The latitude and longitude of Palau are about 7 degrees north and 134 degrees east. The archipelago lies within the much larger group of thousands of islands that make up Micronesia, which means “tiny islands.” Approximately 800 kilometers north of New Guinea, southeast of the Philippines, and southwest of Guam, Palau consists of roughly 500 islands.
Palau has a maritime tropical climate with a large amount of rainfall. The average daily temperature for the year is 81℉ (28℃), while the relative humidity is about 82%. An annual average of 381 centimeters of rain falls on Palau, feeding into the rivers and streams and adding to the humidity. Wind direction shifts occur with the trade winds blowing from the northeast and east from November to May. Then the monsoon winds come up from the southwest from June to September.
Palau has declared itself as the world’s first shark sanctuary. In 2009, it launched the Palau Shark Sanctuary to do its part in fighting for an end to shark finning in Palau and around the globe.
(For more details, see: http://www.sharksanctuary.com/)
Palau’s Rock Islands were listed as a World Heritage Site in 2012. Many of the 445 uninhabited limestone islands of volcanic origin the southern lagoon have unique mushroom-like shapes, surrounded by turquoise water and coral reefs.
The site’s incredible beauty is made even more impressive by the complex reef system, featuring over 385 species of coral as well as a wide array of ecosystems. This is home to a great diversity of plants, birds and marine life, including dugong and at least thirteen shark species.
(For more details, see: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1386)
Palau is known as one of the planet’s best places to be underwater. Its dive sites attract visitors for all sorts of reasons, including huge schools of fish, plenty of sharks, and healthy reefs, as well as wrecks of the Second World War and the world-famous Jellyfish Lake and Blue Corner.
Most months the water temperature is around 30℃. Only from February to March does it occasionally drop to about 26℃. Average underwater visibility is roughly 20 meters but sometimes goes up to 40 meters! From July to September, heavy rains and strong winds can brings a drop in visibility to between 15 and 20 meters.
Palau features about 30 major dive sites, from walls and tunnels to channels and wrecks.
Here are just a few of the most famous of these sites:
Fine weather but wind was getting stronger.
30/32 degree, water and air temp.
It was more than 10 knots from south west.
One boat went to Ngemeris area & in-reef wreck site today.
1st dive was German Channel.
We saw many kinds of ray.
Clayton our palawan guide said he saw 4 kinds of Ornate Eagle Ray.
I saw only 2 kinds…
Also we saw Cowtail stringray and Mangrove stingray.
But where was “Manta-ray”?
2nd dive was at Blue Corner.
The surface was little shakey.
As usual there were lots of fish here.
There were many Giant trevallys & Narrow-barred Spanish mackerels, especially today.
As customer’s request, we went to Iro-maru as today’s last dive.
It was unusually good clear visibility today.
I show to customer for the fish unique to the in-reef area.
Fine weather, 30/30 degrees air/water.
Every one must have sunscreen today.
The sea condition was good enough to forget it is still wet season!
One boat went to Ulong area today.
1st dive was Grassland and we saw a Manta-ray.
1 big black tip shark was also seen at same reef rock.
I saw big school of Yellowspotted trevally.
Huge group of Bigeye barracuda swam toward us and we had surrounded by them.
Also Luminous cardinalfish, Yello cardinul fish, Red dot grouper, Diagonal-banded sweetlips and many eels were seen.
2nd dive was Sies Corner.
Peach fairy basslet and Squarespot snthias were hits the light and it was very beautiful.
We saw big school of Pyramid butterflyfish swam on the reef wall.
Three Humphead wrasses were also seen.
3rd dive was Ulong Cliff.
I saw many Bigeye barracudas (Bigeye barracuda everywhere today!).
The number of Bartail fusilier and Scads were so great that the drops appeared facing black.
It was calm & warm day, 29/29 degrees air & water.
We had one boat went to Ngemeris area (Blue Corner, New Drop-off and German Channel).
We saw many kinds of ray (but no Manta-ray..).
Cowtail stringray
Cowtail stringray
Mangrove Ray
It was cloudless clear sky from the morning.
