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I did a backroll off the skiff and drifted down the lightless shaft, finding
bottom at 85 feet. Sunrays danced around the shadowy divers above. I trained
my light on the wall dressed with tubastrea and wire corals, then followed
the others through an opening to blue water. I hitched a ride on the current
along the wall. Reef sharks patrolled past. I stopped to take pictures of
a golden gorgonian seafan and surprised a hawksbill turtle grazing on hydroids.
We gathered at a plateau and focused awhile on the drop-off for more sharks.
Then we swam inward and there, perched atop a rock, an octopus, fearless and
photogenic. A Napolean wrasse circled close, staring at me with those huge
humanoid eyes. Ahead was a school of horse-eye jacks. To my left was a school
of Moorish idols, to my right a spotted moray, above a swirl of barracuda
so dense it blocked the sun. An eagle ray glided by.
This is no fish story. This is Palau.
Palau is a 325-mile-long archipelago in the region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean known as Micronesia. Micronesia is the collective name for the island groups of the Carolines, Marshalls, Marianas and Gilberts. Palau is one of the western Carolines. It is located between Guam, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
There are an estimated 340 islands in the archipelago, not counting the tiny islets and Rock Islands. It is an area distinguished by exceptional biodiversity: lush jungle-topped limestone islands, coral atolls, mangrove forests, grassland savannas, landlocked lakes, saltwater lagoons. It hosts a spectacular marine environment pockmarked by caverns and arches, steeply sloping walls, an ecosystem nurturing over 1500 species of fish, over 700 species of corals and anemones. There are 50 species of resident birds. Saltwater crocodiles live here. Dugongs do, too. There are no poisonous animals or reptiles save for a rarely seen jungle snake. Mammals are mostly introduced species, such as monkeys, brought by the Germans and found only on Angaur. There are no malarial mosquitoes.
ONCE UPON A TIME. . .
. . . Palau consisted of only two islands, Pelelieu and Angaur. A woman from
Angaur named Latmikaik bore a boy she named Uab. He was most unusual. He crawled
the day after he was born. He walked the day after that. His appetite was
huge, so huge he helped himself to neighbors' hogs and children. The terrified
villagers went to Latmikaik and told her what they planned to do. Though brokenhearted,
she agreed to help. Next day they piled a mountain of firewood in the village
center. Latmikaik told Uab they were preparing a special ceremony to honor
him. He happily took his place at the center of the pile and let them bind
his hands and feet. They set the wood on fire. Uab screamed and struggled,
and when the flames burned the ropes free, he ravaged the island. Then Uab,
his whole body burned, stood at the cliff and looked toward the heavens and
asked, "Why, Father? What did I do to deserve this?" Then he plummeted
face down into the water. But Uab was so big that the water did not cover
him. Parts of his body stuck out, and these formed the islands of Palau.
So goes the legend. According to archaeologists, the largest islands were
formed by Eocene volcanic activity. The Rock Islands, pure limestone, are
remains of uplifted ancient coral reefs.
Origin of the Palauan peoples is less certain. Language and archaeological
findings indicate that Malays from Indonesia, Melanesians from New Guinea,
and some Polynesians were the founding fathers. Ancient village sites on the
Rock Islands and terraces on Babeldoab carbon date ancestry to 1000BC.
FIRST CONTACT
The peoples of Palau lived within a highly-structured society driven by money,
prestige and power. Palauan villages were organized around 10 clans. A council
of chiefs from the 10 ranking clans governed the village and a council of
10 female powermongers were key in the control and division of land and money.
Intervillage wars and land disputes between villages and clans were common.
Men and women had strictly defined roles. The men fished and fought. Women
tended the home, grew vegetables, harvested shellfish and sea cucumbers from
the shallow reefs. The islands were called Belau, meaning fairy tales. The
people numbered about 40,000.
Historians refer to this as the "pre-European contact period".
