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MARSHALL ISLANDS ATOLLS
Taongi Atoll in the Marshall Islands, NASA
The Marshall Islands contain about 10 percent of the world's atolls, including the largest, second-largest, and fourth-largest atolls in the world. The atolls that make up the Marshall Islands developed on flat-topped volcanic seamounts that once rose above the sea and later sank under the weight of the coral reefs that grew around the fringes of the mountains. Classic atoll islands are narrow and flat and are grouped around a central lagoon. Entiwetok Atoll is a circle of calcium carbonate rock 34 kilometers (21 miles) wide, 42 kilometers (26 miles) long and 1,524 meters (5,000 feet) thick.
Atoll islands are usually low, long and narrow and circle a lagoon between many or several islands. The lagoons of some atolls are so large that it is difficult to see all the islands from any particular point. All of the Marshall Islands atolls have islands with white-sand beaches. Some islands are so low that they disappear during high tide, while others become connected during low tide. The widest island, Wotje, is less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) wide. The highest elevation, 34 feet (10.4 meters), is found on Likiep. There are more than 800 major reefs in the Marshall Islands.
The Ratak (Sunrise) Group contains Mili, Majuro, Maloelap, Wotje, Likiep, Rongelap, Ailinginae, Bikini, Enewetok, and Ujelang Atolls. The Sunset (Ralik) Group includes Namorik, Ebon, Jaluit, Ailinglaplap, and Kwajalein Atolls. Calalien Pass, the main channel in Majuro, is deep and wide; its configuration allows large container ships to pass between the ocean and the lagoon. The ocean floor around the Marshall Islands is also the final resting several Japanese and American warship sunk during World War II (1941-45). [Source: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Physical Geography, 2003]
Majuro Atoll
Majuro Atoll is the most important atoll in the Marshall Islands. Even before the arrival of Europeans the most heavily settled part of the Marshall Islands, it is very Westernized, dirty and crowded. The atoll’s population of 23,150 people is squeezed onto a narrow slice of land in which the ocean is often visible on both sides. Majuro means "two openings" or "two eyes" and refers to the two major northern passages through the atoll into the Majuro lagoon.
Majuro atoll is made up of 64 small islands that extend around an oval lagoon for 101 kilometers (63 miles). The main islands have been connected by bridges, causeways and a 56-kilometer (35-mile) paved road. The breaks between the islands look more like small rivers or bays so that the main islands appears to be only long extended island.
Relatively densely-populated Majuro Atoll
Majuro Atoll’s has a land area of 9.7 square kilometers (3.7 square miles). It’s elliptically-shaped reef is 40 kilometers (25 miles) long and encloses a lagoon of 295 square kilometers (114 square miles).The atoll is famously narrow, with typical land widths ranging between 100 to 300 meters (330 to 1,000 feet) and some sections as thin as 80 meters (262 feet). Geographic Coordinates: 7 06 N, 171 23 E.
Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands. There are governmental buildings on three fused islands on the eastern side of the atoll: Djarrit, Uliga, and Delap: Even the most densely populated areas on Majuro resemble a village more than they do a town. Pigs, chickens and dogs have their run of the place and many people simply climb a coconut tree when they get hungry. There are few natural sandy beaches in the densely populated areas of Majuro and the waters in the lagoon here are polluted and not very good for swimming.
Majuro is surrounded by a barrier reef with many channels between the open sea. Inside the barrier reef the water is shallow and filled with grasses. Outside the reef there are coral drop offs and vertical walls with large numbers of fish. Visibility is often over 30 meters (100 feet) and divers regularly see grey sharks, white tip sharks, Eagle Rays, schools of jacks, tuna and, occasionally, Manta Rays. Many of the lagoons's small islands, which can only be reached by boat, have good snorkeling and pleasant white sand beaches.
D.U.D
D.U.D. (say each letter, don't say "Dud") is an abbreviation for Darrid, Uliga and Delpa — the three main islands of Majuro atoll. D.U.D. covers about 15.5 square kilometers (six square mile)s and is where most of the people on Majuro live. It contains the administrative and commercial center of Marshall Islands. Although it is the most populated part of the Marshall Islands, it is still pretty laid back and quiet.
