Palau is meant to looked spectacular from the air, sadly for us we were arriving at 10pm so no aerial view for us. Once through customs we were pleased to be met by someone from the hotel (West Plaza, Malakal), 15 minutes later we were all checked in. The hotel staff were very friendly, and I never failed to be amused by them addressing me as 'Mr Paul' during our stay. We had chosen the hotel as it was within walking distance of the dive centre, the hotel room itself was basic but clean and we easily fell asleep.
01/09/10
We awoke early and after an uninspiring breakfast at the restaurant next door we waited to be picked up by Sams Tours whom we had booked both the hotel and 5 days of diving with. We checked in and were then just pointed towards our dive boat. We were both suprised that there was not even a basic orientation of the operation and an explaination of what was available to us during our stay. We set up our dive equipment, had a very brief welcome from a somewhat grumpy guide and headed out to our first dive of the day at 'Oulong Channel'. The 30 minute journey was spectacular as we worked our way through the rock islands - these impressive limestone formations majestically rise out of the water and are covered with vibrant greenery. Whilst most of the islands looked as if you couldn't land on them, there were others that tantalised you with deserted white beaches dotted with coconut palms. There were a total of 8 guests on the boat, a mixture of Brits, Germans, Spanish & American. Dive briefing completed we jumped into the water which was crystal clear, looking down we were greeted with an amazing abundence of healthy hard corals. The channel runs between 2 shallow reefs and there were sharks constantly around us, I think at one point we counted 12 in sight at one time. It was an impressive drop off, the fish life we saw were of an amazing array of colours, however, it was not as plentiful as I had expected. In addition to the sharks we saw a napoleon wrasse, and had to work around the nests of Titan triggerfish, towards the end of the dive there was a very impressive giant clam.
We spent our surface interval on Oulong island, sitting at picnic benches eating our lunch. After a short walk along the beach we jumped back aboard the boat and headed to the next dive site called 'Sias Corner'. It was a drift wall dive, the hard coral was less plentiful, but there was more soft coral and the constant presence of sharks.
Next we headed to Jellyfish lake, the lake contains two types of jellyfish; golden jellyfish known as Mastigias and the moon jellyfish known as Aurelia. This intriguing lake departs radically from convention for it is an enclosed body of water wherein, over the course of millennia, resident jellyfish have become virtually stingless, allowing adventure seekers a rare opportunity to swim amongst these truly unique water creatures. It was quite eiry jumping into the green water of the lake, after a couple of minutes swim the odd jellyfish started to appear until we reached the centre of the lake where there were millions of them all around us (they reckon there are 12 million in the lake). It was very surreal snorkelling and duck diving down and feeling the jellyfish brushing against you, knowing that they cannot sting you.
The journey back took us once more through the rock islnads and we arrived back at about 4:30PM. We chose to take advantage of the bar at Sam's where I indulged in my first pint (of many) of the local brew - Red Rooster. We got chatting to a guy called Jim who worked at Sams, he spent time with us explaining about the operation (including where to wash gear and store it) and generally providing the level of service we had hoped to receive when we first arrived. He was a great guy and came over to speak with us everyday we were there.
A coupld of beers later and hunger was starting to build up, they were preparing a freshly caught yellow fin tuna behind the bar and so I couldn't resist a fresh tuna steak and fries - and I wasn't dissapointed.
02/09/10
I awoke with a sore throat which was not a good sign. We walked to Sams (5 minutes) and had a coffee whilst watching the activity of the dive centre. We were on the same boat and sadly with the same guide, with whom we experienced further frustration. This time we were heading out to 'Blue Corner', it was another beautiful journey out there, enhanced by blue skies which really brings out the colours of the rock islands. The wall at the dive site was sheer, there were soft corals galore and masses of marine life. We had regular shark sightings and were enthralled by schools of fish. Upon reaching the 'corner, we hooked in with our reef hooks and just hung in the current enjoying the shark show. As we swam out into the blue to complete our safety stop we were passed by a large school of barracuda. Heading towards a snorkel spot to moor up for lunch we were treated to a large pod of spinner dolphins which put on a great display. Jo ignored her lunch (this is not usual) and jumped into the water hoping to get a glimpse of the dolphins - she was not disappointed and although they were not too close she said the chatter they were making was incredible.
