Best Diving in Palau

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There’s plenty to experience in Palau, especially if you’re a diver and a shark enthusiast! Famed for hosting the world’s first ever shark sanctuary as formally declared by the President in 2009, Palau is truly a fantastic destination for scuba divers.  There’s more to diving in Palau than just an abundance of sharks, however, with loads of magnificent coral reefs to explore as well as wreck sites dating back to World War II.

For non-divers, Palau boasts phenomenal weather and a multitude of topside activities including a World Heritage Site known as the Rock Islands. These islands originated as underwater coral reefs thousands of years ago and now manifest as small limestone islands protruding from the water’s surface. As if that wasn’t enough to convince travellers of all types to visit Palau, the area is covered in lush jungle complete with beautiful waterfalls too. History enthusiasts will be pleased to note that Palau is littered with historical ruins dating far back into history such as the Badrulchau monoliths, ancient stone structures dated at around 161 AD. There are also plenty of World War II sites of historical importance.

Best Diving Destinations in Palau

There are around 600 000 square kilometres of water surrounding Palau, and underneath you are almost guaranteed to find fantastic diving no matter where you choose to descend. With the choice to experience reef dives, drift dives, wall dives, wrecks and caves and the famous Jellyfish Lake, Palau is definitely a destination to add to the top of your diving bucket list! Beneath the surface of the water, Palau is home to some 1300 fish species and over 700 coral species, providing great variety and a colourful underwater landscape to enjoy. However, for many divers these wonderful varieties of fish and coral species come in second in importance to the main highlight of Palau diving: the sharks! Thanks to the often present rip currents, the water is rich with nutrients and attracts all sorts of smaller marine species, which in turn attracts the larger species such as shark, turtles and barracuda.

Before spending all your allotted time exploring the depths of Palau’s waters, divers should make a trip to the legendary Jellyfish Lake, where snorkelers are able to swim amongst around two million jellyfish. Although this would be a certain death sentence in other areas, the jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake are unable to sting, making this trip a truly unique experience and a ‘must-do’ whilst in Palau.

Many of the dives in Palau are drift dives as a result of the strong currents often present in the area. For near guaranteed sightings of white tip and grey reef sharks, the drift dive along Ulong Channel is a good bet. Those wishing to see manta rays should opt to dive in the German Channel, the site of a manta ray cleaning station where sharks are also likely to be seen.

The island of Peleliu, located on Palau’s southern tip, has fantastic wall dive sites where sharks and other large pelagics are regularly seen. Divers can expect to see dramatic underwater walls covered in all sorts of marine plant life including large sea fans, sponges and soft corals as well as fields of hard coral growing to impressive heights. Thanks to the presence of these deep walls and the many WWII wrecks, technical diving is growing in popularity in Palau. There are also reef diving opportunities in the calmer areas.

Without question, the most well-known dive site in Palau is Blue Corner, famed for regular sightings of sharks, manta and eagle rays, schools of barracuda, tuna and other large fish species. These great sightings form part of an adrenaline-pumping dive in strong, nutrient-rich currents where divers are required to hook-in for safety and simply float in the current, enjoying the fantastic marine life surrounding this coral shelf. After unhooking from the rocks at Blue Corner, divers enjoy a quick drift over colourful corals in pristine condition where the reef fish are present in their hundreds.

Due to its location, Palau is home to many WWII wrecks of historical significance some of which are only recent discoveries. Both ship wrecks and plane wrecks lie beneath the water’s surface and many offer divers the opportunity to swim through the wreckage and explore.  In the lagoon, a 1940s wreck known as Helmet Wreck went down with its entire cargo of gas masks and unexploded depth charges, making for an interesting dive. Another shipwreck worth visiting is that of the Iro Maru, whose three masts are now completely covered in marine growth. This vessel also has gun turrets at the bow and stern.

Nearby the famous Blue Corner site is a fantastic dive spot known as Blue Holes. The holes in the top of the wall here are large enough to swim through and lead into an enormous cavern with great light streaming in from above, making for great underwater photo opportunities. Depending on the current, some divers may drift from Blue Holes to the famous Blue Corner site.

