In December 2015, I spent a couple of days in Pohnpei at the Mangrove Bay Hotel, a short walk from downtown Kolonia, the capital of Pohnpei. Kolonia is not a very interesting place, but I did manage to find a couple of historic sites like the Spanish wall, built in 1899 as a boundary for Fort Alphonso XII. The wall is one of the few remaining remnants of Spanish control and now serves as the outfield wall for the baseball field. I also wandered around and found the Catholic bell tower and adjoining masonry apse, all that remain of a church built in 1909 by German Capuchin missionaries, when Pohnpei and the other Caroline Islands were administered as part of German New Guinea.

I organized a trip to Nan Madol with Pohnpei Surf Club, which is located on the ground floor of the Mangrove Bay Hotel (www.pohnpeisurfclub.com). I paid US$125, which accounts for solo travel on Christmas (it should be less expensive with a group).

There is a tide chart stapled to the Pohnpei Surf Club's door, so you could time your visit to Nan Madol for low tide, as I did, when I was able to wade across the channel that separates the complex from the main island (at high tide, a visitor would need to swim or arrange for a kayak, which I heard is difficult to arrange).

From the Mangrove Bay Hotel, it was a 45-minute or so drive to the beginning of the footpath to Nan Madol. There is a fee of US$3 to walk to Nan Madol. The path, through the mangroves, was well maintained (many sections seem to be relatively new boardwalks), and I saw a lot of mudskippers and mangrove crabs and heard a lot of birds. After a 15-minute walk, we arrived at the narrow channel that separates Nan Madol from the mainland -- since it was low tide, with the water less than 1 ft deep, my guide and I were able to wade across to Nan Madol.

I spent an hour or so wandering around Nan Madol, where there were no other visitors, and after clambering over fallen pieces of the original structures, ended my visit at a point where Nan Madol meets a few larger channels.

Upon departure, my driver stopped by the local chief's home and paid another US$3 fee. On the way back from Nan Madol, we stopped at Kepirohi Waterfall, where I was able to swim in the pool beneath the falls and cool off. From what I've read, this is a standard stop on the way back from Nan Madol.