Marshall Islands: Getting there & around

Majuro International Airport and Kwajalein Airport are served by Continental Micronesia - which links the islands to Guam and Honolulu - and Air Nauru/Our Airline-which flies between Majuro and Kiribati, Nauru and Brisbane, Australia. Travellers leaving the Marshalls must pay a US$20.00 departure tax.

Although there are inter-island boats within Micronesia, it's rare to find any sort of passenger vessel going to the Marshalls from countries outside the region, save the occasional private yacht.

Airstrips on many atolls are served by Air Marshall Islands puddlejumpers. Majuro and Kwajalein are the centres; a flight between the two takes around 50 minutes.

Majuro has a fine, incredibly cheap shared-taxi system that's very easy to use - just stand at the side of the road and wave when they come by. There are also 15-passenger minivan taxis that generally stick to the island's main road. Either way, they're frequent and affordable.

Car rental is possible on Majuro at reasonable rates. Visitors are allowed to drive in Majuro for 30 days with their home country's driver's license. Petrol is twice as expensive as in the US, half as much as in Europe. Driving is on the right.

Hotels can arrange boat rentals for you, but it's cheaper to cut out the middleman by making arrangements yourself - ask around the docks for private boat hire. State-run boats also ply routes between islands, but the service is irregular.