A lucky friend lived in Palau for many years and it's easy to see why. The magical Micronesian island is a magnificent work of nature offering an outside the ordinary vacation opportunity.
Fathom this: Palau, Micronesia is one of the seven underwater wonders of the world—a natural playground above and below the sea.
It is one of the world’s largest archipelago with 586 islands; a plethora of marine life that includes 400 species of fish, 500 diverse coral species and seven of the world’s nine species of Giant Clams; 60 dive sites; breathtaking waterfalls; swimming with jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake; diving with sharks; and the “Milky Way,” which is the North Pacific’s finest, natural “spa.”
For additional details check out: www.visit-palau.blogspot.com
Palau is, located in the westernmost corner of Micronesia with 586 islands and about 20,000 inhabitants. Consistently ranked as one of the world's best dive destinations, Palau attracts adventure seekers.
Many of the colorful reefs lie in unbelievable proximity to dozens of deserted, glistening
white sand beaches on the edges of palm-shaded tropical islands. Marine life thrives in Siaes Tunnel which is located along the reef where over two centuries ago the British Ship, The Antelope washed ashore and gave Palau’s its first recorded contact with the outside world. In the tunnel, at the entrances to their homes on the sandy bottom, the multicolored and decorative Helfrich’s dartfish and Randall’s shrimp goby thrive can be found.
On the other side of the tunnel, is a sheer drop off that is domicile to impressive schools
of hump-head parrotfish, Napoleon wrasse and dazzling soft corals. There may even be a leopard
shark resting against the wall of its numerous small caves. In its many shallow-water canyons,
there are bi-color blennies, lionfish, black-spotted puffers, unicorn fish and triggerfish. And the
list goes on.
Dive Sites Galore
Diaphanous waters provide such crystal clear visibility at more than 50 dive sites--
each possessing distinct characteristics and individual personalities to appeal to everyone’s
desires and abilities.
The Ngemelis Wall, is commonly known as the Big Drop-Off and one of the best in the world.
Its precipitous 1,000 foot drop bestows a profusion of intriguing sights of soft corals and reef animals, while its upper portion is encrusted with a rainbow of multi-colored sea fans, sponges, coral whips and
soft corals.
Blue Corner, arguably one of the best in the world and the most famous of Palau’s
underwater attractions, boasts constantly cruising gray reef sharks searching the rich waters for
their prey. Insatiable photographers, their excitement masked considerably by the slow motion
pace of underwater movement, train their equipment and snap away at schools of barracuda,
giant resident Napoleon Wrasse that often reach six feet in length, snappers and butterfly fish.
The famed Siaes Tunnel, with its enormous cavern bathed in ethereal blue light and
peppered with sea fans and ancient bushes of black coral, is an unparalleled aesthetic dive. On
its spotless, white sand bottom can often be seen whit tip reef sharks and black spotted stingrays
slumbering.
On the east side of Palau Lagoon is a site known as the Ngerchong Coral Gardens,
famous for its fabulous variety of intricate coral formations and high concentrations of small,
schooling reef fish. In order to access this unique adventure, visitors will need to enlist the transport of a local our guide at one of the tour shops operating in Palau. The Rock Island and Jellyfish Lake entry
permit is $35 per person in addition to the tour package. It’s recommended that visitors sign up
for the full day excursion, which includes snorkeling, lunch in the Rock Islands and a trip to
nature’s spa…the Milky Way.
Continental Airlines offers flights from Los Angeles to Palau v ia Guam--gateway to Micronesian. There are daily connections to Guam from Tokyo and other metropolitan centers around the world. Continental Airlines provide daily flights from Guam to Palau and twice a week from Manila, Philippines.
In addition, there are scheduled chartered ariline services and they are Asiana Airline from Incheon, South Korea, China Airline from Taipei, Taiwan-ROC, and Japan Airlines from Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, Japan to Palau.
From the western seaboard of the United States, you can hop to Hawaii, skip to Guam, then jump to Palau. For a scenic island route, you can do an island hop across Micronesia to Palau. Through Asia, there are twice weekly charter services between Taipei, Taiwan and Palau and additional flights are also available during peak seasons. From Europe,visitors can fly via Emerates direct to Manila, Philippines and onwards with Continental Airlines to Palau--this is possible without overnight stay in Manila.
Check out www.PacificFlier.com
Since its Inaugural Flight in April 2010, PacificFlier provides air services twice a week for both passengers and freight between Brisbane, Australia, and the Replublic of Palau in Micronesia with continuing services from Palau to Clark Field (Manila) Philippines.
PacificFlier provides direct route to visitors from Brisbane, Australia to Palau with flying time of 5 hours and 30 minutes with no layovers.
One of the best routes is to fly to Honolulu spend a few days on the island and catch a flight to Guam and a puddle jumper to Palau (takes about 13 hours from Oahu), and you'll double the vacation fun.
Comments