Pleasant day!
One boat went to Ngermeaus & Ngemeris area.
We had 10 introductory divers.
They got off at Ngermeaus Island with 3 instructors.
Today is perfect day for introductory divers.
Other divers enjoyed dive at Blue Corner, New Drop-off and German Channel.
All divers saw Manta-ray at German Channel.
One boat went to Ulong Area.
It was 32/29, Air/Water temp, north wind.
1st dive was Sies Tunnel.
When I was entering the entrance, the soft coral which was beautiful on the ceiling, some trevallys made a vortex, the shark was sleeping on the bottom sand.
When I looked at the open ocean from inside the cave, it was fantastic dark blue.
Some Elegant firefish were seen on the sand near exit.
This dive site is not only watching fish, but also can enjoy an fascinating site those who love the underwater topography.
2nd dive was Sies Tail our original dive site next to Sies Corner.
It was crystal clear water.
I saw school of Bigeye trevally & Black and white snapper.
A pair of Green humphead parrotfish were seen.
3rd dive was Ulong Cliff to Ulong Channel.
Monopoly! there were no other dive group.
I saw big school of Bigeye trevally.
There were many sharks and as we go, there were more than 50 baby sharks!
I worried a little with other fish, how other fish survive with such many sharks.
We enjoyed drift dive in the channel with watching Dog teeth tuna & Humphead wrasse.
Photo by Anmitsu
One boat went to Ngemeris Area.
It was 29 degree both water & air temp.
1st dive was Big Drop-off.
Many kinds of beautiful small fish were seen.
Peach fairy basslet, Squarespot snthias, fry of Golden damselfish, Randoll’s Shrimp goby, et cetera..
Brilliant and very cute.
2nd dive was Blue Corner.
We saw big school of Bigeye trevally from the beginning.
More Bigeye trevally crowded gathered as we go.
Many of barracuda along the reef wall and many of Black and white snappers on the reef area, were seen.
There were a lot of fish was becoming a flock today.
3rd dive was German Channel.
We saw a Mant-ray in blue water.
When we were watching Spotted garden eel on the bottom, another Manta-ray was seen very close.
Big school of Bigeye barracuda was seen in the channel area.
Sharks were chasing Bigeye trevallys & Scads.
It was great moment.
One boat went to Ulong area.
It was rough until a few days ago.
But today was no wave, smooth surface.
We enjoyed trip wihtout seasick.
1st dive was Ulong Cliff & Channel.
There are lots of fish.
School of trevallys were attacked by some sharks & big Bluefin trevallys.
They swam at a tremendous speed.
We saw many baby shark at the entrance of channel.
Just before exit point, we saw big school of Bigeye trevally.
This was very unusual, I never seen here before.
2nd dive was Grassland.
Because the weather was nice, the sandy bottom were bright and it was photogenic.
Many Bigeye barracuda came toward us.
I saw some whitetip sharks on the bottom.
As usual I can find lionfish at Luminous cardinalfish’s nest, but today was not.
3rd dive was at Sies Coner.
It was nice gentle current.
I saw turtles, sharks, Humphead wrasses as usual, and huge amount of Redbelly yellowtail fusiliers were seen today.
Some Brown-marbled groupers were chased by whitechip sharks.
It was fine weather.
Finally I could see patches of blue sky today.
But still wind blow from the west, and I went to East side dive area.
The temprature was 30/29, air & water.
The first dive was Ngerchorong Outside.
It was good follow current.
Although the visibility was not perfect, but there were lots of fish.
I saw lots of Double-lined fusiliers and some filefish.
Some of Rainbow runners were comming and swam around us.
I saw one big Green humphead parrotfish nearby, she was eating algae without worry about us.
2nd dive was Big Drop-off.
I saw many Randoll’s Shrimp gobys.
They are good for Photo taking, because they are very cute & not moving most of time.
Also I saw many kinds of Crimson sea breams, basslets.
Peach fairy basslet, Squarespot snthiases and Randall’s fairy basslets.
