North Tarawa

North Tarawa is the other half of the same atoll and the opposite of the capital. The road ends at Tanaea and the rest is reached by boat across tidal flats or on foot at low water, so the northern islets keep villages without cars, without mains power and with maneaba meeting houses still in daily use. Buariki sits at the far end. The lagoon beaches are empty, the reef is intact, and a handful of guesthouses take the few visitors who make the crossing from South Tarawa. Land crabs outnumber people on the last islets, and the only way north from Buariki is the reef itself.