Then British Captain Henry Wilson got lost in a storm enroute to England from Macao and wrecked his ship The Antelope on a reef near Ulong, an island between Koror and Pelelieu. The year was1783. With the help of Koror's High Chief Ibedul, Wilson and his crew built a new ship. When he left three months later, he took the chief's son Lebuu with him to England to be educated. There, Lebuu contracted smallpox and died. He was the first Palauan to die from one of the civilized world's diseases. Wilson went back to Palau to bring news of Lebuu's death. He also brought firearms. For a long time Ibedul had a monopoly on firearms and foreign trade. Koror prospered.
The British changed the name to Pelew Islands and controlled trade until 1885 when the Spanish took over under Pope Leo XIII. Two churches were established. The priests introduced alphabet and quelled intervillage war. They changed the name to Los Palaos. By the end of the century firearms had spread throughout Palau, and foreign traders were active with the chiefs of all the islands. Trade grew. Population diminished. Between the guns used against one another and the smallpox and sexually transmitted diseases brought ashore by the sailors, the Palauan population shrunk to less than one-tenth of pre-contact times.
In 1899 after losing the Spanish-American War, Spain sold the islands to Germany. The Germans are credited with introducing health care to stop the spread of epidemic dysentary and influenza. They opened the first jail in Koror. They established programs to develop the natural resources. Coconuts were planted to expand copra production. Natives were conscripted to mine phosphate in Angaur. The name was changed to Palau.
Following Germany's defeat in World War I, the islands came to the Japanese under a mandate by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. They built the islands into a thriving economy that specialized in mining, agriculture, and fishing. The Japanese instituted free public and vocational education. In 1922 the town of Koror became the administrative center for all Japanese possessions in the South Pacific. Roads were paved, electricity, water and sewer systems were built. Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese workers were brought to fill the need of labor. By 1935 over 25,000 Japanese lived on Koror, and Koror had become a stylish metropolis.
Japan had already begun violating the League of Nations nonmilitary decree and fortifying Palau with seaplane ramps and large gun placements. 1944, American planes bombed Japanese ships and facilities on and around Palau. The Japanese transformed Pelieu into a defensive fortress, beginning with the evacuation of the islanders to Babeldaob. As many as 10,000 Japanese dug into the jungle-covered coral caves, reinforcing them with concrete bunkers. In September forces invaded Pelelieu and Anguar. Angaur was taken in three days. The battle on Pelelieu lasted three months. Casualties were among the highest in the war. Over 8,000 Marines were killed, wounded or missing, and more than 12,000 Japanese died.
The battles of WWII devastated the islands and all the improvements made by the Japanese. In 1947 the United Nations established the Trust Territory of the Pacific, which included the Northern Marianas, Pohnpei, Truk, Kosrae, the Marshall Islands, and Palau. It was to be administered by the United States. The US was mandated to improve Palau's infrastructure and educational systems and help it become a self-sufficient nation.
By1980 the Trust entities had solidified their political status. The northern Marianas became a US commonwealth, the Marshalls a republic. Kosrae, Truk, Yap and Pohnpei formed the Federated States of Micronesia. Palau began drafting its constitution and elected its first President. Koror became its provisional capital.
Tourism became a major industry with the opening of the Palau Pacific Resort in 1985. Restaurants, motels, dive shops, gift shops, auto rentals followed. When the US proposed a nuclear submarine base in Babeldoab, the Compact of Free Association was drawn. Ratified on October 1, 1994, the Compact allows the US to dock military vessels in the islands for 50 years in exchange for military umbrege and $517 million in aid over 15 years. It also granted Palau independence.
Present-day Palau is a Republic, divided into 16 states, each with its own Governor, constitution and legislature.The National Congress is known as the Olbiil Era Kelulau, which means "House of Whispered Decisons." The Congress consists of two houses. The House of Delegates has 16 members, one from each state. The Senate has 14 members, representation based on district population. The Executive Branch consists of the President, the Vice President, and the Council of Chiefs. The Council of Chiefs is composed of one chief from each state. The Supreme Court is the judiciary branch.