Sensors at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS) at Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands; controlled at the Ronald Reagan Test Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site Operations Center in Huntsville, Alabama
D.U.D.'s paved main road has a surprising amount a traffic for such a small place. On the main road are most of the town's — and the Marshall Islands’s — shops, and restaurant as well as a few beat up concrete buildings and a few modern structure. The side streets look like villages.
There isn't all that much too see or do in D.U.D. Laura Village is a traditional area where people live much as they do on the outer islands. A camouflaged Japanese tanks sits next to the tourist office and a couple of beaches are scattered around the town. The waterfront has a some fishing boats and businesses that reek of diesel. State office buildings are located on the town's highest hill. The headquarters of the Marshall Islands national government is located five kilometers (three miles) away in Palikir.
Kwajalein — the World's Largest Atoll
Kwajalein is the world's largest atoll based on land area. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it has a coral reef that is 294 kilometers (176 miles) long and encloses a lagoon, of 2,850 square kilometers (1,100 square miles). The 93 to 97 island and islets have a combined landmass of just over 15.5 square kilometers (6 square miles).
Kwajalein Atoll was the site of a famous World War II battle and is used as a U.S. missile test range; The entire ring-shaped coral reef and island chain of Kwajalein Atoll spans roughly 106 to 126 kilometers (66 to 78 miles) in length and reaches a maximum width of 29 kilometers (18 miles). Kwajalein Island itself—the southernmost and largest individual island within the atoll— is only 4 kilometers (2.5miles) long and averages only about 730 meters (800 yards) in width.
Kwajalein ‘s massive central lagoon stretches over 145 kilometers (90 miles) is covers a water area of approximately 2,174 to 2,176 square kilometers (839 to 840 square miles). Some sources record its size as up to 2,850 square kilometers (1,100 square miles). These have reef boundaries that extend further into the sea.
Kwajalein Missile Test Range
Kwajalein Atoll is also one of the world's largest missile testing range. Leased by the Marshallese to the U.S. Department of Defense and known to the U.S. military as the "World's Largest Catcher's Mitt," the lagoon is the target for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM's) fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, 6,760 kilometers (4,200 miles) away. Most of the missile tests are conducted at night when the sky is sometimes lit up with disintegrating debris. In the morning Air Force divers salvage the pieces from the bottom of the lagoon. The $2 billion facility at Kwajalein was also a major testing range for Strategic defense Initiative (SDI, "Star Wars") technology.
About 3,000 Defense Department employees and their families live on Kwajalein Island (known locally as "Kwaj") at the southern end of the atoll. The radar systems, microwave and satellite dishes, computer and tracking equipment of the missile testing range are located in facilities on Kwajalein island, Roi-Namur Island in the north and some smaller islands in between. These islands are off limits to visitors. People arriving at Kwajalein Island have to go to nearby Ebeye Island.
The test area is called the Ronald Reagan Space and Missile Test Range. It serves as the primary Pacific target and tracking site for unarmed U.S. Minuteman III ICBMs launched from California, as well as interceptor rockets and anti-ballistic missile tests launched directly from the atoll. Since 1959, over a thousand test warheads have been fired into the atoll’s lagoon. The missile tests provide critical data for U.S. missile defense programs and space surveillance.
Ebeye Island and Diving in Kwajalein Lagoon
Ebeye Island is the 31-hectare (78-acre) home of about 1,500 Marshallese workers who work on Kwajalein Island and 7,500 other people — many of them family members of the workers. Unlike Kwajalein, which is like an American suburb transplanted to the middle of the Pacific, Ebeye is a crowded and makeshift and only 200 meters (660 feet) wide and 1.6 kilometers (one mile) long. Some people live in plywood shacks. In the past and maybe still so today sanitation was poor and the water in the lagoon was very polluted. Visitors usually stay at one of the islands three hotels. A pass may be required to get through the transit area at Kwajalein Island.
