Notes on Pohnpei

Entrance/Check in: We arrived in Pohnpei early in the morning and waited outside the pass until 8:00 so as not to pay overtime fees. We contacted port control on channel 16. It took a few times to get a response but eventually they answered. We were told to pull our boat up to the commercial pier and wait on Customs, Immigration, Health, Quarantine and Agriculture. All but Immigration showed up within an hour or two but we ended up having to ask one of the other officers to call for Immigration. They eventually showed up and we were off the dock by 1:00. The path back to the anchorage is a little tricky. The easiest way to get there is to ask a local to guide you through. At the time we were there, another cruiser met us and we followed them in their dinghy. If having a guide isnt an option, keep the shore close to your port side. Youll see PVC pipe as markers, keep those on your right for the first leg. Youll pass behind a small clump of mangroves (keep those on your starboard side) and then the channel will dogleg right and then back to the left. There are a few mooring balls that belong to various locals. If you pick up one of these balls, you will more than likely have a visitor named Robinson come out and greet you. He takes care of the local boats and may try to charge you for the moorings, but theyre not his. Just politely ask if theyre his and maybe that you heard they were free and you shouldnt have to pay anything. At the time of this writing, they belonged to a man named Noel. Robinson is very nice man but likes the company. Occasionally he will sell you some fresh veggies or crabs. If you choose to use these mooring balls, give them a hard tug. We have heard of some big boats (>40 ft) dragging on them. We anchored our chain to the bottom of one and left the boat for 5 months, but Andy did all of the work to ensure we werent going anywhere. If you want to anchor, we were able to finally get some holding in the mud/silt after three tries and we were stuck in there pretty good for about two weeks (we experienced 25 30 knots and didnt move).

Dinghys can be parked at the old Rumors bar and grill. Low tide is REALLY low and requires some rowing, but its free and convenient to the main road (after a pretty steep hike up the hill). Garbage can be disposed of at the top of the hill at the Ocean view Hotel. As of our visit, you can also park your dinghy at the new marina free of charge, but there is no garbage drop off there. Transportation:

Town and stores are all within walking distance, but taxis are also easily flagged down. They are shared taxis and cost $1/person for anywhere in town. It costs more to go further out in the island ($3/person). We have been offered rides, but mostly by ex-pats. Internet: There is free internet at the Rusty Anchor on shore. If you have a good wifi antenna you might be able to get it from your boat. The Oceanview hotel also has internet for $15/30 days and they give you a password. Again, with a good antenna you could probably get this on the boat. Finally, the FSM Internet cards work here as well. You can get them at Oceanview hotel just about all of the stores sell them. Banks/ATMS: The closest ATM to the anchorage is at the Bank of Micronesia. It only costs $2 per transaction (cheapest in town). There is another one across from the Bank of Micronesia outside of the Palm Terrace store. And finally, a third ATM across town at the Bank of Guam (next to the American Embassy). Shopping/Provisioning: Provisioning is ok here. Its feast or famine. If you see it and want it, buy it because you never know the next time it will be available. When the ship comes in, theres tons of stuff, but it may be another month before you see fresh veggies (cucumbers are ALWAYS available). Worth mentioning is the difference in prices from store to store We found a large tub of cream cheese for $11 in one store, $8 in another and $4.75 in another. And its fairly inconsistent as to who has the cheapest. Shopping around is usually worth the effort. We were told of a Chines Garden on the other side of the island (near Nan Madol), but we never found it. Supposedly, they may or may not sell you their fresh veggies, something not found very often in Pohnpei. Ask aroundmaybe youll have more luck. Seis Curry Coffee OK, not really a store for provisioning, but its the best place I found to find local, unrefrigerated eggs ($4.50/dozen). Go early in the a.m. (8:00 or so) as they are gone pretty quickly. The Blue Nile A short walk past the Oceanview Hotel and gas station, its on the same side of the road as the hotel. They carry dry goods, alcohol/wine (theres a pretty decent rum for $4), cleaning supplies and some cold items. Occasionally they have veggies, but