Present-day Palau appears quite Americanized. Currency is in US dollars; they drive on the right and have adopted our postage; gas at the station is measured in gallons, distance is in miles, depth in feet, air in the scuba tank in pounds per square inch. They celebrate Labor Day the first Monday in September and Thanksgiving Day the last Thursday in November.
There is a 92% literacy rate as education through high school is mandatory, and those families with the means send their children to America to be educated. With opportunities in the US far greater than those in Palau, there is a shortage of young educated natives. Most of those who return or remain live in Koror, a melting pot of Palauans, Filipinos, Taiwanese, Japanese, Americans, Micronesians, Indonesians, and some Europeans. About 40% of the population works for the local government. The rest work in the fishing or tourist industries. The economy is growing. A new airport is planned near the future capital in Melekeok State on Babeldoab.
Yet present-day Palau is still deeply rooted in tradition. Away from the modern population centers, homes are made of palm fronds, men carve canoes and fish for dinner, and history is passed from one generation to another by storytelling. Many of these stories reflect their abiding connection with the sea.
THE DIVING
The sea is a treasure. CEDAM International named Palau "One of the Seven
Underwater Wonders of the World." Diving is an adventure, the sights
exquisite. There are sheer coral-dressed walls, busy, brilliant reefs, mazes
of caves and caverns, world war ship and plane wrecks, and a plethora of fish
and pelagics. Palau tops most diver's wish list.
When you go, most of your diving will be around the barrier reef fringing the Rock Islands lagoon, spread out over 23 miles between Koror and Pelelieu. There are 10 dive operations and three liveaboards. Beach diving in the Koror area is extremely limited. The most popular sites are around Pelelieu, Ngemelis or Ulong, a 45-minute boat ride from Koror. The dive operators typically offer two-tank packages, with a surface interval lunch on the beach of one of the uninhabited Rock Islands. A third dive, nitrox, land and kayak tours, photo and video services are available. Liveaboards offer all this as well as "unlimited" diving, that is, up to five dives a day, including a night dive, if your computer allows it.
If you do a land-based trip, you must purchase a $15 "user permit" to dive Koror (usually included in the dive package) and a $20 permit to dive Pelelieu and Babeldoab, valid for one month. These are available in dive shops and at tourist agencies. The fees support costs to keep the beaches clean, enforce environmental codes, set and maintain dive site moorings. On liveaboards, the Palau Government levies a cruising tax of $35 US per person per week.
The water is tepid, 82 to 84°F. A lycra dive skin or 1 to 3mm (1/8") suit will suffice, more for protection against stinging hydroids and corals than for warmth. We recommend packing a polartec vest, just in case. It can make the difference between comfortable and not.
The marine life here is prolific because of the nutrient-rich rushing water. Fighting the current will use up your energy and air fast. So dive operators devised the reef hook, a four-foot length of rope with a small steel hook on one end and a clip on the other. You clip onto your BC, tuck the coiled rope into your pocket, and then when needed, latch onto the lip of a rock (or something you won't damage). Inflate your BC a tad, so the rope goes taut, and there you are, suspended and still, watching the sharks cruise by. And the Napelon wrasses and schools of mackerel and trevallays and so on. With hands free for taking pictures! When it's time to move on, you deflate the BC to get neutral, release the hook, and go with the flow. The hooks are for sale or for rent at dive shops.
DIVE SITES
Dive sites are weather dependent, visibility unpredictable. The vis can be
100 feet or more or it can be 30 to 50 feet. The rainy season usually affects
vis. The current, too, is unpredictable. It can change without warning, but
the current is what makes the diving so good. The stronger the current, the
more fish to be seen.
Much of the diving will be "drift diving." You swim with the current, and the boat picks you up when you surface. You want to have a safety sausage and a surface signalling device. Make sure you are properly weighted; you must be able to perform a safety stop in open water without a line. Some operators prefer that the group ascends together, so stay with the group and pay attention to the leader.
