Federated States of Micronesia itineraries: 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks

The table below is the short version. Every plan hangs on the island-hopper days, so count flight days first and fit the sightseeing around them.

Start with the flight map, not the map of sights. The four states sit in a line west to east — Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae — and each is a separate hop on the island-hopper service. A hop is not a short transfer: it eats most of a day once you count the airport run, check-in and the wait. That is why the parent country rule is one state for a first trip of 5–7 nights, and why a second state adds two flight days.

Pick the state by what you want to do. Chuuk Lagoon for wreck diving from the 1944 raid, 5–8 nights. Pohnpei for Nan Madol, rainforest falls and the best range of hotels, 4–5 nights, with Kolonia as the base town for 3–4 of them. Yap for manta rays, stone money and the most traditional villages, 4–5 nights. Kosrae for Lelu ruins, mangroves and uncrowded reefs, 3–4 nights.

Then place the long-haul flights. Most travellers arrive from Guam, Honolulu, Manila or Palau, and the onward flight often leaves in the small hours. Keep a spare night before it rather than cutting it fine; a missed connection here can cost several days, not several hours.

Finally, book the internal hops early. Seats on the island-hopper are limited and the timetable is not daily on every leg, so a plan that assumes a Tuesday flight may not survive contact with the schedule. Check the current operator timetable and baggage allowance before you commit to dates.

The 7-day answer is simple: fly in to Pohnpei or Chuuk, stay 6 nights, fly out. Do not try to add a second state — you would spend two of your seven days in transit and see less of both.

On Pohnpei, base in Kolonia. Its colonial relics — the Spanish Wall, the German bell tower and the harbour — are walkable in a morning, and the sakau bars give you an evening. Give one full day to Nan Madol by boat, best at high tide with a guide, and pay the landowner fee at the entrance. Add a day for the rainforest falls and a day on or around the reef, with Ant Atoll as the offshore option if the boat and weather allow. Sokehs Rock, with its Japanese guns, fills another half-day.

On Chuuk, base on Weno and dive. Five to eight nights is the range that makes the flight worthwhile; many wreck sites are shallow enough for snorkellers, so ask the operator for the shallow ones if you do not dive. The Japanese lighthouse and guns on Weno fill a non-diving day.

Yap works as a 7-day trip only if you are already coming from Guam or Palau, since it sits off the Chuuk–Pohnpei–Kosrae line (check).

At 10 days you can add one hop. The natural pairing is Chuuk then Pohnpei: 5 nights on Weno for the lagoon, then 4 nights in Kolonia for Nan Madol and the falls. That is one internal hop, which is why it fits — two hops would not.

At 14 days, three states on the hopper works: Chuuk (5 nights), Pohnpei (4 nights) and Kosrae (4 nights), arriving from Guam and leaving to Majuro or Honolulu. A slower version of the same two weeks is Pohnpei and Kosrae only, roughly 7 nights each, which trades a third state for more time in the water and on the trails.

Yap is the exception. It usually needs its own loop from Guam or Palau rather than a stop on the main line, so treat it as a separate trip or a separate add-on rather than a leg you slot in (check).

The single most common planning mistake is treating the states as a short island-hop chain like Greece or Hawaii. They are not: distances are long, frequencies are low and a hop costs a day. The second mistake is booking the long-haul flight before the internal one; do it the other way round where you can.

Weather is a real constraint. Dec–Apr is the reliable window for Chuuk and Yap, and Jan–Apr for Pohnpei and Kosrae. Outside those months, dive and boat plans are more likely to be moved.

Money and entry rules are worth checking before you lock dates: US dollars are the currency, cards are accepted in the main hotels but not everywhere, and entry rules differ by passport. Carry cash for landowner fees, boat trips and small guesthouses.