After lunch we headed to 'Dexters Wall', which had some nice overhangs and a swim through. We encountered a couple of sharks and a few turtles towards the end of the dive.
We headed back to Sams and relaxed over a coffee. Jim came over to join us and said that whilst here we had to dive Sam macro wall. I had heard this mentioned by a few people and was intrigued - I was expecting a wall dive which was accessible from the shore and so was suprised to learn it was just the wall of the dock, which looked a bit murky and was only about 8ft deep. Nevertheless we grabbed tanks and jumped in and despite the low visibility was suprised by the variety of life there. We saw giant clams, mandarin fish, stone fish, morays, juvenille harlequin sweet lips and much more. In an hour me and my camera barely moved 30ft - it really was a 'must do' dive if you love macro life.
That evening we went to the 'Taj' Indian restaurant, which comes highly recommended. After a Kingfisher lager my main course arrived (and took up over half the table) - Chilli Mangrove Crab. It was a whole crab and huge, but both very messy and very slow to eat.
03/09/10
I awoke with a stinking headcold but was determined not to miss any diving and so fortified with numerous medications and lots of coffee (theres something about increased risk of DCI here but I can't place it) we walked to Sams. There was a different guide and the whole vibe of the boat was changed, both amongst the guests and crew, the latter being much more relaxed and chatty.
Our first dive was at 'German Channel', the visibility was really poor (even for the dive site), but there was a constant barrage of feeding sharks, as well as numerous napeleon wrasse and groupers. A tank banging caught my attention and looking up I saw the outline of 4 manta rays circling over our heads. To top off the dive, 2 more manta rays glided right by us whilst we were doing our safety stop.
Lunch was on another beautful beach and the guide explained about the very popular 'betle nuts' that so many of the locals seem to chew. The betel nut is a native tree fruit, the nut is sprinkled with a coral powder (lime) and wrapped in a pepperleaf before being chewed, similar to the way some people chew tobacco. It supposedly creates a narcotic effect. The chewing of the nut creates a lot of red-tinted saliva, which they spit out rather than swallow it; it also stains the teeth.
The second dive of the day was at 'Turtle Wall', where unsuprisingly we saw a number of turles !
Back at Sams I jumped back in and spent another 45 minutes on the macro wall.
That evening we ate at the restaurant of indifferent breakfast (as it was close to us and I was feeling really shitty by now), where we had a stunning meal of seafood soup and steak - just shows that you should'nt always judge by your first experience !
04/09/10
Today was to be a non diving day - we had booked to do a WWII land tour of Pelelui.
A little history on the battle for Pelelui:
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the US and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific theatre of WWII, from September to November 1944 on the island of Pelelui, present-day Palau. U.S. forces (originally consisting of only the 1st Marine Division, but later relieved by the Army's 81st Infantry Division), fought to capture an airstrip on the small coral island.
Major General William Rupertus, commander of 1st Marine Division, predicted the island would be secured within four days. However, due to Japan's well-crafted fortifications and stiff resistance, the battle lasted over two months. It remains one of the war's most controversial because of the island's questionable strategic value and the very high death toll. Considering the number of men involved, Peleliu had the highest casualty rate of any battle in the Pacific War. It is estimated that there was a US fatality every 2.5 minutes day and night during those 2 months, the loss of Japanese life is estimated at 10,000. The National Museum of Marine Corp called it "the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines".