Sando Island is the home of Marshallese laborers who work on Roi-Namur. It is possible to see a ruined Japanese communication facility and large bomb shelters on Sando. Mejato island, on the northern part of the atoll, was the home of 350 Rongelapese, many of whom were sickened by Bikini Snow during a hydrogen bomb test in 1954. Boats to the aforementioned islands can be arranged with speedboat owners on Ebeye.
Kwajalein lagoon contains dozens of sunken Japanese ships plus an expansive "Airplane Graveyard" containing roughly 150 scuttled U.S. aircraft, as well as the famous sunken German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Kwajalein is highly restricted and not open to general tourists or casual divers.
Since it is a U.S. military base access is strictly limited to military personnel, contractors, or those with special government sponsorship. Casual commercial dive resorts do not operate for the public. On-base personnel utilize private setups like the local Kwajalein Dive Center (or, historically, programs associated with base recreation). The Anrohasa Hotel and Hotel Ebeye are located on the separate, local population center of Ebeye Island, rather than serving as the base of operations for diving the secure military atoll.
Marshall Islands Atolls Popular with Tourists
Mili Atoll is the most popular outer island destination for foreign visitors because it has nice beaches, friendly residents, and is relatively easy to reach. The home of a Japanese air base during World War II, Mili has many ruined buildings and wrecked warplanes and other weapons. The only problem with the atoll is that its numerous bomb craters have been turned into breeding ponds for mosquitoes.
Second only to Kwajalein in land area, Mili Atoll is made up of several dozen islands with a land area of about 15.9 square kilometers (6 square miles) surrounding a lagoon of about 760 square kilometers (294 square miles). It has a population of about 850. The main village on Mili Island (the main island) is about a 400 meter (quarter-mile) walk from the airport. The nicest beaches are on the lagoon side of Mili Island, and many of the small islands near Mili can be reached on foot during low tide. Wau Island has a giant clam hatchery and some excellent diving sites nearby.
Maloelap Atoll is where you can find Taroa, the island with the main Japanese air base during World War II. War relics include wrecked Zero and Betty bombers, pillboxes, guns, a ruined airfield, a narrow-gauge railroad, and a radio station. On the southern tip of the island there is a 127-millimeter anti-aircraft gun and a howitzer on wheels. The most popular dive site is the Toroshima Maru, a Japanese freighter that is only half submerged. A number of sharks and a grouper the size of a human live around the shipwreck.
Maloelap Atoll has a land area of about 11 square kilometers (4 square miles) and a lagoon area of about 972 square kilometers (375 square miles). The atoll has a population of about 800. In addition to Taroa, there are four other populated islands located 6, 16, 18, and 32 miles (10, 26, 29, and 51 kilometers) from Taroa. These islands have few war relics. Uninhabited Pigeeyatto ("Papaya Island") has a ruined maritime radio transmitter station. Air Marshall Islands flies between Majuro and Taroa. Visitors are not uncommon, and many stay in huts arranged through the mayor's office. Speedboats are used to travel between the islands.
Arno Atoll (14 kilometers, 9 miles from Majuro) is the closest atoll to the capital. It has 133 islands, two airstrips, about 1,700 people, a land area of about 13 square kilometers (5 square miles), and a lagoon area of about 338 square kilometers (130 square miles). The atoll is famous for deep-sea fishing and its "love school," where young girls were instructed in the art of lovemaking. The best fishing is off Langer Point, where tuna, marlin, sailfish, and mahi-mahi are caught. Arno Island has a Japanese-financed fishing fleet and cold-storage facility. Every month about tons of of tuna and reef fish are shipped to Majuro.
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll was a lovely group of islands with beautiful beaches before it was used as a testing site for 23 nuclear devices, including the largest hydrogen bomb ever detonated by the United States. According to legend, it was the favorite island of Loa, the god who created the Marshall Islands. Before the first bombs were exploded in 1946, the islands' 161 residents were relocated to other islands.