not often. You can also get miscellaneous items here (for example, they were selling outboard engines when we were there). Simons (Veggie/Seafood Market) Across from The Blue Nile, this is the closest veggie and fish market we found. You can usually get cucumbers, bananas, limes, eggplant. On rare occasions I found tomatoes, local eggs and avacados. The fish here were usually very fresh and fairly inexpensive. Mangrove crab is always available and occasionally, if youre lucky, lobster. If the rest of the stores are out of veggies, this is the best bet as they only sell local produce and dont rely on the ships coming in. Ace Commercial Large grocery store style across from ACE Hardware. Good for soda, beer, canned goods. They almost always have good veggies (if the ship has come in) as well as some of the cheapest wine. Palm Terrace Not a far walk from the dinghy dock, across from the Bank of Micronesia. They usually have veggies, but not necessarily the best selection (ACE is usually better), but usually in large quantity. Wine and liquor is sold here. We found Charles Shaw (aka 2 buck chuck) for $8.50. Wall Mart Large grocery store style on the other side of town than the anchorage, but veggies are usually very sad. Very, very sad. Neimes Neimes carries a lot of western items but mostly in bulk and at VERY high prices. You can usually find good cheese and sandwich meat there ($20+ for a block of cheese and $18 for a pack of sandwich meat) if youre really hankering for it. They had huge packs of pepperoni and bacon as well. Its worth visiting, as you never know what theyre going to have. Restaurants: There are plenty of restaurants in Pohnpei. This is just a listing of the ones we visited. OceanView: Located at the top of the hill from the dinghy dock, provides decent food at decent prices. Theyll call a taxi for you if needed, appreciating your ordering a few cold beers while waiting. Also a good place to wait out the rain Good breakfast menu and friendly service.

Rusty Anchor Owned by an Australian ex-pat (Wayne), married to a Pohnpeian. Its located right above the anchorage in an old hotel that was never finished. You can identify it from the anchorage by finding the red canoe hanging from the ceiling and a few random lights at night. You can park the dinghy inside the dock area underneath the restaurant after getting permission from Wayne first. Then its an easy walk up to the resturant. They have good pizza, burgers, sashimi, kabobsa random menu, but all pretty good. Lots of ex-pats and a few locals. Free ice cream for kids. Arnolds Caf Nice clean restaurant with fair priced lunch and dinner. Located next to the blue nile. Best hamburgers in town. Angies Random selection of hamburgers, asian food and fried chicken. Not our favorite. Cupids Best view in Pohnpei. The dcor is kind of tacky (exactly what you would think with a name like Cupids), but the food is decent. Its one of the higher end restuarants. Its located up the hill above the anchorage. Its easiest to arrive by taxi, as it involves a few large hills and more than a mile walk. The Village Definitely a Taxi ride, but by far the best restaurant on the island. Its the hotel of choice for most and serves a variety of fish, meat and local mangrove crabs (albeit a bit overpriced). Wednesday nights are Prime Rib night and proves to be a large portion of food worth the $17.95 they charge for it. The view is spectacular and is popular with some of the upper crust locals. The Cliff Restaurant Overlooks the harbor and is located past the village near the SDA church. They have good pizza at decent prices, but I havent eaten anything else there. Nice atmosphere. Cocos Located by the water and near all of the fish markets, this is hard to find. You may have to ask around. Its a popular place for expats. They serve sandwhiches, salads, sashimi, etc. as well as a full bar. At high tide, you can actually take your dinghy through a small bridge and bring it around to Cocos. If you go from the anchorage to the first large wreck on the right (towards the commercial dock) and turn right. Stay to the left side of the shore as there is a big reef. Go to the end and turn right, still staying to the left following the road. At the end of the road there is a bridge on

