Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Marshall Islands can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Marshall Islands itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
No vaccinations are legally required for most travelers to the Marshall Islands, but you should be up to date on routine shots (MMR, tetanus-diphtheria, polio, flu). Hepatitis A and typhoid are recommended because of food and water hygiene, and hepatitis B is advised for longer stays. There is no malaria, but dengue outbreaks occur, so use strong insect repellent day and night. Check with a travel clinic 4 to 6 weeks before departure.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Marshall Islands, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
Marshallese culture is conservative and Christian, so modest dress is the biggest rule: women should cover their thighs with knee-length skirts or loose shorts, and both sexes should swim in shorts and T-shirts rather than bikinis or briefs away from resort settings. Sundays are for church and family, so keep noise and activity low and expect most businesses to close. Do accept food when offered and try a bit of everything, and do ask before photographing people. Don’t pick coconuts, breadfruit or shells, or wander onto land, since every plot and many beaches belong to a family; on outer atolls, ask permission from the local leaders or landowners before exploring. Showing thighs and public displays of affection are both considered improper, and same-sex couples should be discreet.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Marshall Islands.
- Bwiro: fermented breadfruit paste, traditionally buried in leaf-lined pits and stored for months. It was a survival food for long voyages and lean seasons, and it is still made for feasts on outer atolls.
- Mā (breadfruit): roasted on coals, boiled, or fried, breadfruit is the island staple through the summer season. Baked over an open fire it gets a smoky crust and a soft, potato-like center.
- Raw reef fish and tuna sashimi: fresh fish eaten raw, sometimes with soy sauce and lime, sometimes marinated in coconut milk. Fishing defines Marshallese life, and Japanese influence from the colonial era made sashimi a fixture at parties.
- Mokwan: a dense, sweet paste of cooked pandanus fruit, rolled and dried in leaves. It keeps for a long time and is a classic traditional sweet.
- Jekaro: fresh coconut sap tapped from the flower stalk, drunk sweet or boiled into syrup. Cutting sap is a daily skill on the outer islands.
- Coconut crab (barulep): a giant land crab with rich, buttery meat, served at special occasions. It is prized and increasingly scarce, so eat it only where it is harvested legally.
Tap water in the Marshall Islands is not considered safe to drink for travelers, as Majuro’s supply comes from rainwater collected and stored in reservoirs and is often intermittent and inconsistently treated. Most locals drink rainwater from household catchment tanks, filtered water or bottled water. Stick to bottled or filtered water, or bring a filter bottle to cut down on plastic waste.
The main language in Marshall Islands is
Marshallese. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Marshallese skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Marshall Islands includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is an official language of the Marshall Islands alongside Marshallese, and in Majuro and Ebeye you can handle hotels, shops, government offices and taxis in English without trouble. Younger people, schooled in English and often with family in the United States, tend to be the most fluent. On outer atolls many older residents speak mostly Marshallese, so conversations get slower and more gestural. Learning “Iakwe” (hello) and “Kommol tata” (thank you very much) goes a long way, and offline translation apps are of little use since Marshallese support is weak.
Money & Payments
The local currency of Marshall Islands is USD ($).
The Marshall Islands uses the US dollar, so bringing US dollars is by far the easiest option, while euros and other currencies are hard to exchange anywhere. ATMs are found only in Majuro and Ebeye, mainly at the Bank of the Marshall Islands and Bank of Guam branches and a few stores, and foreign cards typically face fees of about US$3 to 5 per withdrawal plus your home bank’s charges. Visa and Mastercard are accepted at most hotels, larger supermarkets and some restaurants in Majuro, but small shops, shared taxis, guesthouses and nearly everything on the outer atolls are cash only. Withdraw or bring enough cash before flying to any outer island, since there are no ATMs or banks there. If you must exchange other currencies, do it at a bank branch in Majuro rather than with individuals.
Tipping is not a traditional part of Marshall Islands culture and is generally not expected in shops, taxis or local eateries. At hotel restaurants and more upscale places in Majuro, leaving around 10% for good service is appreciated, and a small tip for a guide or boat captain who goes out of their way is a kind gesture.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.