory: Exploring the Marshall Islands

Arial view of the atoll in Majuro, the main island of the Marshall Islands.

My arrival at the Marshall Islands Airport was in stark contrast to the one at the Federated States of Micronesia, despite Marshall Islands having the smaller population by more than half. Although again, only three tourists and disembarked, our reception was much greater. Most other passengers, a mix of Australian tourists chasing he perfect wave in FSM (Federated States of Micronesia) and other islanders stayed on the plane as it continued its journey to Kiribati, Nauru or its final destination, Brisbane. Two of us were already familiar; Carlos (not his real name), was the German traveller I met in Palau, discovering we were on the same weekly route on the Nauru Islands Island Hopper and we had recently become acquainted with Silvia, an Italian woman when Carlos generously offered her (and anyone else in the FSM departure lounge) some of his snacks.  This time I ensured through numerous reminder messages that my hotel pickup was actually coming. Carlos and Silvia discovered that they were staying at the same hostel, which wasn’t far from my hotel so I suggested that they could cheekily jump into the mini bus with me and get off at MIR; hopefully the driver wouldn’t ask too many questions. Carlos intended to find out their prices anyway in case the hostel wasn’t much chop. It was fortunate that the minibus was late as it gave us an opportunity to witness the public’s reaction to the arrival of Miss Pacific Islands, who it turns out had been sitting in the seat in front of me during the flight. As I was the first person out of immigration, I was able to greet Miss Marshall Islands, there to meet her peer, who willingly and modestly posed for a photo, but without all the pouty, stick one knee forward, suck the belly in confidence of the influencers of today. Once out, we were greeted with local musicians, cheering, banners and balloons, a great welcoming party similar to what occurs in Fiji and Polynesian islands. It may have been all for Miss Pacific Islands, her arrival the highlight of the tweeny girls queuing up for a selfie with her but we were happy to join in.

Moemoana Safa'ato'a Schwenke, representing Samoa, Miss Pacific Islands 2024 and Claret Taonang ChongGum, Miss Marshall Islands being enthusiastically welcomed at the airport in Majuro.

Our trip to Marshall Islands allowed us to bear witness to what it is like living in an atoll. The main island of Majuro is a strip of land so narrow that you are always reminded that there is sea swaddling you as it is visible on both sides. By the time I arrived at my hotel, Marshall Islands Resort (MIR) I was delighted to again see the male dancers that had willingly posed for photos for me at the airport. Their uniform of Micronesian patterned shirts was only customised by their various coloured mirror lens glasses which they loved to adorn striking a pose. The Miss Pacific Islands entourage had left without seeing them dance at the airport, so they were patiently waiting for their chance at the resort, where of course, being the ‘best hotel in Majuro’ MPI was staying at.

The view from the window of my hotel room at Marshall Islands Resort.

Marshall Islands Resort, known colloquially as MIR in Majuro is the centre of town both physically and socially. Built in 1996, it would have been the pinnacle of luxury tourism in what was a new country. I am assuming most of the signs, furniture and fixtures are still from this era, exuding, as some say, a ‘retro charm’. The resort’s faded grandeur is part of its appeal—think open-air lobbies, ocean views, and a laid-back island atmosphere that immediately makes you feel at home.

The rooms at MIR are spacious and functional, featuring air conditioning, Wi-Fi (when it works), and balconies with views of either the lagoon or the ocean. It’s not about extravagance here; it’s about embracing the slow pace of island life. - Young Pioneers tour website.

A recent Tripadvisor review was somewhat less flattering: “A terrible hotel, but perhaps the best on Majuro”.

My hopes for the widely advertised fully equipped gym and swimming pool were soon dashed as the swimming pool was closed and the gym room I walked past was full of old broken furniture. This was all despite signage on the website and around the hotel advertising them.  “It is ‘under construction’”, was the answer given by the receptionist when I enquired about the gym (more like deconstruction, I thought).

That retro charm meant limited working power points, a toilet that barely flushed (you had to hold down the handle and count to 10) and a gym and pool no longer functioning.

On a positive note, every room had an ocean view and a small balcony, and I enjoyed many evenings watching the sun set from my balcony (and the occasional fisherman). The restaurant offered delicious fish dinners and great sunset views too.

As MIR is considered the best hotel in Majuro, it attracts important visitors such as Miss Pacific Islands and her two-person entourage who I discovered were on the same weekly route as me on the Nauru Airlines Island Hopper. Miss PI 2024-25 was Moemoana Safa\'ato\'a Schwenk from Samoa, following in the footsteps of her mother who was a past winner. Moemoana was the 35^th Miss Pacific Islands.

Sunset view from Marshall Islands Resort's restaurant.

The only other rival to MIR in Majuro is Robert Reimers Hotel, part of RRE or Robert Reimers Enterprise, at the opposite end of the Majuro Atoll. Robert Reimers, born to a German father and Marshallese mother in 1909 built the enterprises which now include hotels, shopping centres, hardware stores, travel agents and dive boat operations at Majuro.  He is considered Marshall Islands’ first entrepreneur. I had actually prebooked at this hotel but I exhausted my patience waiting for responses to my emails leading me to subsequently book at MIR. I did however return to the hotel to meet Carlos and Silvia for a boat trip to Eneko Island and later for a farewell dinner for Silvia.

A small island on the way to Eneko Island.

Enjoying the pristine beach and good snorkelling at Eneko Island.

Many tourists would consider Eneko Island the highlight of a visit to the Marshall Islands due to its pristine snorkel worthy beach and general cleanliness. There are beach houses you can book to stay overnight but there is no power, which provides a genuine escape from digital detox experience. The only others on the beach were a German family of three and three United flight attendants, so it was easy to get to know everyone.

Carlos, Silvia and I at RRE (Robert Reimers Enterprise) Hotel, about to watch the sunset. 

Returning to RRE for dinner with Carlos and Silvia, I found that whilst the food was ordinary, the sunset viewing was to die for. We also met a Hawaiian family and an elderly man who I assumed was their (white) father; I had a chat with him, which revealed that he had lived on MI for most of his life, was married and had eleven adult children, most of whom had left the island (moved to Hawaii, presumably).

Laura Beach, one of the few beaches on mainland Majuro where it's safe to swim. 

For some, the only downside of the Nauru Airlines Island Hopper schedule is the necessity to stay in each country (except Kiribati) for at least a week. A fast traveller could therefore exhaust all the sites within a couple of days and be left with time to spare. Fortunately, our party of three discovered that there was one more beach safe to swim in at the opposite side of the island and this became the focus of a hire car road trip. Laura Beach is privately owned but the locals are usually happy for tourists to swim there as long as they make a donation. It is sometimes described as the only beach in Majuro; perhaps it’s the only beach safe enough to swim in!

The delightfully hand-painted Bookmobile at the Alele Museum.

If not in a hire car, the only other way to get around is with share taxis. The drivers hardly needed the rigors of the ‘knowledge’ of London cabbies; the drive was either north or south along the long atoll. Things get really exciting in the one part of the island that has two parallel roads with the necessity of making a right or left hand turn; almost a blockie! Unsurprisingly, every driver knew where Robert Reimers or Marshall Islands Resort was and for a mere $2USD you can be transported up and down the island alongside whoever else can squeeze into the taxi with no need for schedules, just a confident hand to flag them down. Much easier than waiting for an Uber!

Bus shelter near the Alele Museum, ironic, as there are no public buses.

Although I love long walks, the lack of footpaths and weather extremities led me to use this service frequently and on one of these excursions I visited the local museum. Easy to locate, the Alele Museum is in the main road and next door to the Public Archive building. Nearby was the local lawcourts which provided a good survey of civics signwriting. In fact most of the signage in Majuro was hand painted, and some signage simply hand-written (see image of the Family Planning Building sign below).

I'd love to know what the hand written sign says on the door of the Family Planning Clinic. 

Within the Alele Museum, the rooms were small, cluttered and poorly lit, but the content was significant in showcasing the history and culture of the Marshall Islands. Alongside distinctively Marshallese raffia woven fans and skirts, a unique traditional map and various weapons was a wall of pictures and details about what should be considered one of the worst offences made by the US.

Low tech but highly significant displays of the Atomic and Nuclear testing that occurred in the Marshall Islands.

Museum displays showing the giant Runit Dome, sometimes known as The Tomb, full of nuclear waste.

Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, primarily at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls, with bombs 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The Marshallese were convinced by the US army that this was for the good of god, given that they had rescued Marshall Islands from WWII.

The nuclear tests resulted in widespread environmental contamination and significant health consequences for the Marshallese including immediate health consequences such as burns, hair loss, radiation sickness, and more and long-term impacts such as increased rates of birth defects, genetic disorders, and secondary cancers. The lack of physical evidence of the birth defects is largely due to the embarrassment of the mothers and low life expectancy. Babies were sometimes born without bones leading to the term ‘jelly babies’.

Land became uninhabitable because of high radiation levels, leading to displacement of people from their ancestral homes.

“After centuries of colonial rule, the people of the Marshall Islands and the wider Pacific, were made 20th century victims of a nuclear arms race which for them was never a ‘Cold War’,” said Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific. 

It is difficult to visit Bikini atoll now and suggested that it’s not a good idea given that residual radiation is still present. Although many living on Bikini and Kili islands eventually returned to their land, they are now facing the dramatic effects of climate change. 

If there could be a fun fact:  Bikini eventually became the inspiration for the movie Godzilla, in which a radioactive monster rises from an American nuclear test and attacks Japan, and of course, the bikini bathing costume. French designer Louis Réard introduced the two-piece swimsuit in 1946 and named it "bikini," believing it would have as much impact on society as the nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll. 

But there is more:

After years of nuclear testing, in the late 1970s, a concrete dome measuring 114 meters in diameter and filled with radioactive waste (some of it shipped from Nevada, where it was testing nuclear weapons on Native American land) was constructed on Bikini Island. Over time, climate change and rising sea levels have caused cracking.

 and since the Marshall Islands independence in the late 70s, the US has absolved all responsibility of the maintenance of the Dome and have left it to the Marshall Islands government. Known as the Runit Dome, it seems that the US government has left the Marshallese with a ‘ticking time bomb’[1].

After digesting this horrific instance of this beautiful small country being taken advantage, my sombre mood was somewhat ruptured by the appearance of a local man walking through the museum carrying a machete. When I enquired as to what he was using it for (thinking that it might be a museum artefact) he paused, then answered “Cut wood… for barbeque.” It was lunchtime after all, and alongside streets locals often burn wood to barbeque meat. Next to the corridor was an open door allowing me a glimpse of what I assumed to be the museum and archive staff with bain-marie style steel food containers, their enticing smell permeating the museum, either a celebration or perhaps a regular lunch about to occur.

[1] More powerful than Hiroshima: how the largest ever US nuclear weapons test built a nation of leaders in the Marshall Islands

Shiva Gounden and Shaun Burnie

28 February 2025 

The National Archives Building with hand painted sign and repurposed shipping container.

It wasn’t just the national archive that had embraced the utilitarian charm of shipping containers; throughout the main thoroughfare of Majuro, their adaptive reuse was strikingly evident. These steel giants had been transformed into everything from supermarkets and department stores to the Tobolar Copra Processing Plant, which was marked by a weathered, hand-painted sign that exuded a certain rustic authenticity.

Copra production, deriving oil from dried coconut meat, remains one of the few viable income-generating activities for Marshallese living beyond the capital. The process of transforming a coconut from something plucked off a palm into a marketable commodity involves numerous labor-intensive steps. One of the most critical stages is carried out at the Tobolar Copra Processing Authority’s facility in Majuro, where tradition and industry converge in the island’s effort to sustain its rural communities.

In recent times Tobolar has expanded its products to include bar soap, ‘beauty’ oil, and cooking oil all of which can be exported.

Hand written sign for the Copra Processing Authority.

Like the other Micronesian countries, the Marshall Islands can be seen to have a complicated history of other countries claiming ownership. In the 1840s, traders and missionaries began settling in the Marshalls, until in the late 19^th century, Germany started to claim some of the islands. In WWII, Japan established military bases with the US launching the first air raids on Japanese territory there in 1942. After WWII, the Marshalls became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, administered by the US until 1978 when it broke away from the Federated States of Micronesia to form the Republic of the Marshall Islands, with Majuro becoming its capital. The acronym RMI (Republic of Marshall Islands) can be seen adoring many buildings. In recent years, the country has focused on sustainable energy with islands such as Beran utilising solar and wind power along with rain catchments to generate energy.

One of many painted buildings, this one with RMI (Republic of Marshall Islands) adorning it.

In the travel blog for Very Hungry Nomads, Rach and Marty sum up Marshall Islands as follows: "Accommodation is super expensive and options are very limited, choices for food are slim and there isn’t much to do."

I beg to differ. 

Tourism in the Marshall Islands is still very much in its infancy, which can make securing accommodation, arranging tours, or even just getting clear information challenging. But what the islands offer goes far beyond pristine beaches and turquoise waters.

A journey here opens your eyes to a deeper narrative, one marked by resilience, loss, and the enduring impact of global decisions. Learning about the nuclear testing carried out by the U.S. government in the mid-20th century forces a confronting reflection on how the world has treated remote, less-developed nations, too often as expendable or invisible. It’s a sobering reminder of the human cost behind geopolitical choices and the urgent need to reconsider the ethics of nuclear power and waste disposal.

Yet amid this complex history, I felt a quiet privilege in walking through villages where traditional ways of life persist. Hand-painted signs, weathered buildings, and the rhythm of daily life speak to a proud culture that has endured so much and still carries on with dignity. It’s not just a destination, it’s a place that asks you to listen, to learn, and to remember.

It seems anything goes when painting your house; I love the joie de vivre of this house, just next door to Marshall Islands Resort.

Willing participants in my photoshoot outside the K&K Island Pride Wholesale Building which is adjacent to the Supermarket of the same name.

Playing games outside RRE (Robert Reimers Enterprise).