Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Oceania associated with the United States. It consists of four states – from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae – that are spread across the western Pacific Ocean. Together, the states comprise around 607 islands (a combined land area of approximately 702 km2 or 271 sq mi) that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km (1,678 mi) just north of the equator. They lie northeast of New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas, west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines, about 2,900 km (1,802 mi) north of eastern Australia, 3,400 km (2,133 mi) southeast of Japan, and some 4,000 km (2,485 mi) southwest of the main islands of Hawaii.
While the FSM’s total land area is quite small, it occupies more than 2,600,000 km2 (1,003,866 sq mi) of the Pacific Ocean, giving the country the 14th-largest exclusive economic zone in the world.
The sovereign island nation’s capital is Palikir, located on Pohnpei Island, while the largest city is Weno, located in the Chuuk Atoll.
Each of its four states is centered on one or more main high islands, and all but Kosrae include numerous outlying atolls. The Federated States of Micronesia is spread across part of the Caroline Islands in the wider region of Micronesia, which consists of thousands of small islands divided among several countries. The term Micronesia may refer to the Federated States or to the region as a whole.
The FSM was formerly a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), a United Nations Trust Territory under U.S. administration, but it formed its own constitutional government on May 10, 1979, becoming a sovereign state after independence was attained on November 3, 1986, under a Compact of Free Association with the United States. Other neighboring island entities, and also former members of the TTPI, formulated their own constitutional governments and became the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and the Republic of Palau (ROP). The FSM has a seat in the United Nations and has been a member of the Pacific Community since 1983.
FEDERATED STATES of MICRONESIA Summary Jan 5-7
Compact of Free Association with the United States.
Visa. Entry permit on arrival, FSM Arrival and Departure Record furnished by the carrier
Money. U.S. Dollar. +691
Flight. Pohnpei Airport (PNI).
Jan 5 Nauru Airlines TRW–PNI @08:05-11:30 A$609
Accommodation. Mangrove Hotel – less than 10 rooms, so book in advance. Lovely views with balconies facing the lake in every room, a good restaurant, free airport transfers, wifi, pool around the hotel is polluted. US$120/night. Rent car.
Pohnpei Surf Club on-site: Allois at pnisurfclub@gmail.com arranges tours, snorkeling and diving at Manta Road (a boat needed for the best diving spots on the island).
Laidenki Diving and Tours.
MICRONESIA – POHNPEI
POHNPEI. Pohnpei is the largest and most developed of the islands in the Federated States of Micronesia. It is roughly circular and about 60 miles around. Pohnpei is also one of the rainiest inhabited places in the world – 300 inches at elevation and 150 inches at the waterfront, and no dry season. Rain can often be seen as a relief because it cools the weather down a few degrees and keeps the humidity from feeling oppressive.
Day 1 Fri Jan 5, 2023
Up at 4:30, I showered and took the hotel shuttle with the airline crew to the airport. The flight was over an hour late.
Nauru Airlines TRW–PNI @08:05-11:30 A$609
Mangrove Bay picked me up at the airport.
I investigated the options at the hotel to see the island. Tours to Nan Madol and the waterfall were $95 if three, $105 if two and $190 if one. There were two Americans from San Diego to share but I quickly abandoned them as they couldn’t make up their mind. Snorkelling seemed to be their main objective. So I booked a rental car on my own for Saturday $65 and could see all that I wanted to for much less.
I read, slept and had dinner at the hotel.
ON Mangrove Bay Hotel US$120/night. A nice room with an ensuite but no kettle. A lovely deck over the water, a great place to sit and work with a great view, nice breeze and shade. Wifi for free. BF is not included. The hotel and dive/tour operation are all one business in the same building.
Day 2 Sat Jan 6
When I went to pick up the rental car, there were none!! so I booked for either later in the day or for Sunday. I had spent all morning working on Hiking and Climbing the West Kootenay and simply continued on that job.
Day 3 Sun Jan 4
I got my car at 9:30 and left for Nan Madol – 1 hour and 34 km. Micronesians drive very slowly on the narrow 2-lane Circle highway. The last 4 km was on very potholed pavement. It is on the eastern side of Temwen Island.
Turn right at the school and the sign Nan Madol foot trail. Take the dirt road through some houses and turn left (the sign had fallen off the pole and was lying diagonally so I missed it the first time). Pay $1 to pass the private land continuing on a very narrow dirt road to a house at the end. Park and walk through their carport to the house. Pay $3 to the family. Turn left and descend left on the path.
NAN MADOL Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia. WHS. The ruins of a 1000-year-old royal city, the ceremonial and political seat of the Saudeleur dynasty that united Pohnpei’s estimated 25,000 people from about AD 500 until 1500, when the centralized system collapsed. It is located on artificial islands linked by canals, (called “the Venice of the Pacific”, it is the only ancient, ruined city in the world built on top of a coral reef).
It is a series of canals and islands. that, until the 1600s, housed the royalty of Pohnpei.
Construction began between 1180-1200 AD. The average weight of each stone is roughly 5 tons with the heaviest being 25 tons. The basalt stones were taken from a volcanic plug located on the other side of Pohnpei. No one knows exactly how the stones were moved but the theory is that the builders from Micronesia’s other state, Kosrae, migrated to Pohnpei and began the construction of Nan Madol.
Although much is covered in the jungle or underwater, there are two visitable ruins. The first one is 40 m below the house – a very large walled compound encircled by a wall made of 5-sided basalt columns – small diameter columns alternate with large diameters laying in opposite directions. This ruin had 8 layers of columns.
Walk about 10 minutes down an elevated path of rough stones and coral passing through a mangrove swamp with several small bridges to bypass the wet bits. Come to a water channel with a huge ruin across that can be waded at low tide. The channel walls are reinforced with large rocks and more basalt columns – it extends out to more open water and forms a moat around the large ruin.
The impressive ruin is called Nan Dowas with stones weighing up to 50 tons. It was supposedly the residence of priests and served as the royal mortuary. It is formed by the same stacking of alternating large and small columns (described as “header and stretcher patterns”) sitting on very large boulders. The right-hand corner has 18 layers and the left has 22 layers diminishing in both directions and cut by a wide stairway leading up into the ruin. A few vines drape the outside.
The whole complex covers more than 100 islets. Nan Madol was designed for water traffic. The islets are surrounded by navigable shallow tidal canals – even at high tide, they are only waist-deep with a coral bottom. Perhaps this was to prevent enemy ships from making it into the city. The entire complex is surrounded by a massive sea wall on the north-east, south-east and south-west.
I walked down along the channel to see if I could see any more. Return the same way.
Kepirohi Waterfall. Turn right onto the Circle road and drive by a church and a small blue store and park in front of the large sign for the falls – about 5 km total from Nan Madol. Walk up the short driveway and take a nice gravel path right. Walk less than 5 minutes to the fall that cascades over a wide, sloped pyramid of basalt with a shallow pool. It is about 25 m high and quite wide. A pool below can be swam in. There is also a nice shelter with a table on the second floor.
Return the same way. $10 tourists, $5 expats, $3 locals.
I was thinking about going to the petroglyphs in the centre of the island but didn’t and I drove to Palikir.
Palikir. The capital of FSM – and one of the most unusual. There is a large government complex of nicely designed matching buildings – yellow bottom with a high black tiled roof – Supreme Court, Congress, Office of the President and others. Across the road are emergency services, a fire station and a large convention center under construction. And that is virtually the entire “city”. There are a few widely separated houses (and all these are underwhelming), two churches, and a small school. No business district. It must be the smallest national capital anywhere. It is about 5 km on the other side of the Mangrove from Kolonia.
