Ulithi Atoll
Micronesia · Yap · 2 m
Description
For seven months at the end of the Pacific war the lagoon at Ulithi was the busiest anchorage on earth, holding up to seven hundred ships at once while the fleet staged for the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and almost nobody outside the navy knew it existed. The ring is forty islets and only four are inhabited, none of them rising more than a metre or so. Falalop has the airstrip. The outer islands kept their own language and their own order, and reef surveys here find some of the healthiest coral in Micronesia.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 3 to 8 days (optimal 4 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: January – April
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- The lagoon that held seven hundred ships
- Some of the healthiest coral in Micronesia
- Falalop, Asor, Mogmog and Sorlen, the four inhabited islets
- Outer island culture and its own language
- Falalop airstrip, flown but not on a timetable
- Reef diving nobody else is on
- Snorkelling the lagoon passes
- Manta rays and reef sharks in the channels
- Beaches on islets a metre above the sea
- Forty islets and four villages
Getting there
- Airports:
- ULI
- Nearest airports:
- YAP
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry