🇳🇷 Nauru

10 best places in Yaren

Yaren is the tiny administrative district of the world's smallest island nation, where parliament fits in a single building and you can cross the whole capital on foot in half an hour.

Sight

Parliament House

Nauru's traditionally styled parliament building, the political heart of the country, walkable in five minutes.

Sight

Command Ridge

The island's highest point, dotted with WWII-era Japanese fortifications and offering a panorama over all of Nauru.

Museum

Naoero Museum

A small museum tracing Nauru's history, phosphate mining and indigenous culture.

Park

Buada Lagoon

A quiet freshwater lagoon ringed by lush greenery, the island's most peaceful spot.

Sight

Moqua Caves

Limestone caves with underground pools that once served as the island's main freshwater source.

Sight

Moqua Well

A historic well where locals drew water for generations during dry spells.

Sight

Aiwo Catholic Church

A Catholic church next door to Yaren, the spiritual center of the small community.

Park

Anibare Bay

A scenic bay with a sandy beach, the island's best spot for swimming and sunsets.

Restaurant

Nauru Airport Restaurant

The restaurant at Yaren's airport, unexpectedly one of the island's main social hubs.

Café

Buada Lagoon Café

A small lagoon-side café serving simple local fare with a water view.

FAQ

How do you get to Nauru?

Essentially the only way in is the national carrier's flight to Nauru airport, and the schedule is sparse and subject to change, usually routing through Australia with stops around the Pacific. Fares are high, and a cancelled flight can easily turn into an extra week on the island. You plan the trip around the timetable rather than the other way round.

How many days do you need in Nauru?

The island is tiny: the ring road takes about an hour to drive, and Yaren with Parliament House, the Naoero Museum and the Command Ridge lookout fills a single day. Buada Lagoon and the Moqua Caves add another half day. In practice your stay is set by the gap between your arrival and the next flight out, not by the sightseeing.

Is Nauru worth visiting?

Honestly, it is not a tourist destination. There are very few hotels and restaurants, the shoreline is mostly rock rather than sand, and the interior is dominated by mined-out phosphate fields. People come for the rarity of the country, the story of the phosphate boom and the wartime relics on Command Ridge.

Can you buy Nauru citizenship?

Nauru periodically announces citizenship-by-contribution schemes, the most recent framed around funding climate resilience. The conditions, the price and how other countries treat the passport all need checking against official sources, because the terms move quickly. The country's track record matters too: an earlier passport programme in the 1990s ended in scandal and was shut down, so treat intermediaries' promises carefully.