Things to Do in Marshall Islands in March

March offers some of the year's most predictable conditions for exploring the Marshall Islands' underwater cathedrals. The water is bath warm, visibility is often staggering, and the currents in the famous passes around Mili and Arno Atolls are manageable, bringing in pelagics without being overwhelming. This is the month to float over gardens of hard coral that look like petrified forests and watch gray reef sharks patrol the drop offs in the clear, blue haze.

With the trade winds still providing a steady breeze but the sea state generally calm, March is prime time for a day under sail. The experience is pure sensory overload: the smell of salt and warm fiberglass, the sound of the hull slicing through aquamarine water, the feel of powdery white sand between your toes on a deserted sandbar. You will visit motus (small islets) where the only footprints might be from seabirds, and snorkel in lagoons so shallow and warm they feel like a bath.

The drier ground makes exploring the jungle clad remnants of the Pacific War more accessible. On Mili Atoll, you can walk among the eerie, rusting hulks of Japanese Zero fighters, their cockpits now filled with vines, with the sound of hermit crabs scuttling over coral rubble. The atmosphere is heavy, humid, and profoundly quiet. The contrast between the violent history and the overwhelming peace of the modern atoll is the entire point of the visit.

March is a good time to engage with Marshallese culture before the peak tourist influx. In the open air market in Majuro, you will hear the rhythmic thwack of women weaving pandanus leaves into mats and smell the distinctive, slightly sweet scent of the drying fibers. You can watch master craftsmen shape traditional navigation stick charts from coconut wood and shell, and if you are lucky, catch a local practice session of the jebwa (standing dance), with its complex, syncopated chanting.