This was the only country on my trip where the immigration requirements were not really clear to me, as the few comments on the net I found made different statements, one claiming they even refuse the boarding without showing a visa, confirmed hotel booking and booked onward flight. As I hoped for a visa on arrival I was a bit nervous at the airport check in. But nobody asked me for anything of those things. In Nauru I became nervous again already seeing me arguing with the immigration officer. To my surprise not even a visa on arrival was required, as they just gave me a transfer stamp for the 3 days I´ve planned to stay. „Great I´m in“, I thought, not knowing that exactly 3 days later I will think, „Great I´m out“.
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Nauru, located just 60km south of the equator is the smallest independent island country in the world, just 6km in length and 4km in width. It´s also the least visited country in the world with only 160 tourist a year and guess, now I know why. It´s deadly boring, it´s expensive and whereas Majuro could reveal some charm in the evening light Nauru mostly fails. Also there are only two restaurants on the Island (except of some very basic Chinese eateries) and the food in the one I tried was underwhelming. Although Nauru is not an appealing country there are some interesting facts about it and the original reason I wanted to come here.
There are not many choices for hotels in Nauru. Basically two, the Menen Hotel which host most of the Australian government workers and the EWA Lodge which I choose. The cheapest room I could get was a whopping 120 A$ (raised from 90A$ to 120A$ since room reservation 6 month before), but at least it was a nice room with Aircon, as long you stayed inside. Outside a strong, unidentified smell from the containers underneath was all around and the view needed…..well….. some familiarization. My neighbor, working in the Taiwanese embassy, was always complaining about the price politics. He payed monthly 2500 A$ for the room and was already told the price will increase to 3200 A$ next year. Ridiculous, but the result of missing competition and lots of money payed by the Australian government workers.
In the 80th and 90th Nauru was one the richest countries in the world, due to its rich resources of phosphate. There are different theories regarding the origin of the phosphate but I liked the „birdshit“ theory the best. The inner part of the island, called Top Site and roughly 40 meter above sea level, is the area where the phosphate mining happens. It´s easy to see by exploring the dusty roads in the area.
The times of the phosphate mining are counted as not much is left and Nauru in the search for new money sources found a opportunity with hosting Australian detention camps. Australia has a very strict asyl politic. They claim, nobody seeking for asyl will ever step a foot on Australian ground. Instead people are sent to detention camps in Nauru und Papua New Guinea until there status is proofed and once granted (which can take years) they are send to countries like Cambodia for living. All the involved countries receive high funds by the Australian government. It´s hard not to think about prisons seeing the 3 fenced camps in the middle of nowhere on an Island that is lying in middle of nowhere itself. A more than questionable politic in my view.
Having a car and going to Top Site as well as several times around the island, I found 2 nice places (at least for taking pictures) One was at the eastern side with some nice pinnacles reaching out of the sea and the other was a place on the western site with old cantilever ruins making a dramatic foreground for some sunsets photos.
Now, while preparing this blog two weeks after I left Nauru I have to admit that the pictures of this site draw a much nicer and more interesting overall picture of Nauru than originally intended and expected. So maybe with some distance, I made my peace with Nauru.
© 2026 Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret
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