Palau Dive Trip

Some of the more popular dive sites:

The Ngemelis Drop-Off: The Ngemelis Drop-Off is considered to be one of the world's best wall dives. Starting in water just knee deep, the wall drops off vertically nearly 300 meters. Divers can free float past a brilliant rainbow of sponges and soft corals whose intense blues, reds, or pure whites form a back drop for quivering nine foot orange and yellow sea fans and giant black coral trees.

Blue Corner: Blue Corner is regarded as one of the best single dives on earth! The wall is vertical and deep and is known for it's sheer abundance of underwater life. There are large pelagic fish; schooling barracudas; tropical fish in every variety; turtles; guaranteed sharks; hard corals; soft corals; and fan corals. Strong tidal currents nourish this chain of life. Best diving is from 15 to 24 meters. Not a dive for beginner divers.

Blue Holes: Blue Holes is a huge cavern on the north side of Ngemelis Island. Four big holes on the ceiling enable a lot of ambient light to penetrate the cave and create great photo opportunities. Maximum depth is 30 meters

Big Drop Off: This steep wall offers an amazing formation of soft and hard corals and a healthy population of reef fish. The best of Big Drop Off lies relatively shallow in 2 - 17m, which also makes it an excellent snorkeling area.

German Channel: German Channel is a man made shallow channel that connects the lagoon with the outer reef. The channel was blasted by the Germans in the early 1900s in order to transport the excavated phosphates from the island of Angaur to the Koror port.

Today, many Manta Rays visit the channel and feed on the plankton that the strong currents bring. Few cleaning stations in the channel's mouth allow one to view those great creatures from such a short distance. The cleaning station is at 18m and the beautiful coral garden at 7-13m.

Popular WWII wreck dives

Before and during WWII, Palau became strategically important for the Japanese war machine. On March 31, 1944, the American Navy air raided the Palau Archipelago in an operation named DESECRATE I ". During operation "DESECRATE I " more than 60 ships were sunk. The wrecks rest at depths ranging from 20m to 40m. Some of the recommended sites are:

Helmet Wreck (10 - 31m): Small supply ship, stern gun and shells, depth charges and radial engines for zero fighters in cargo hold.

Buoy #6 Wreck (26m): Patrol boat, best wreck for macro photography, excellent night dive.

'Jake' Japanese Navy Seaplane (13m): Floatplane, intact (bomb radios, etc. are still around)

USS Perry (82m): The only US shipwreck in Micronesia. A 315ft (96m) long, Clemson-class destroyer. Sunk after hitting a mine on September 14, 1944.

Chuyu Maru (35 - 23m): Freighter, stern gun and shell, bridge intact, engine room, many Lion Fish.

Iro (23 - 35m): Fleet oiler, large coral encrusted bow and stem guns, open engine room.

Amatzu Maru (30 - 14m): Tanker, largest wreck in Micronesia, many black coral bushes.