There were only 6 on the tour and we arrived on Pelilu after about a hours boat journey and were met by our guide. We first stopped to fuel the bus, as the only petrol pump on the island had been closed the previous day ! Pelelui is a small island, all the buildings are on one side of the island as this is where the electricity supply is (the power plant was built by the Japanese as an apology to the people of Pelilu). Driving down the road, the vergeways were lined with banana trees (not cultivated) and wild chickens ran to and fro across the road. We passed dogs lying by the side of the road resting from the heat of the day (we were reliably told there are only 5 stray dogs on the island !!!). We passed the only school on the island which teaches upto 6th grade; after that time education continues in Koror (Palau), but is optional - there is a wonderful philisophy here that you will never starve on the island, and so what else do you really need from life. There is a small clinic on the island, but no hospital.
Our first stop was the landing beach and the memorial to the 51st division, then passing over the hard fought for runway we came to an armoured troop carrier, closely followed by the remains of 2 US tanks. We headed up towards Bloody Nose ridge where there were seperate memorials to both the US and Japanese that lost their lives. There were remnants of the battle as constant reminders; with a lone US tank (with white star still visible)by the roadside. We walked up a slope and entered a cave to be confronted with a Japanese gun emplacement and then further caves and barracades used by the Japanese.
On our way to the Peace Park we passed a rusting Japanese tank which the guide told us had never been moved, whilst a short walk into the jungle revealed the fusilage of a zero fighter and a few hundred yards further in we located its engine.
During our journay around the island, the guide pointed all the daily goings on of the people, such as where they collect firewood. We also learnt that when she is not guiding, she paints the shell of landcrabs to sell in the market of Koror.
We walked around the heavily bombed Japanese HQ before heading to an extensive cave system, called the '1000 man caves', so called because of the number of Japanese the US found and captured in this system. Our last port of call was the museum (previously a Japanese storage facility and still showing signs of bomb damage), which details the history of the battle as well as a display of artifacts of the war found on the island over the years.
It is interesting to note that the Japanese actually lived on the island in peace and harmony before the war and arranged to evacuate all the locals prior to the US invasion, resulting in no local loss of life.
Our journey back to Koror involved another beautiful journey through the rock islands, including views of gun emplacements and one island where seasnakes were basking in the sun, we were also shown the remains a zero fighter lying in about 10 ft of water.
05/09/10
Our first dive of the day was to be a rare opportunity to see and photograph a Nautilus(a member of the cephalpod family), they usually inhabit depths of about 300 metres (980 ft), rising to around 100 metres (330 ft) at night to feed. There is a deep reef wall where they are located and the previous night a cage (containing a dead chicken) is dropped to 100m to attract and catch the nautilus. They are then brought to shallower depths where they are released; due to the internal construction of its shell they are not harmed by the pressure changes when brought to this shallower depth. The cage was bought up on top of the wall and we entered the water, there were 15 nautilus in total which were released and we watched them for about 30 minutes before they gradually descended into the depths (there was no sign of the chicken - not even bones remained).
We headed towards a beach for lunch and joined a group of very welcoming locals who were having a BBQ. They chatted with us, shared some of their food with us and then retrieved a number of cocounts from the floor which they broke open and passed around. Note: Try coconut slithers with spicy cheetos - sound wierd, tastes great !
Our second dive was on the wreck of the Iro, she was a 470 ft long Japanese naval fleet oiler, sitting upright in 120 ft of water. The visibility was very poor and the wreck is badly deteriorating and covered in a thick layer of dead coral as well as being heavily silted inside. There were two hugh 80mm HA guns on platforms on both the bow & stern.
We headed back to Sam's and then Jo and I went back out to dive Chandelier Cave, which turned out to be a beautiful shallow cave system made up of five separate, connecting chambers with air pockets (into which you could ascend). Chandelier Cave was once an open-air cave; the stalactites and stalagmites slowly grew into formations resembling glittering chandeliers. Jo was not a big fan of the cave and exited, while I spent about 30 minutes enjoying the formations of the cave and its tranquility.
We headed back to the Taj in the evening for another sumptuous curry.