your left. Its not real visible but once you find it, it makes the other side of town more accessible. The Surf Club Mostly an Asian menu. Very good sashimi and bento boxes. We only ate dinner here, but have heard the all you can eat sushi lunch for $9 is a good deal. But we were warned the sushi isnt necessarily what were used towhatever that means. This is also accessible from dinghy if you follow the directions to Cocos. Its located a bit further down, but can be spotted by the red roof and dock. They have their own boats that are in and out all the time, so make sure you park your dinghy out of the way. Joy Restaurant Located in the Joy hotel, across from Walmart.unfortunately, we didnt find this until right before we left. They have a great lunch menu at reasonable prices and the place is always packed. Name unknown We never actually ate there, but got this place got many acclomades from some of the other ex-pats. Go past the surf club, across the bridge and turn right. There is a Japanese restaurant on your right and they apparently have great foodeven make their own noodles. Sightseeing: Nan Madol There are a few ways to see Nan Madol. You can visit by land or by water. By land, you rent a car or take a taxi to the SE side of the island. Follow the signs. You will have to pay a few various fees to the land owners to continue through. We did not take this route, so I cant say for sure how much. We bit the bullet and paid the $85/person (child half price) at The Village and went on their tour. They need three people to go and then its rain or shine (up to you). This tour is by boat and is split up into three parts: 1) snorkel with the mantas at Manta Road, 2) Hike up to a waterfall about halfway there and swim in the pool at the botton, 3) Kayak Nan Madol. We thought it was all well worth the $$. The whole tour is based on the tides so there may be some stop overs on various islands waiting on the tide. You can either buy your lunch from The Village (not included in tour) or bring your own. Plan on a whole day for the trip. Hiking There are various hikes around the islands and most require a guide or at least a little local knowledge. Sokehs Rock has two hikes, one to the top ridge and one up

the side of the rock. Talk to John and Jean at the bottom of the hill where you park your dinghy and they can help out with directions. Diving/Snorkeling: There are a few dive operators around town (The Village, The Surf Club, locals). We found the cheapest and easiest was with John Ranahan. He lives in the house at the bottom of the hill where you can pull your dinghy up. He owns one of the sailboats in the harbor and is very helpful to cruisers. You can email him and ask him about his prices and trips, but at the time we were there it was $32/dive per person for a two tank dive and that included your tanks. Occasionally you had to pay a little extra for the driver ($8 or so), but that seemed to be when he wasnt using his regular guy. The other convenience is that he almost always gives you a ride. On a few occasions, he brought the boat around and picked us up off of Savannah. If you want to dive from your own dinghy, we found a few reefs out by the pass, to the right as youre going out. They were fairly easy to access and we found lots of fish and anenomes there. We also did a fair share of snorkeling there on those HOT days when you just want to get in the water. Other: At high tide, you can take your dinghy to the back of the harbor and go under the bridge to drive through the mangroves. There are several paths that will take you all over the bay. Its a nice way to spend the afternoon. There are rumors of a waterfall back there, but we never found it.

Ant Atoll Permission: Ant atoll is uninhabited but it is owned by some locals in Pohnpei. Therefore, permission should be granted before visiting. We spoke with Wilson at Port Control and he wrote us a letter stating we had permission to anchor in the atoll. We also had to pay him $25 per person (kid was free). He indicated this on the letter so as not to be taken twice. There are people coming out to the atoll daily so it is conceivable that someone would ask. We, however, were never asked for our letter or if we had permission (we were there one week).

We anchored both in front of the popular island (where the tourist boats go), Pasa as well as the island directly to the right of the pass as you come in. Both were great. Snorkeling was good, etc. We snorkeled the pass and found it to be great coral. We saw a few sharks and a turtles.

Due to being by ourselves and the limitations of our dinghy, we did not dive outside the pass, but heard that there is a great wall dive to the left of the pass as youre coming in. The other amazing dive site we heard about was on the outside of the reef on the island you see first coming from Pohnpei. Again, not convenient with a dinghy, but maybe worth the $$ to go with one of the local dive operations. We heard there were walls, caves, tons of big fish, sharks, giant clams, etc. This is the site where they collect the giant clams for spawning and selling to aquariums around the world.