Sokeh Ridge. Sokehs Island is the highest and largest in Pohnpei. It is a long undulating ridge running north-south, with a knoll-like summit near the middle and ending at Sokehs Rock, a band of naked basalt.
The rock is historically significant for its role in the bloody 1910 Rebellion against the German colonial government and was one of several locations around Pohnpei heavily fortified by the Japanese in WWII. It is also notable for its many outer-island residents who were allowed to settle in Slkahs after most of the Pohnpeian residents were exiled to phosphate mining camps in Palau as punishment for their part in the uprising against the Germans.
It is 10 minutes by car from Kolonia and has an encircling 9.2 km paved road (except for a 2.3 km section in the north. Head west from Kolonia, turn right after Happy Mart and cross the bridge. Right goes to Sokeh Rock, the sport climbing routes and the waterfalls. Straight goes to the Sekih Mountain trailhead.
The hike begins above the Municipal Office and climbs steadily along the rocky Japanese Road. At the top is a wall with unpaved basalt stones. The forested part has hardwood trees and bright flowering shrubs.
Coastal Gun Battery. (.23 km) has barracks, concrete water tanks, bomb craters, and a rock and steel bunker that has a 15 cm naval gun to protect Palikir Pass to the west. Its range was not sufficient to reach the 6 American battleships outside the barrier reef that bombarded Pohnpei for 70 straight minutes on May 1, 1944.
The trail continues .37 km to the end of the ridge passing more war artifacts. The anti-aircraft battery has a 12.7 cm twin double-purpose gun that has a range of almost 7 km. The guns were ineffective against the American bombers out of Tawara and fighter planes from Eniwetuk. Eventually, 118 tons of bombs and 6,000 incendiaries were dropped on Pohnpei.
Camping is allowed here. The best site is the grassy roof of the battery bunker with nice views of the bay but there are other less conspicuous sites.
Drive up, park and do a fun 3-hour round trip hike up the massive rock outcropping for a panoramic view of Pohnpei and WWII-era Japanese guns. A large antenna displays a good light show all night.
The spire (Paijulap) is a 100 m high exposed basalt volcanic plug. An unmarked trail leading to the Rock, the Spire and Admas Apple begins south of a brown house 1.2 km beyond Mwalok A-1 Store and just before Danipei Church. It has cement steps at the bottom and is a well-defined trail that leads to a section that clambers around a tree and uses roots and fixed ropes to get up a 70-foot section of exposed basalt.
I returned to the hotel and continued the slog of “renovating” my hiking book. For dinner I had sushi that was deep fried and delicious. Make sure to eat here at the Mangrove sticking to all the fresh seafood.
ON Mangrove Hotel for the third night.
Day 4 Mon Jan 8
I checked out at 11 and caught the shuttle to the airport. I had a chance to talk to some of the United pilots staying at the hotel. They all live in Guam, the end terminus of the United Hopper. They only get to stop over on holidays like this time – they came here for 4 days to dive.
A major draw of the FSM is surfing. There is only one break – The Palikir Channel that penetrates the coral reef of the atoll. When good, it is known for its long clean curling barrel waves that are easy to drop into. The last three days have been the best. A guy who lives on the north shore of Oahu showed me some photos – it looked like magic. He travels to surf all over the world.
Diving is also popular and the shop at the hotel appears to be the most reliable business. People were going out on trips 1-2 times every day. A boat is needed.
Flight. PNI-MAJ UA155 @13:35-18:40 Pohnpei (PNI) > Korsae – 50 minutes > Kwajalein (KWA) – 55 minutes > Majuro (MAJ). Bring food as they serve none on these short legs. You can deplane at each stop (except KWA), but there may be nothing to eat.
DARE
Kapingamarangi Atoll. Most southerly. Polynesian culture.
Ngatik Atoll
Nukuoro Atoll. Polynesian culture.
