A long atoll capital in the central Pacific
Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands, an atoll of about sixty islets strung around a large lagoon in the central Pacific. The main road runs for dozens of kilometres along the narrow strip of land, from the busy downtown to the quiet village of Laura at the western end, which has the atoll's best beach. The Alele Museum explains Marshallese navigation, including the stick charts once used to read ocean swells. Boats take visitors to uninhabited islets in the lagoon for snorkelling on clear reefs.