Blue Corner is Palau's signature dive. This is the one that read like a lie. With an 80-foot maximum depth and sometimes merciless current, it is considered an intermediate to advanced dive. It is a coral shelf that projects out into the ocean and has vertical walls on both sides. An upwelling created by the currents attracts a galaxy of marine life. The reef hook is a must-have. Underwater photography is a challenge. When the current's ripping, there's no stopping. This is where the adage "F-8 and be there" could have been borne. It means, preset your f-stop at f/8 and when the subject is the right distance away, trigger the shutter. Videographers will be in hog's heaven here.
You will see gray reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, Napolean wrasses, maybe hammerheads. Tip for big animal encounters: Don't chase them. Let them come to you.
While it is easy to be distracted by the big animal action, there are all kinds of fish to watch on the plateau: spotted sweetlips, squirrelfish, emperor angelfish, mantis shrimp, shrimp gobies, bannerfish, dogtooth tuna, pyramid butterfly fish, fusiliers, clownfish, barracuda, jacks.
Blue Hole is a cavern with a collapsed ceiling, created over the eons by currents and crashing waves. It is actually four vertical shafts that lead out to the reef near Blue Corner. Black corals, which don't need direct sunlight, flourish.
The southwestern edge of Palau's barrier reef is marked by impressive drop-offs where aqua waters of the Philippine Sea turn navy as you descend the sheer walls. Big Drop-off, also called Ngemelis Wall, is such a site. Some dive operators say it is the most spectacular in Palau. It starts at two feet, lays out a carpet of anenomes and clownfish at 10 feet, then drops to 600 feet. Of course, none of us are going that deep, but the wall we sport divers explore is decorated with hard and soft corals, seafans, crinoids, schools of pyramid butterfly, and a bounty of tropical reef fish. It is wide-angle photogenic with soft coral gardens of yellow, purple, pink, white, barrel and rope sponges, giant sea fans. New Drop-off is a vertical wall, festooned with soft coral and seafans. Like Blue Corner, it is a shallow shelf that juts out into the ocean with upwellings that attract schools of barracuda, gray reef sharks, and abundant reef fish.
German Channel is a man-made sand canal through the southwest side of the barrier reef. Manta Rock is here, a cleaning station where giant mantas come to be cleaned of parasites and debris by cleaner wrasses. Gray reef sharks also come to be serviced. The area is home to barracudas, snappers, titan triggerfish, gobies, lionfish, leaffish. To the south is Ngedebus Coral Gardens, with numerous species of hard corals, crocodile fish, nudibranchs, flatworms, anemones and clownfish.
Just an aside...With all these sharks, rays, and other big animal encounters, there was only one scary incident. One of our divers was attacked. By a triggerfish. No more than 10 inches long, this feisty fish has a nasty disposition and is fiercely territorial. Seems our fellow photog got too close. The fish made mock attack motions to warn him, but the human paid no heed. So the trigger bit him, his fin, that is, bit a hole right through its tip. When our friend came aboard and showed us, we all laughed alot. But from then on, when we saw a trigger, we gave him wide berth.
Ulong Channel, with a maximum depth of 60 feet and gentle current, is a good dive for novices and a good spot for photography. The entrance is surrounded by coral garden walls. A shallow ridge in the center of the channel is blanketed by soft and hard corals, seafans and anemones. Unique to this site is a huge patch of cabbage coral with resident schools of squirrelfish, soldierfish and glasseyes.
Chandelier Cave is a guided tour. You swim through a tunnel into a cave with three chambers. Air pockets allow divers to surface and behold the massive stalactites formed by water dripping down through the rock island above. They hang from the ceiling like, well, chandeliers.
