Living on Kwajalein

Frequently Asked Questions about living on Kwajalein, a U.S.-controlled atoll located in the western Pacific Ocean.

Comments

Les's picture
Les on September 18, 2005 - 14:27 Permalink

Living on Kwaj is totally different than anyplace else in the world. Bicycles last a max of 2 years due to the corosive environment. The housing is varied. The old seabee concrete houses are still livable even if they are laid out strange. The newer concrete houses are nicer, but were sealed very tightly and need to be aired out every now and then. The trailers that still exist are really on their last legs. They are way beyond the 10 years they were supposed to last. Newer ones were brought in in 1994, but they did not anticipate the environment and many were trash after the first year. I don’t know anything about the newer dome homes, but hear that they are interesting. The weather is great. Yes it rains, frequently. But 10 minutes later your dry and back doing what you were doing. There is always something to do. Those people that say they have nothing to do are so lazy. I particularily miss the softball and the diving. I learned to dive at Kwaj and was spoiled by the bad days of 30 foot visibility. Softball is pretty much played all year. I once umpired over 400 games in a 12 month period. If you keep active and don’t mind waiting for things you need to arrive, Kwaj is one of the greatest places in the world to live. I would go back in a heartbeat, but my expertise in my field, although current, isn’t enough to overcome the physical requirments of the job.

John Nolan's picture
John Nolan on March 15, 2006 - 17:24 Permalink

Just surfing the Kwaj stuff and dreaming of moving to the S.P. I’d like to bring the wife, but I don’t know if she’d be ready to drop everything and go…I’d probably go without her if she wouldn’t. I miss the ocean and diving and all the warm days to go dive and windsurf. If anybody has a wife that would be willing to express the good, bad and the ugly of living there, I’d like to put her in contact with mine. Thanks