We have decided to split up the writing about Palau to make it a bit easier to read. Pauline is taking the land experiences. Mark will handle the diving and boat repair portions.
Palau or Belau, as known locally, is the western most territory in Micronesia and is part of the Carolines Islands.
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| Sari Timur at her anchorage |
Palau consists of many islands and islets. The biggest is Babeldaob. South of it are Koror Island, where most of Palau’s downtown is located and Malakal Island, where the commercial port and the primary yacht anchorages are found. Sari Timur is anchored in front of Sam’s Tours / The Royal Belau Yacht Club, which is the primary yacht anchorage for most cruisers.Palau’s early history is still a mystery. Why, how or when people arrived on the islands is unknown but scientists believe that Palau was inhabited as early as 1,000 BC. The original settlers are likely to have come from Indonesia or perhaps the southern Philippines, a blend of Melanesian and Polynesian stock appeared to have been mixed in over the centuries.
Foreign governance of the islands officially began with Spain in 1885. At the end of the Spanish/American War, Spain sold Palau to Germany. In 1899 Germany began a colonial administration in Palau. In 1908 the Germans launched the Sudsee Expedition in Micronesia. In 1914 the Japanese declared war on Germany and took control of Palau. In 1919 the League of Nations officially assigned Palau to Japan at the close of WW1 as part of the South Sea Mandate. By 1922 the Japanese had established a modern government on Palau. In 1935 Japan withdrew from the League of Nations and began military buildup in Palau. In July 1944 the Americans attacked Peleliu in one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific War. Following Japan’s defeat in WW2, the islands became United Nations Trust Territories under United States administration. Palau adopted its own constitution in 1981 and began the road to independence, which happened on October 1, 1994.
The diving in Palau is in a word outstanding! Many believe that Palau diving is the best in the world. We are not sure about that as there are a few places we have not been diving and we have as of yet not seen everything Palau has to offer (nor are we likely to in such a short timeframe). But from what we have seen we think they have a good reason for boasting. It has certainly become our favourite diving place so far.
The islands of Palau are out at the western extreme of Micronesia. They are below the theoretical typhoon area and have warm, clear water with light winds all year. There is supposedly no off season for diving here. Palau was also the scene of an intense WW2 battle so there are shipwrecks and plane wrecks to see. Salvage companies have removed 66 wrecks from the harbour otherwise Palau would have a higher number of diveable wrecks than even Chuuk, which supposedly has the highest concentration of WW2 wrecks. But Palau diving is probably more famous for their reefs, underwater wild life, and unique geographical features. The names of some of the famous sites such as “Blue Corner”, “Blue Hole”, “Virgin Blue Hole”, “Coral Gardens”, “Zeke Fighter Plane”, “Jake’s Sea Plane Wreck”, “Sunken Bridge” and “Devilfish City” conjure up images to tempt you to dive them. One hotel brochure lists over fifty dive sites and we hope to get in a good portion of them
So far we have dived two wrecks and they are in excellent shape and loaded with marine life. The visibility is better than what we experienced in the Philippines but the wrecks are a bit further apart probably due to the above mentioned clearing. This means that wreck diving is done as part of the daily dive agenda as either the first or second dive and is partnered up with one of the other sites in the area. For instance a common agenda is to do a drift dive through the Ulong Channel as a morning dive and then after lunch head over and dive the tanker the Teshio Maru which is laying on its side in 14-24 metres of water. Also as there are so many sites close together you often combine two at the same time depending on currents etc. We really enjoyed Siaes Tunnel which is an underwater cavern and then once we got out of there, we drifted out and around Siaes Corner to see the large number of sharks, barracuda, and trevally, we even had a close encounter with a turtle. This was our first dive in Palau and we were hooked. We loved the different coral formations on these dives as well. One of the other favourite spots is the German Channel area which has several blue holes (submerged caverns) and the pelagic fish are almost always about. But it is not just the pelagic fish that grab your attention; the multitude of reef fish with their fantastic colours or unique features are pretty special as well. We saw our first leaf scorpion fish and crocodile fish in this area. But probably what we will talk about most from this site was our first close encounters with manta rays. There were also loads of sharks but these become almost mundane in Palau as there are so many of them. Many years back Palau made its entire territorial waters a shark protected area. Because of this they have a very healthy reef environment and a multitude of sharks. Another dive we thoroughly enjoyed was the chambered nautilus dive. This dive is a little artificial as they set a trap and catch the nautilus the night before a dive and then release them while the divers are there. It allows us to get up close and personal with these rare creatures and allows the nautilus to get a free dinner. Mandarin fish are also very prevalent in Palau and we have seen these about 20 feet from where we tie our dinghy up when we come ashore. There a large schools of Moorish Idols. Another close encounter we enjoyed was when we were watching two sharks working one of these idols away from the school. While it was trying to seek shelter near the reef two interested morays left their caves to get in on the action. Just as one of the morays grabbed him a huge Napoleon Wrasse swooped down from above and stole the Idol right out of the moray’s mouth. The scene had played out over about five minutes but once the action started it was over lightning quick!