While Truk Lagoon is synonomous for world war wrecks, the wrecks around Palau are just as historically significant. In March1944 the US air strike Operation Desecrate sunk more than 50 ships of the Japanese Imperial Navy. Most lie in shallow protected water and are easily accessed from Koror. The most notable is the Wreck of the Iro Maru, a 470-foot tanker resting upright in 120 feet of water.Three mast and gun turrets at the bow and stern form a vital, vibrant artificial reef, encrusted with soft corals, black coral trees, fluted oysters, colorful sponges. Batfish, butterfly fish, schooling yellowtails, shrimp and crabs, tomato clownfish, giant tridacna clams reside here. The main deck at 80 feet has open holds with oil drums and machinery.
If you are not an experienced diver, you can still enjoy exploring the wrecks. A few things to remember: first, ask the divemaster what the dive profile and probable conditions will be. Wear an exposure suit to protect yourself from jagged metal edges. Don't penetrate the wreck. Make sure you are properly weighted. Dive with the divemaster.
No matter what your skill level, you can snorkel, and the best is Jellyfish Lake, a marine lake on Mecherchar Island. Completely landlocked, there's a sweat-drenched hike through the steaming jungle to get to it, but it's worth it. Millions‹ no exaggeration‹of mastigias jellyfish populate the gelatinous green water. After the first nervous minutes, you realize, they do not sting. Fissures in the limestone island allow for the transfer of saltwater from the ocean, yet keep other forms of aquatic life out. With no predators, these jellies have lost their ability to sting. It's a phenomenon of nature, a phenomenal experience.
The newest dive/snorkel/swim site is Dolphins Pacific, the world's largest dolphin research facility, on the north side of Ngeruktabel Island, a 210 million-gallon complex with 10 dolphins and the extraordinary opportunity to interact.
TOPSIDE
Koror Island is a cluster of hamlets along one main road, connected by causeways
to Malakal and Arakebesang. The city of Koror is the capital and commercial
center. Most of Palau's 17,000 people live and work there. Downtown is a patchwork
of buildings housing government and commercial activities. The national govenment
offices are there, the courthouse, police and fire departments, civic center,
senior citizens center, the visitor's authority. There are two museums, Etpison
Memorial and Belau National. There is the Belau Medical Center and Palau Community
College. The US Post Office, FTD flower shop, Ace Hardware, will remind you
of home.
Accomodations run the gamut. The Belau Tourism Association official guide identifies 23 lodgings, from modest bungalows to the opulent Palau Pacific Resort, a160-room oasis on 64 acres of tropical gardens on the western shore of Arakebesang Island. Arrangements can even be made to camp out on the Rock Islands or stay with a local family. The same map locates 32 restaurants and bars reflecting the islands' eclectic cultural mix: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Mexican, and as American as Popeye's. Partying at local bars and clubs ends with the midnight curfew. The bridges have no guard rails.
Best to expend your off-gassing hours exploring the islands' historical and cultural sites. See the Yapese stone money quarry on Metukerabisech. These huge stone discs were carved out of the limestone cliffs, measure up to four feet in diameter, and were hauled 400 miles by canoe to Yap. Visit Bai ra Irrai, one of the few remaining traditional men's meeting houses, over 200 years old. Hike to Ngardmau Falls. Trek to Lake Ngerdok to the crocodiles. Go to jail and buy a storyboard. Carved here by inmates, they recount the legends of Palau. The one I bought told how the breadfruit tree came to be and bore the inscription on the back, "Mary, Prisoner #267456". For unique handmade items by local artisans, go to the Ormuul Gift Shop. For T-shirts and other such stuff, go to the Ben Franklin (!) department store. You will see turtle-shell and black coral jewelry in your travels, and you know why not to buy.
To understand Palau's place in modern history and the psyche of the people, you must visit Pelileu. You will be moved. Our guide Tanji has devoted his life to honoring those who fought and won here. He will take you to Bloody Nose Ridge and Orange Beach and tell you with tears in his eyes what happened there. His gathering of memorabilia is housed in a temporary museum. Contributions from veterans of this battle have funded the soon-to-be Pelileu Museum.
So we do the fantasy dive once again and before it is even done, I know this:
Palau goes back on top of my wish list.