Last dive today was German Channel.
It was good visibility.
School of Bigeye barracuda, Bigeye trevally were seen.
There were many sharks more than usual.
I saw some sharks and Yellow Spotted trevally where attaching against group of Double-lined fusilier.
No Manta-ray was seen today.
Start with cloudy weather.
It was rough in west area, because of strong south west wind.
We had 3 boats went to East area today.
I choosed Crescent Wall for 1st dive.
It was nice drift dive with follow current.
We enjoyed to watch eels (Spotted garden eel, Taiwanensis garden eel and Spaghetti eel)
Barracuda & Bigeye barracuda were also seen.
Then…
Suddenly A Marlin came!
Photo by Nishizawa
2nd dive was at Stadium.
I saw Longnose hawkfishes, Slender sweepers and Bluebanded snappers.
Some Blackalls and Harlequin sweetlips were also seen.
Photo by Araya
Last dive today was Short Drop-off.
The wind was getting strong and rain came, I felt chilly on the boat.
But there were full of plenty fish underwater.
Photo by Araya
Photo by Araya
Like yesterday, it was fine weather today.
Started with good feeling.
But feels like, Western wind tend to bit stronger.
Since the west area was rough, I carefully choosed diving site with less waves.
30/29 degrees, Air/Water. It was bit chilly on the boat when the wind was blowing.
We had 3 boats, all went to Ngemeris area.
1st dive was German Channel.
Not sure, but I believe I saw 1 Manta-ray in distance.
One Cowtail stringray swam with Remora was seen.
The Remora suck her upper side.
It looked like Remora was upside down.
I wonder if the fish does not care about such a thing.
2nd dive was Ngerchong Outside.
It was good strong follow current.
Huge school of Double-lined fusilier was seen.
It was awesome scene.
Also many Black and white snappers and Bigeye trevallys with them were seen.
Last dive today was Short Drop-off.
Started with slow current then the current was getting stronger.
We enjoyed good and very comfortable drift dive.
Big school of Double-lined fusilier was also seen here.
The weather in Palau was good.
No squall! Wind was not too strong.
The fish shade was also dense.
There was nothing complain.
32/29 degrees Air & Water temp.
It was really comfort.
We had 3 boats today.
Our 2 boats went to Ngemeris area, other went to Ulong.
My first dive today was Blue Hole.
True blue in the hole.
It was very nice visibility and I showed many kinds of fish.
Lionfish, Squarespot snthias, Rusty angelfish and so on.
2nd dive was Blue Corner.
The visibility was slightly lower than the Blue Hole, but the number of fish were large.
Double-lined fusiliers were everywhere around 360.
Humphead wrasse came down to us.
Green Sea Turtle swimming very slow was seen.
We saw big school of Barracuda in very short distance.
Other boat group saw 25 of Green Manta-rays.
Last dive today was German Channel.
It was good, because there were no other group.
We went to Manta-ray cleaning station.
On the way to the station, we enjoyed to watch Cowtail stringray and many Spotted garden eels.
Yes! She was coming!
We saw only one but big Manta-ray 🙂
We have 3 boats today.
I went to in-reef area because still strong wind at out-reef.
The sea condition was better than yesterday, but the visibility was still not best. (around 10m vis)
At Hafa Adai wreck, there were lots of Double-lined fusiliers.
Specialy many Redbelly yellowtail fusiliers were seen.
They covered all coral reefs with yellow and blue.
The second dive was at Chandelier Cave.
Even the very windy condition, this site is perfect calm 🙂
No wave, no swell and no current.
There are 5 air chambers inside Chandelier Cave.
We enjoyed awesome geographical features.
Last dive today was at ST Cardinals.
I saw one Grouper was preying a giant clam.
Our boat went to Ngemeris area.
We had 2 dives and both sites were crystal blue water today.
First dive was at Blue Corner.
As soon as we enter the water, a Humphead wrasse came and greeting me.
Some of Bigeye trevallys and Barracudas were also seen.
I started from the north side but the current changed on the way so I made shortcut and moved from the south to the north.