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| A chambered nautilus |
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| Another view |
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| A close up of its eye |
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| Front view |
Another thing unique to Palau is the Jellyfish lake. This is a fresh water lake that has thousands of jellyfish in it. But the unique thing is the jellyfish have no predators so they have no stingers. This means that even though there are thousands of jellyfish in a fairly tight area we can snorkel right in the midst of them. It might not sound like fun but it is really truly a unique experience and we have not found anyone yet who hasn’t said it was one of the cooler things they have done.
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| Jellyfish in the lake |
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| close up of a jellyfish |
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| more jellyfish |
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| A handful |
During our land travel, we visited a crocodile farm, which was not worth the time (or the fee).
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| inside of the Bai |
We went to the Aimeliik Bai. A bai is a meeting house for men only.
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| The Aimeliik Bai |
Along the way, we also saw the prehistoric terraces.
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| Mark and the guide having fun |
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| Another view of the fall |
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| The waterfall |
We also visited the Ngardmau waterfall. We had to trek down and then up some distance to get to the waterfall, which was very nice and well worth the mud and sweat. The month after we visited the waterfall, they have started a kind of tram system to bring visitors to the falls so they don’t have to walk.
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| Some of the stone face monoliths |
We drove to Ngarchelong at the northern end of Babeldaob Island, most noted for Palau’s archaeological site of Badrulchau. Here you can see stone face monoliths over a 5-acre area with some dating back to 161 AD. However the climate had taken a toll on these stone faces and they are eroding and unrecognizable.
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| a stone face |
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| as tall as Mark |
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| the stone monoliths |
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| The mother and child stone |
We also visited the “Mother and Child” stone, where legend has it that a woman was curious about what goes on in a men’s bai and went to have a look. She took her child with her but as she was looking into the bai, she and her child turned into stone. We don't see how the stone looked like a mother and her child but this is it.
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| The Capitol building |
We also drove to Melekeok, where the new Capitol Building is located. This building is huge, way to big for the small island and the population.
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| Ruins of a pineapple factory |
We also saw the ruin of a pre-WW2 pineapple factory, operated by the Japanese.
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| close up of the vats |
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| close up of the ruins |
We signed up for a day tour to Peleliu, an island at the southernmost end of Palau’s huge barrier reef. This we went via a fast boat and were then met by a bus when we got to the island. Peleliu was the location of some of the fiercest fighting during WW2’s Pacific War. Underground forts and caves were sealed off when the Japanese soldiers refused to surrender. Japanese and American memorials are found all over the island, plus old tanks, engines and other war debris rusting away. We visited the landing strip, Bloody Nose Ridge, Orange Beach where the landing took place, the Japanese Military Headquarters, the Japanese Shrine, the WildCat monument, Japanese Peace Memorial Park, 81st Infantry Division memorial and 1,000 men cave. It is called the 1,000 men cave because it was believed that 1,000 Japanese soldiers were inside the cave when the Americans sealed the caves.Our pictures don’t really do justice to what we saw.
