The long trip out to Bikini Atoll

Most people have no idea where Bikini Atoll is located and in fact, many people have never heard of it.  When I explain where it is and what is required to get there most people think I am crazy (no surprise there!)  Bikini Atoll is a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The area, called Micronesia, is made up of lots of Island chains of which the Gilbert Islands and the Ellis Islands are part.

To get there I will fly a short hop from Hartford to Newark, New Jersey. The next flight is an 11 hour and 17 minute jump from Newark to Honolulu for my first overnight stop. An overnight stop is required here to meet up with the three times a week flight out to Majuro Atoll. On my trip I have added an extra day in Honolulu, in part to provide some safety time in case of bad weather or travel issues and in part to help with getting used to the time change. Next I will continue to Majuro the capital of the Marshall Islands and the only International airport in the Marshalls.  During this flight you cross the International Date Line so you actually arrive the day after you set off even though the flight time is only 5 hours from Honolulu!

Majuro is the largest Atoll in the Marshalls but you can drive from one end to the other in about 25 minutes and it is only ¾ of a mile wide at it's widest! There is another another overnight stop here with some more time to adjust to the time difference (2 additional hours). 

Early the next morning I will board the last aircraft for the final leg to Bikini. This flight only runs one day a week (Wednesdays).. The last leg is on the Marshall Islands own airline which operates as a kind of inter island bus service.The aircraft hops from one atoll to the next in much the same way that a bus does. Bikini is the second stop of the 5 stops the plane makes every Wednesday.  The first stop is on the Atoll of Kwajalien. This Atoll saw some fierce fighting during the war in the Pacific between the US and Japan and is still a large US Military outpost.  It is also the place where the nearest recompression chamber is to Bikini. The US Military runs the airport with help from some token Marshallese officials. It is a pretty intimidating place with a bit of overkill on security including armed guards and armored vehicles at the door of the plane.

The airfield at Bikini is actually on the next island over from the island called "Bikini" within the Atoll itself.  The photos I have seen of the Bikini airstrip show a small wooden shack at the edge of a dirt landing strip.  After landing in the field (the plane does not stop its engine for the 15 minutes it is on the ground) we will be transferred onto a landing craft for the 45 minute trip to the area where will be staying for the week.The structure of the Island is solely geared up for diving. Everyone who lives on the island has something to do with diving. The island only has 15 permanent residents.