Oroluk Atoll
Pingelap Atoll
Ant and Pakin Atolls (Senyavin group)
MICRONESIA – YAP
The state of Yap consists of 134 islands and coral atolls. Twenty-two of these are populated, stretching across an excess of 100,000 square miles in total area stretching approximately 600 miles east of Yap Island, some of which are accessible by plane. visityap.com
Beaches are few and swimming and snorkeling are poor.
Diving. coral, fish, and giant clams are untouched and unspoiled, manta rays or stingrays. Tidal currents are extremely strong.
YAP main atoll is made up of four high volcanic islands, the state capital and commercial center, Colonia, Maap and Gagil connected by road.
Flight. Yap Airport (YAP). It is not possible to fly directly to Yap from other islands in the FSM – you must fly through Guam first. Need onward or return ticket.
Yapese Disk Money Regional Sites. Tentative WHS:(29/12/2004)
Yap Day. First week of March. Traditional dancing and singing.
Joseph Cox Memorial. Strategically located between the Philippines and Guam, Japanese-occupied Yap was targeted almost daily from June 1944 to August 1945 at the cost of hundreds of American men, 110 remaining MIA.
The memorial displays the actual wreckage of an F6F-5 Hellcat flown by Ens. Joseph Cox, one of 36 American planes that fell near the island. Joseph’s plane was shot down with three other Hellcats from the USS Enterprise on September 6, 1944, and was recovered moderately intact. It is truly one of the most unique wrecks and now, memorials in the Pacific. After the war, most of the wreckage throughout the world was picked over and removed. Fortunately, in this case, the Yapese have respected the wreckages as grave sites and taken care to preserve them and remember the American men who lost their lives during the war.
St. Joseph Church
Yap Living History Museum, is a display village in Colonia where you can see traditional houses and stone money. Nobody is there to show cultural skills. If you walk along the Eastern shore to the South, after 1 km you will see a stone money bank and an old stone street.
Rumung (The Forbidden Island) is accessible by boat but still within the reef. The island is famous for its stone money, which is rather large and cannot easily be moved. See men’s houses, stone money (at least the biggest one of Yap), and stone streets. The stone streets are in bad condition because nobody is there to keep them clean and tidy. Rumung is dead.
Get in. All visitors to Yap must have an onward or return ticket.
By plane. United Airlines offers flights to Yap a few times a week from Guam.
Get Around. From Yap, visitors may charter a boat or take the government ferry to the Outer Islands. PMA Pacific also provides flights from Yap to Ulithi Atoll..
Beaches are relatively few and swimming is not suggested as the water is more muddy than sandy. Once you wade out far enough, snorkelling will reveal a few lonely outcroppings of coral with attached marine life, but it’s nothing compared to the reef.
Diving. The outer reefs around Yap are full of aquatic life (not just mantas), and they attract divers from all corners of the globe. The coral, fish, and giant clam species are similar to Palau, except that they are virtually untouched and unspoiled. At the right spots, you can see manta rays or stingrays. The tidal currents in Yap are extremely strong,
Traditional Navigation Society. Take a ride in a traditional outrigger canoe.
Stay Safe. Yap practises a rigid caste system creating an additional element of control over would-be troublemakers. So, as long as you are culturally sensitive and respectful, you will be able to experience an entire cultural immersion. Do not wear shorts in public, except at beaches or swimming areas – showing female thighs is considered vulgar and immodest. Public toplessness remains an accepted practice, though generally limited to ceremonial events and/or the older generation.
Get Out. Boat or plane to Palau, Guam, or the Outer Islands of Yap. $20 “airport facilities fee” payable in cash upon departure.
Ulithi Atoll
Woleai Atoll
MICRONESIA – CHUUK
Mountainous islands surrounded by a string of islets on a barrier reef atoll containing several islands
Chuuk Lagoon. The primary population center of Chuuk. During World War II, Chuuk Lagoon was Japan’s main naval base in the South Pacific theatre. Twelve Japanese warships, thirty-two merchant ships and 249 aircraft were destroyed.
