If you haven't heard of Palau, you're not the only one. It is a small island country in the Western Pacific. It is known for many reasons, for WII history buffs it may be the battle of Peleliu, for divers it's the Blue Corner, to biologist it's Jelly Fish Lake and for some it is the fact that the official currency is US dollars.
From the Mid-West it takes about 24 hours to get there and it's worth every minute.
Seventy islands is a protected sanctuary without access. This is great for the environment and the wild life as it is preserved for future generations.
Above picture was taken by Dan, who we met together with Tom.
Let's just say it: The diving is simply outstanding partially because there is a lot (did I say: a lot) of fish.
It's not a fish here and there. It's fish everywhere.
There are schools of barracuda and other species and with a lot of food there is also plentiful of hunters, such as grey reef sharks. During our first dive in the Germain Channel we noticed quite a large turtle shell that looked like someone took a bite out of a hamburger. That could easily have been a tiger shark.
The boat ride from Sam's Tours to the dive site was always exciting because the captain chose a winding path between those mushroom like structures that were eroded close to the sea level.
While diving the Blue Holes our dive guide (Keith Santillano) shows us a Flashing Disco Clam, which is one of the weirdest living things I have seen so far.
One of the highlights was Jelly Fish Lake. The first encounter is somewhat intimidating since everyone learned that you shouldn't touch any wild life. So you dodge the first one, and the second one and so forth. The farther you swim, the more jelly fish you see and very soon there is no dodging anymore. You are surrounded and they touch you everywhere.
The island itself has so much to offer, be it kayaking, hiking to a waterfall or getting a history lesson.