Bikini Atoll has a land area of about 2.3 square miles (6 square kilometers) surrounding a lagoon of about 229 square miles (594 square kilometers). In the 1970s, the Bikinians were told it was safe to return home, and many did, only to find that two of the islands had disappeared and others were treeless and covered with debris. Even so, they tried to stay and make a living as best they could until 1978, when they were told that food grown in the radiation-contaminated soil was unsafe and they were relocated again.
Divers sometimes travel to Bikini Lagoon to see the aircraft carrier Saratoga, the battleships Nagato and Arkansas, and several destroyers and cruisers that were sunk when two bombs were detonated during Operation Crossroads. Located at a depth of 15 to 55 meters (50 feet to 180) feet, the Saratoga is the only sunken aircraft carrier accessible to divers. The highest point is the top of the bridge and the lowest point is the bottom of the lagoon. Impressive sights include the enormous bow and Helldiver aircraft with live 227-kilogram (500-pound) bombs, and a 3.5 to 6 meter (12- to 20-foot-deep), 61-meter (200-foot) -long gash in the flight deck, probably created by water and sediment that fell back to earth after being thrown skyward by the bomb. Experts say divers face little danger from the bombs or radiation. Eleven other large vessels and ten smaller ones were sunk by the explosions, including the battleships Arkansas and Nagato and the submarines Pilotfish and Apogon.
See Separate Article: NUCLEAR TESTING IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS AND THE FALLOUT ON PEOPLE THERE factsanddetails.com
Other Marshall Islands Atolls and Islands
Other atolls include Wotje Atoll (population about 650), known for its jungle-covered World War II wreckage; Jaluit Atoll , with a land area of about 3.4 square kilometers (1.3 square miles) and a lagoon area of about 700 square kilometers (270 square miles), known for its excellent diving, coral reefs, and plane and shipwrecks; Kili, an 81-hectare (200-acre) island where about 900 of Bikini's 2,050 inhabitants were resettled; Aur Atoll, with about 450 people, a land area of about 6 square kilometers (2.3 square miles), a lagoon area of about 62 square kilometers (24 square miles), and good snorkeling and diving; and Ailinglaplap Atoll, the Marshall Islands' third-largest atoll, with a land area of about 14 square kilometers (5.4 square miles), a lagoon area of about 750 square kilometers (290 square miles), a large protected lagoon, good swimming and snorkeling, about 1,700 people, and many copra-producing palms. These atolls and islands can be reached by regular Air Marshall Islands flights from Majuro.
Wotho Atoll, with a land area of about 2.6 square kilometers (1 square mile) and a lagoon area of about 91 square kilometers (35 square miles), is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful atolls in the world. Many people speak only a little English. Ailuk Atoll, with a land area of about 5.2 square kilometers (2 square miles) and a lagoon area of about 179 square kilometers (69 square miles), is where flying fish are caught at night using scoop nets and lights. The inhabitants of Namorik, a beautiful diamond-shaped atoll with a land area of about 2.8 square kilometers (1 square mile) and a lagoon area of about 8 square kilometers (3 square miles), have discussed building a hotel.
Likiep Atoll consists of 60 islands situated around a shallow lagoon. The atoll has a land area of about 10.5 square kilometers (4 square miles) and a lagoon area of about 422 square kilometers (163 square miles). With a resident population of about 500 islanders, the atoll has been nicknamed "the Williamsburg of the Pacific" because of its Western-style homes. Many of the inhabitants are descendants of a German trader and Portuguese harpooners who married local women and ran copra plantations on the atoll.
Mejit Island is a single island that is not part of any atoll. Covering about 1.9 square kilometers (three-quarters of a square mile), this lovely island is covered with lush vegetation, coconut palms, and breadfruit trees. California Beach has good swimming and snorkeling, and there is a freshwater lake in the middle of the island used by migrating ducks. On weekends men go out to sea and fish from their traditional dugout korkor canoes. Peace Corps training sessions often take place here, and consequently people are accustomed to foreigners and speak English.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: CIA World Factbook; “Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Volume 2: Oceania,” edited by Terence E. Hays, 1991, Wikipedia, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Encyclopedia.com, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated July 2026