Ant Atoll. Photo from the Nature Conservancy www.nature.org
We
were feeling the need to get away, which on a small island, is not all that
easy. Your choices are pretty much
limited to other small islands. Fortunately,
Pohnpei is surrounded by a few “outer islands,” all of which are atolls (ring-shaped
reefs that enclose a lagoon). We chose
Ant Atoll for our get-away. We signed
onto a small charter boat with 10 or 12 other people for the ten-mile trip to
Ant. The boat was captained by an expat from
Brazil who now makes his living taking people on snorkeling, scuba diving, and surfing
trips around Pohnpei. His boat was powered
by a couple of 150 hp Honda outboards, so it didn’t take more than an hour to
get there.
Ant is a quintessential Pacific island—what you dream about in February or March in the North Country. Lots of long sandy beaches, palm trees and warm aquamarine water. It has been named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve due to its high levels of biodiversity and abundance of marine birds and fish. We stopped on our way in to snorkel along the outer reef. It was pretty amazing. At this particular point, the coral reef was a thick wall from the ocean floor to just below the surface of the water. Along with the coral itself, the main attraction was the variety of small brightly colored fish. Lin saw a reef shark—relatively small—several feet in length and supposedly harmless.
Like most places in Pohnpei, the island is privately owned so there is a $10 fee you pay upon landing at the beach. It is not permanently inhabited, although people like us come frequently to visit. Some come to stay for several days and there are huts you can rent or nahs (sort of like thatched picnic pavilions) under which you can take cover. Lin and I and a couple of other PC volunteers took advantage of a nahs for a picnic and to get out of the sun. Mostly, though, we spent our time snorkeling, swimming, and getting a bit sun burned. Despite its reputation for wild life, we didn’t see a lot of birds or animals. The closest thing was a dog who was pretty intent on our fried chicken picnic fare. Other than the dozen people on our boat we saw very few others—only one or two other boats were pulled up on shore or anchored off shore. All in all, a pretty spectacular place to spend a day.
Ant is a quintessential Pacific island—what you dream about in February or March in the North Country. Lots of long sandy beaches, palm trees and warm aquamarine water. It has been named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve due to its high levels of biodiversity and abundance of marine birds and fish. We stopped on our way in to snorkel along the outer reef. It was pretty amazing. At this particular point, the coral reef was a thick wall from the ocean floor to just below the surface of the water. Along with the coral itself, the main attraction was the variety of small brightly colored fish. Lin saw a reef shark—relatively small—several feet in length and supposedly harmless.
Like most places in Pohnpei, the island is privately owned so there is a $10 fee you pay upon landing at the beach. It is not permanently inhabited, although people like us come frequently to visit. Some come to stay for several days and there are huts you can rent or nahs (sort of like thatched picnic pavilions) under which you can take cover. Lin and I and a couple of other PC volunteers took advantage of a nahs for a picnic and to get out of the sun. Mostly, though, we spent our time snorkeling, swimming, and getting a bit sun burned. Despite its reputation for wild life, we didn’t see a lot of birds or animals. The closest thing was a dog who was pretty intent on our fried chicken picnic fare. Other than the dozen people on our boat we saw very few others—only one or two other boats were pulled up on shore or anchored off shore. All in all, a pretty spectacular place to spend a day.
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| Lin looking through a piece of coral |
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| On our way back into Pohnpei Harbor |
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