Arranging a Local Guide on Nauru

What exists and what does not

Nauru has no tour agencies, no tour buses and no ticketed attractions. The big booking portals have no Nauru products. What does exist is an informal market in local drivers and guides, found by asking.

Step 1: ask at your hotel

The front desk at Menen Hotel is the usual first stop. Capelle & Partner, the Ewa business that runs a supermarket, department store, cafe and car hire, is another contact. Ask for a driver who has a four-wheel-drive vehicle, then confirm the route, the time out and the price before you get in.

Step 2: choose a route

A typical half-day loop strings together four things:

  1. Command Ridge for the guns and the bunker, with a torch for the underground rooms.
  2. The phosphate hoppers and tracks on the plateau.
  3. Buada Lagoon, seen from its encircling road.
  4. Moqua Well and its caves in Yaren.

Step 3: understand why a guide is worth it

Topside is a working landscape. Quarry floors, conveyor lines and rutted tracks run together with no signs, and loose phosphate gravel catches ordinary rental cars. A driver also knows which tracks are in use. The plateau has no shade and a very high UV index, so a hat, closed shoes and plenty of water are not optional.

Wartime sites off the road

Further gun positions and bunkers sit in scrub in the districts of Anetan, Ijuw and Aiwo, and local contacts can arrange visits. Long trousers protect against thorns, and a strong torch is needed. Treat the sites as relics of the 1942 to 1945 occupation and take nothing away.

Step 4: pay properly

All local arrangements are settled in Australian dollars cash. Credit cards are not accepted, and the single ATM at Menen Hotel is often out of cash, so draw down your money before you fly.

Things you can do without a guide

The ring road, the road around Buada Lagoon and the sand at Anibare Bay are public. Stay out of the surf at Anibare, where rip currents run and no lifeguards patrol.

Before you go

The visa has to be in place before you board, and the passport needs three months of validity beyond arrival. Hotels take bookings by email or phone.

Booking

Search Viator in case new listings appear. For the gun sites, read Pacific Wrecks . Entry advice is on the UK government Nauru page .

Read more: Sightseeing in Nauru and the Nauru 4-day itinerary .