The Marshall Islands is one of the most remote countries on earth — a scatter of 29 atolls and 5 islands strung across a vast stretch of the central Pacific, with a total land area barely larger than Washington D.C. Most of that land sits less than two metres above sea level. The country lives on the front line of climate change in a way that almost no other nation does.
Two things define the Marshall Islands more than anything else. The first is the sea: the lagoons here are enormous, the diving is world-class, and the outer islands feel genuinely cut off from the modern world. The second is history — specifically, the United States' decision to use Bikini and Enewetak atolls as nuclear test sites between 1946 and 1958, detonating 67 weapons and displacing communities that have never fully returned home. That legacy — medical, environmental, political — runs through everything here.
Majuro, the capital, is where almost half the country's 38,000 people live. It is functional rather than beautiful — a long, thin strip of land lined with a single road — but it has the country's only real restaurants, its museum, and its international airport. The outer atolls are where the real Pacific reveals itself: Arno is close enough for a day trip from Majuro, while Jaluit has a quieter, more traditional feel. Kwajalein is dominated by a large U.S. military base and largely off-limits to visitors, though nearby Ebeye is accessible.
Tourism is modest and infrastructure outside Majuro is minimal. This is not a place for travelers who need comfort. But for divers, open-water sailors, history enthusiasts, and people who want to experience what genuine remoteness feels like, it is hard to beat.
Destinations in Marshall Islands
Majuro Arno Atoll Bikini Atoll Enewetak Atoll Jaluit Atoll Kwajalein Atoll Maloelap Atoll Mili Atoll Ujelang Atoll Wotje Atoll