Get In. Chuuk Airport (TKK). United Airlines flies to Chuuk from Guam and Palikir, Pohnpei.
Diving. Renowned wreck diving. In 1944 the US Navy conducted Operation Hailstone, the largest surface bombing campaign in history, wiping out a Japanese fleet stationed at the island. The seabed around Chuuk is now littered with nearly 70 wrecks of ships and planes, all protected from deepsea currents by a reef system, and most within depths appropriate for scuba divers. The Fujikawa Maru is often singled out by diving magazines and travel guides as one of the top 10 wreck dives in the world.
Most divers stay on one of two liveaboard dive vessels: the Truk Odyssey (high quality, expensive) or the Thorfinn (more affordable).
Snorkelling tours of four shallow wrecks: Kosei Maru, Hoyo Maru, Patrol Boat 34, and the Zero 2 plane.
Hiking. There are some beautiful hikes in Chuuk, most unmarked.
Octopus Mountain. Overlooking Weno and Pou Bay, this mountain offers beautiful views and two ways to summit: a rocky access road for 4x4s and walkers, and a path through the jungle and up the rock face.
Japanese Lighthouse in Sapuk is abandoned sitting atop a hill in the Chuukese jungle. Two paths, the best originates near the Japanese Dock. Climb to the top of the four stories for gorgeous views of the northern coastline.
Get Out. $40 departure tax. Lei Side Cafe across the road has air conditioning and wifi, couches to watch TV and kill some time (7 am-1 pm, 6 pm-9 pm).
Chuuk – Mortlock Islands three atolls 250 km southeast of Chuuk Lagoon. Islands Ettal, Namoluk, Ta, Nama, Oneop, Losap, Moch, Picemwar, Satawan, Lukunor (Likinioch), and Kuttu (KuKuttu).
Chuuk – Namonuito Atoll is the largest atoll of Micronesia at 2,267 sq km. 170 km northwest of Chuuk Lagoon. Population (2000):
Chuuk – Pattiw or Western Islands. Three atolls of Houk, Poluwat and Pollap, population of 2,736. Some of the most traditional islands in the Pacific and culturally related to the outer islands of Yap..
MICRONESIA KOSRAE
Kosrae is very remote, hundreds of miles from the nearest island, so a day trip to an outer island is out of the question. It has a mountainous interior, lush rainforest, and pristine hard coral reefs. Kosrae is like a pin coming up from the rather deep ocean floor, and because of this, it is believed that tsunamis pass right on by it without being noticed, as there is nowhere for the energy to build up.
Get In. Kosrae Airport (KSA). United Hopper
Utwe/Walung Biosphere Marine Reserve. 2-hour outrigger canoe trip $25.
Kosrae Museum
Utwe Church
Yela Valley Ka Forest
WWII Wartime Tunnels. The Dark Side.
HISTORY
Historical affiliations: Captaincy General of the Philippines 1574–1899, German New Guinea 1899–1914, Imperial Japanese Navy occupation 1914–1919, South Seas Mandate 1919–1947, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 1947–1979< Federated States of Micronesia 1979–present
The ancestors of the Micronesians settled over four thousand years ago. A decentralized chieftain-based system eventually evolved into a more centralized economic and religious culture centered on Yap Island.
European explorers—first the Portuguese in search of the Spice Islands (Indonesia) and then the Spanish—reached the Carolines in the sixteenth century. The Treaty of Tordesillas gave this lands to Spain and the Spanish incorporated the archipelago to the Spanish East Indies through the capital, Manila, and in the 19th century established a number of outposts and missions. In 1887, they founded the town of Santiago de la Ascension in what today is Kolonia on the island of Pohnpei.
Following defeat in the Spanish–American War, the Spanish sold the archipelago to Germany in 1899 under the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899. Germany incorporated it into German New Guinea.
During World War I, it was captured by Japan. Following the war, the League of Nations awarded a mandate for Japan to administer the islands as part of the South Seas Mandate.
