London, Nov 24: Visiting the watery wonderland of the Marshall Islands is now a viable adventure option.
To tempt tourists to make the leap up to the north Pacific atoll country, the Australian-managed airline Air Nauru has just added the capital of Majuro to its Pacific destinations.
The airline has an introductory fare from Brisbane from $715 plus tax; from Melbourne, $735 plus tax.
The Micronesian Republic has 181sqkm of land on 29 atolls and five small islands that sit in almost two million square kilometres of ocean just north of the equator, so there are lots of opportunities to get wet.
Best known around the world for Bikini Atoll, the site of nuclear testing by America in the 1940s and `50s, the Marshall Islands has a small, but steadily growing tourism industry that`s focused mainly on diving and deep-sea game fishing.
The most spectacular underwater adventure can be found at Bikini, which boasts the world`s largest "diveable" shipwreck: the 39,000 tonne-USS Saratoga, which was sunk in 1946 as part of an atomic blast, code-named Baker.
The atoll`s only inhabitants are a handful of scientists and the crew of Bikini Atoll Dive. Rongelap Atoll is also uninhabited (except for a skeleton crew) and offers more relaxed dive adventures through the company Rongelap Expeditions, which has a large live-aboard boat. This atoll offers some of the best reef diving in the world, with an amazing array of corals and sea life.
That said, Majuro Atoll and other nearby atolls, also have world-class diving serviced by three main dive operations: Bako Divers, Yokwe Divers (Yokwe is Marshallese for "hello"), and Marshalls Dive Adventures, which mainly caters to Asian divers.
The lagoon is full of coral pinnacles. These hard coral gardens are amazing, colourful and teeming with life. Like huge condominium complexes, the ecosystems are home to almost every type of animal in the sea.
It`s a rare day in Majuro that a boat heads out to sea and returns without fish for supper. Anglers fly in from all over the world to match wits with monster marlin, sailfish and tuna.
There are dozens of boats available for charter, including Yokwe Divers` 9m Wildfire and two 12m powerboats called XXXX (the favourite beer on the island) and Kirtake.
Skippers of all boats are members of the Marshalls Billfish Club, which holds monthly tournaments and an international tourney in late August.
While most fishing takes place around Majuro and nearby Arno Atoll, it`s possible to hire a boat to take you fishing anywhere in the Marshalls. The easiest of the far-flung spots to cast a line, however, are Bikini and Rongelap, with the latter having a permanent expert game fishing captain on the atoll.
How to reach: Air Nauru (1300 369 044) does not fly from Sydney, but begins 737-400 flights from Melbourne on July 11 and Brisbane from July 12 at low-season rates.
Accomodation: Rooms from about $40 at Flame Tree Backpackers Hostel, to about $200 for a lagoonside cottage at Enterprises Hotel.
Packages: Allways Dive Expeditions (1800 338 239) has seven nights Bikini Atoll diving on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, the Japanese battleship Nagato and many others plus four nights at Majuro Atoll, from $5840 including air fares and all meals at Bikini. Dive Adventures (02 9299 4633) has a similar package available at $6199.
Bureau Report