I saw many Garden eel on the sandy bottom area as usual.
Again but this time was quite a big number of Bigeye trevallies were seen.
Many of Redtoothed triggerfish were here and I don’t know why but they are always not instagrammable 🙂
I saw Green sea turtles & Hawksbills that was a meal.
There were many Bluebanded snappers and Gold-lined sea-beams (which are very instagrammable!)
2nd dive was at New Drop-off.
Fairly large Black and white snapper flock and big school of Pyramid butterflyfish were seen.
At the top of reef corner, big Bigeye barracudas stayed for a longer time at behind us.
This is a new style of watching the fish with hooks, watching the back rather than forward 🙂
I felt good this dive, because the weather was nice and the underwater was bright and bright.
We enjoyed good drift dive from the start to the end.
Started with some rain.
The wind was bit stronger than yesterday.
29 / 29 degrees Air & Water.
We had 3 dives at East area which was Crescent Wall, Thumb and Ngerchong Outside.
Crescent Wall is famous for 3 kinds of ell, Spotted garden eel, Splendid garden eel and Spaghetti garden eel.
We had good follow current and saw many Snappers & Triggerfishes more than usual.
Many Yellowmargin triggerfish was trying to attack us to protect their nest.
I carefully avoided them.
I thought that there were several stray barracudas, then the main body was emerging followed.
The barracuda here is big.
The visibility was good, it was a pleasant blue.
Huge number of Double-lined fusilier were seen at Thumb.
We enjoyed watching Bluebanded snapper, Two-spot snapper and Squarespot snthias at small patch.
Went to Ngerchong Outside in the afternoon.
Here also huge number of Double-lined fusilier were seen.
They gradually became spherical.
Then… 2 Manta-ray was coming from behind them.
2 Manta-ray swam round’n round to prey on plankton.
We were lucky because no other dive group were there.
We started with sunny weather.
The wind gradually becomes weaker and the sea condition is improving little by little.
Temperature was 30 degrees, water temperature was 29 to 30.
We had one boat went to Ngemeris area today.
We went to Blue Hole for 1st dive.
It was OK visibility inside the Hole, but outside the Hole was crystal clear .
We enjoyed beautiful scene in the Hole, because there were no other groups comes in.
2nd dive was Blue Corner.
There was still a little swell in shallow area.
We went from the south to the north along the wall of the reef.
As usual there are lots of fish today.
Humphead wrasse, Bigeye trevallys, Barracudas and Turtles were there as regular member.
Double-lined fusiliers and Redtoothed triggerfish were more than usual.
Giant trevallys swam around near surface were seen.
It seemed like usual Blue Corner, it was good visibility.
3rd dive we went to German Channel.
It was good upward current.
Bigeye trevallys, Bigeye barracudas, Dusky-finned bulleyes and Spotted garden eel, all regular members were there.
Although we saw some sharks at cleaning station, but Manta-ray was day-off today 🙂
Wind has changed from west to south.
It became bit weaker than yesterday.
The weather was cloudy sometimes sunny and no rain.
One boat went to Ulong area.
The first dive today was at Grassland.
The visibility was OK and there was still some swell.
School of Bigeye barracuda and Whitetongue jack were seen.
Because of swell, there were only half of usual spaghetti Garden ell.
Some dusky-finned bulleye, anemone fish and orange spotted filefish were seen in shallow water.
Second dive at Ulong Channel.
As soon as we entry the water, some Bigeye trevallys came toward to us.
And there were a lot of Big-eye scad under that.
14 Bluefin trevally were aiming scads and Double-lined fusiliers.
Beside that 2 Dogtooth tunas were aiming them.
Plenty fish around us.
There was no escape way for scads and Double-lined fusiliers.
3rd dive, we had wreck dive at “Iro-maru”.
Iro is ex-Japanese navy oil tanker and located in Western Lagoon, she is 470 feet (143 meters) long, quite a big wreck.
There were many dusky anemone fish on her main mast.
We called this as “anemone village” and we love it.