During World War II, a significant portion of the Japanese fleet was based in Truk Lagoon. In February 1944, Operation Hailstone, one of the most important naval battles of the war, took place at Truk, in which many Japanese support vessels and aircraft were destroyed.
Following World War II, it was administered by the United States under United Nations auspices in 1947 as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands pursuant to Security Council Resolution 21.
On May 10, 1979, four of the Trust Territory districts ratified a new constitution to become the Federated States of Micronesia. Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands chose not to participate. The FSM signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States, which entered into force on November 3, 1986, marking Micronesia’s emergence from trusteeship to independence. Independence was formally concluded under international law in 1990, when the United Nations officially ended the Trusteeship status pursuant to Security Council Resolution 683. The Compact was renewed in 2004.
GET IN
If you are going to be in the FSM for less than 30 days you do not need an entry permit. Anyone who will be staying longer than that needs an entry permit.
Citizens of the Marshall Islands, Palau and the United States may obtain an entry permit valid for up to 1 year. For everyone else, entry permits lasts 30 days, but can be extended to 60 days. You can get your entry permit on arrival, but if you’re travelling for a purpose other than tourism, you need to apply for it in advance. If you need to apply for an entry permit on arrival, you must present an FSM Arrival and Departure Record furnished by a carrier plus a completed application form.
By plane. United Airlines thrice-weekly “island hopper” flight (UA155 eastbound, UA154 westbound) traveling Honolulu—Majuro—Kwajalein—Kosrae—Pohnpei—Chuuk—Guam and vice versa. The flight is fourteen and a half hours, leaving in the early morning and terminating in the evening, with a stop of about one hour on each island. There are also nonstop flights from various islands to both Honolulu and Guam.
Honolulu is the most direct gateway into the islands from North America. Guam is the most direct gateway from most points in Asia, although it is also possible to fly into the islands from Manila via Palau.
Air Nuigini flies from Port Moresby to Chuuk then onto Pohnpei, with connections/departures from Brisbane and Sydney.
Nauru Airlines flies weekly from Majuro, so it is possible to do a loop from Brisbane-Nauru-Kiribati-Majuro-Pohnpei-Port Moresby to Brisbane weekly in one direction on Wednesday and the other direction on Friday, then it is possible to double hop and backtrack, for example, go from Nauru-Majuro via Kiribati, then back to Kiribati, then Kiribati-Pohnpei via Majuro, should you wish to visit all these places.
By boat. The major international ports are Chuuk, Pohnpei and Yap. There are inter-island trading ships based in these major ports which visit the outlying islands.
GET AROUND
By air. The “Island Hopper,” operated by United Airlines, flies between Guam, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae. United also flies from Guam to Yap and Palau. However, it is not possible to fly directly to Yap from other islands in the FSM (you must fly through Guam first).
By bus. Even though there are no bus scheduled service on the island, some buses are available to hire or charter. Also, on Yap there is a school bus that runs twice daily from Colonia to the villages.
Taxi. Taxi service is available throughout the islands and is inexpensive.
Car hire. There are self-driven cars available in the major towns of the islands. However, It is required to have a National Driver’s License or International Driving Permit.
Talk
English is the official and common language. Also spoken are Chuukese, Kosrean, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, and Kapingamarangi.
Other languages spoken in the country include Pingelapese, Ngatikese, Satawalese, Puluwatese, Mortlockese, and Mokilese. There are also about 3,000 speakers of Kapingamarangi and Ulithian, and under 1,000 speakers of Nukuoro.
Currency. The U.S. Dollar and no other currency will be accepted.
Stay Safe. The Federated States of Micronesia is generally one of the safest countries to visit. However, there have been some reports of crime in Weno, the capital of Chuuk.
Respect. Some islands are very traditional, especially Yap state. Be sure to respect their culture.
Contact. Mail. United States Postal Service. For travel reasons, the USPS treats the FSM as a territory.