06/09/10
Jo dropped off laundry at the supermarket/laundrette and we then headed to Sams for our last day of diving; 2 of the signature sites of Palau - 'Blue Holes' & 'Blue Corner'. 'Blue holes' is 4 holes in the reef which meet in a central canyon, the ambient light streams through both the holes and a huge exiting archway, making for a great experience. Whilst in the blue hole a marble ray was disturbed and glided by us. Exiting through the archway, the current started to pickup resulting in a spectacular final 10 minutes - whitetips, reefies, napeleon wrasse, morays and bumphead parrotfish. Much to my amusement (and Jo suprise) Jo's fin got bitten by a territorial titan triggerfish.
We moored up on 'Blue Corner' for lunch then jumped in for our second dive. This turned out to be the dive of the trip, it was spectacular. The current was much stronger than when we had previously been here and during the dive we hooked into 2 seperate locations. We were treated to numerous hugh schools of fish, dozens of sharks, hundreds of barracuda and curious napoleon wrasse. There was constant action for the whole dive and a great way to end the diving in Palau.
On our return we made a second visit to Jellyfish lake, before detouring for a refreshing swim at a cove the locals call the “Milky Way,” the bottom of this little bay consists not of sand but of white limestone mud, which gives the water a milky sheen. Rumored that the mysterious chalky mud makes an excellent rejuvenating facial, however be warned the mud stinks !
Once back at Sams I took the opportunity to snorkel round to the Zero fighter poited out the previous day.
Stopping to collect the laundry, we were most amused by the receipt; in the space reserved for the clients name, instead of 'Jo', they had put' the American lady' :)
In the evening we found a great bar/restaurant called 'Krammers', which appears to cater to the expat community.
07/09/10
For our final day in Palau we booked to do a kayaking tour called 'the Lighthouse tour', which was a combination of calm water paddling and canopy-covered hiking through the rock islands. The kayaking was a very tranquil experience, being close to the beauty of the islands, with nothing to disturb the noise of the insects and the sound of the birds. After lunch we commenced a hike along the Rock Islands' only navigable “road” to explore the remnants of Palau's German and Japanese colonial history. Originally build to service a simple kerosene-powered lighthouse, the Ngeruktabel road was upgraded by Japanese designers and converted into a true engineering marvel. Twenty-five foot long cannons were stationed all along the hillside to protect Koror's vulnerable deep water channels from possible US invasion. After sixty years of tropical growth, the road now serves as a shaded footpath. After about 10 minutes we diverted from the pathway to visit a cave complex, home to a colony of bats and decorated with an array of stunning stalagtites and stalagmites. Resuming the way we passed 2 cannons which had been made inactive and then left abandoned on the pathway. There were a number of Japanese built defensive caves along the way which now contain nothing more deadly than cave locusts and frogs. Our guide kept pointing out anything of interest, including skinks and razor snakes which were basking in the sun. Passing a Japanese base which was slowly being reclaimed by the jungle we reached the sumit of the hill. Climbing the lighthouse we were greeted with breathtaking views of the rock islands, including the milky way. Next to the lighthouse were 2 further cannons (this time intact), along with a destroyed bunker complex.
It was a hot walk back down and we welcomed a dip in the water. After a little more kayaking we started to head back to Sams. Stopping along the way we were treated to a 'drift snorkel', covering a mile in a matter of minutes whilst enjoying the hugh quantities of staghorn coral beneath the waters.
We ate at Krammers and then headed tpwards the airport for another stupid o'clock flight. Taking off in the early hours(and again not seeing the islands) we reflected on how Palau had exceeded our expectations and left a lasting memory. The people are friendly and welcoming, the islands are stunning both above and below (I believe Blue Corner rates as one of my top 25 dives - in over 2000). We don't often believe in retracing our footsteps, but Palau is somewhere we will definately return as we believe it still has many more secrets and suprises to reveal to us.
Next Stop: Yap