Another cave worth exploring in Palau is that of Chandelier Caves, where a shallow entry of only 10 metres will take divers into three large ‘rooms’ within the cave, each with an air pocket. Inside the caves divers will find impressive stalactites and stalagmites and upon exiting the caves the reef surrounding the area is teaming with marine life including the multi-coloured mandarin fish.

Getting to Palau

Palau forms part of Micronesia and is situated around 1400km southwest of Guam. Although there is only one airport located in Koror, Palau is surprisingly well-connected with the rest of the world, with flights coming in from Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Guam. United and Delta are the main air carriers and also connect Los Angeles and Honolulu in Hawaii to Guam, making it relatively easy for American tourists to visit via Guam. English is widely spoken in Palau, as is the local language of Palauan and also Japanese thanks to the large tourist population of Japanese in Palau.

Once in Palau, getting around is fairly easy via taxi and many tour operators run daily trips to the historical WWII sites, waterfalls and other must-see tourist attractions.

Where to Stay in Palau

The number of dive operators in Palau has greatly increased in recent years as the popularity of scuba diving in Palau has boomed. Divers are now spoilt for choice with the option of choosing a number of multi-day liveaboard trips or simply using the many shore-based dive operators to arrange their diving experiences in Palau. Many of the dive operators will offer trips to the same locations as the liveaboard options, however longer boat rides to the sites are needed when using shore-based dive operators.

For those wishing to make the most of their time in Palau, liveaboards are a good option to explore as many dive sites as possible and not just the most popular ones as is often the case with shore-based operators. Many of the liveaboards offer Nitrox to increase bottom time if staying aboard for a few days. Liveaboards come in the form of large catamarans and sailing yachts, many of which offer luxury accommodation and the ability to rent and/or buy equipment on board.

Some of the shore-based dive shops offering scuba training all the way to instructor level and can offer dive packages to include transportation and accommodation. You can also make use of these dive shops to arrange various non-diving day trips such as land tours, boat trips and kayaking expeditions.

As all the dive shops will explain, divers are required to obtain a diving permit when in Palau. The Koror State Permit is usually in the range of $50 for 10 days, whereas to dive around Peleliu will cost roughly $20 for 2 weeks. The permit allowing you to snorkel in Jellyfish Lake comes at a price of around $100, although it is recommended to research the latest information before getting to Palau as these fees are constantly changing. When leaving Palau, visitors are required to pay a $50 cash “Green Fee” that includes a contribution to environmental protection as well as your departure tax.

When to Visit Palau

Palau boasts a temperate, tropical climate with a much sought-after year-round temperature of 28°C. Although humid, rainy conditions are common, these conditions are most likely between the months of July to October. These months are also known as typhoon season. Water temperatures are comfortable throughout the year, remaining in the range of 27-28°C. For this reason, divers need only opt for a 3mm wetsuit, or in some cases a shorty will suffice.

Dive Sites Reviews in Palau

This dive site is a sheer vertical wall running along the whole side of Ngemelis Island. It is a drift ...

Enjoy a touch of underwater elegance in the Chandelier Cave, a unique cave made up of several rooms joined by ...

One of the most visited wreck sites in Palau, this dive site is often called Lionfish wreck due to the ...

Famous amongst divers for providing regular sightings of majestic eagle rays, mantas and reef sharks, German Channel is a good ...

This Japanese army cargo ship is named Helmet Wreck because of the rows of helmet stacks in the wreck that ...

The Iro is probably the most famous of all the wrecks in Palau and is a fantastic wreck dive; the ...

Jellyfish Lake is one of the top diving experiences in Palau. These famous golden jellyfish have lost their sting and ...

This vibrant and vivid dive site is a section of the vertical wall that runs around Ngemelis Island. Found west ...

This dive site features a spectacular vertical wall with a plateau that drops down to about 10 metres. Found west ...

This dive site is on a section of the reef that is well known for its extremely fast drift dives ...

Liveaboard Reviews in Palau

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