Dive Log - Palau

Below is a collection of dive logs from some of the dive sites that we visited during our time in Palau. To start off with, the area is a marine national park and the waterways, sea life and environment are protected here such that removal of any specimen or artefact is prohibited, as is damaging any of the reefs. The protection mantra is repeated at the tour companies and on your national park pass. Sailing boats are required to have a multitude of permits depending on where in Palau the yacht is and people must carry a national park pass if they are to partake in any water based activities. The money is reported to go to managing the park islands and picnic areas, moorings for dive boats and improving the infrastructure for aquatic activities. The sea life and its condition make for truly world class diving. Palau has been famous for aqua activities for decades and there are some local and very skilled companies offering unparalleled diving experiences.

Siaes Corner

Located 30nm southwest of Koror, the site provides a fabulous wall dive on the reef wall separating the fringing reef of the greater Palau archipelago to the east and the Philippine Sea plunging to depths of 2000m to the west. This dive was in brilliant conditions with visibility up to 30m, undertaken on slack tide before the tide started rising. The wall life was layered, showing soft corals, sea fans and hard corals flourishing in the rich waters. The sea life was abundant, we made our way through dense schools of barracuda and red snapper, while brilliantly coloured small reef angel and moorish idol fish flickered through the coral seascape. We also marvelled at the reef sharks and sea turtles that were effortlessly moving about. We dived to 22m and easily filled up our 50 minute dive with spectating.

Ulong Channel

Close to Siaes Corner we undertook a dive at Ulong Channel on the incoming tide and enjoyed relaxing at shark corner and watching the multitude of grey and white-tipped reef sharks cruising around and taking an interest in us. We used the Palauan invention of the 'reef hook' to hook into hard (and dead) coral so as to preserve energy while the sharks perused the corner and we spectated on the whole event. 

After a while we continued swimming around the corner to the channel  where the current had increased to about 2 knots and we zoomed through the lettuce coral garden, spotting even more sharks and rays as we slowly ascended from the 20m dive. Visibility was declining as the current increased with the incoming tide, though it was still excellent at up to 20m vis.

Blue Corner

Further south of the above two sites is blue corner, a wall dive again on the meeting point of the Philippine Sea and the Palauan archipelago. We took the wall dive to a depth of 30m and marvelled at the detailed wall, covered in micro species of fish and invertebrates while huge Napoleon wrasse, grey reef sharks, blue fin trevally and sea and green turtles ambled around in the blue expanses. The visibility was perfect, providing greater than 50m. The Napoleon wrasse fish were very tame and even accepted a pat off one of the divers. 

German Channel

This passage was blasted through the reef by the Germans during their 'ownership' of the island nation in the late 1800s, to enable easy access for their steamships that were transporting mined phosphate off the Angaur Island in southern Palau. We went at rising tide which is when Manta Rays frequent the location to go to the 'cleaning station', where Remora fish will tend to their grooming needs. Convenient for divers, this offers an opportunity to be a voyeur while they are cleaned and majestically swoop close to the channel floor to pick up any plankton that are funnelled into the channel. We were lucky enough to see a Manta Ray slowly pirouette in and make two swims past us on his way through the cleaning station. He had a wing span of 3m across with an open mouth for plankton while two remora's were cleaning its underside. 

We also spotted a feathertail stingray keeping an interested eye on us as we passed behind, while he was buried in the sand with only his eyes and the end of his tail visible. He must have decided that we were not worth ruining his hiding spot for, as he did not move (except for his eyes carefully monitoring our movements). The visibility on this dive was lower than the previous ones, at about 15m decreasing as the tide started to change and the current increased.

Jake's Seaplane

A downed Japanese sea plane from 1941 is resting upright on the harbour floor at 15m depth on the western side of the Koror township. The plane is in excellent condition, having only experienced damage to its right-side pontoon and tail. The plane has become an artificial reef and there is not a spot left on the plane body that has not been taken over by corals and sponges. The visibility was low at about 8m, but the site is well worth the visit for a mostly intact war artefact.

Ulong - Sandbar

Cruising at a depth of 25m this was a spectacular micro dive. We spent time inspecting coral formations to spot the scorpion leaf fish, small shrimp hiding in tiny crevices, flatworms and clams snapping shut at your close visitation. Large sea turtles cruise the area, while sharks are just keeping the peace. A relaxed dive, we took our time looking for the shy of the aquatic kingdom for the best part of an hour.

Siaes Tunnel and Wall

Descending down the wall to 30m we enjoyed the lavish coral fans and wall formations before entering the tunnel. The tunnel is about 20m wide and 20m deep providing a natural cutting through the wall corner. As we made our way through the tunnel the lack of sunlight penetration made the dive dark, though looking back past the entry all you could see behind lit up by the sunlight above was the deepest of blue of the Philippine Sea beyond into nothingness. The visibility was so good providing up to 50m, and the further into the tunnel we travelled, the more depth the blue behind developed. As we exited the tunnel we traversed along the exterior of the wall and inspected the microscopic sea life, including some female damsel fish laying eggs on a coral stem awaiting germination by the male. The damsel fish were close by to ensure that we would not damage their precious eggs they had just laid. We also had trouble moving around for fear of touching a sea turtle, there we just so many. Another spectacular dive.

Above the Waterline

Not to miss a mention are the brilliant surface intervals that you are treated to. From relaxing on the white silica sand beaches of Ulong Island to paddling in the reef encircled sand bars near the rock islands, the surface intervals are as perfect a break as you could ever want. Crystal clear waters expose shallow reefs where you can watch the reef fish zipping about from the deck of the boat. 

Ulong Beach

Best Time and Tour Company

The diving is challenging off your own boat as the dive moorings are not permitted to be used by yachts and the anchoring is deep and in some location untenable. You could try and dive off your dingy, however many dive sites would be long distances from your anchorage. You will still be required to have a national park pass and a guide (as required here in Palau). We used a commercial company to go diving (see below).

Because we were intending to spend up to 3 weeks in Palau, we were able to pick the best weather for diving, days where there was little or no wind. We were also there over the full moon which is the best time for pelagic fish as they are busy getting out and about around that time. Our dive guides were fantastic and selected the sites on the day based on the conditions and the tides to best capture the features of each location. There are no shortage of dive operators to go with as you are required to go with a dive guide to any site, but we went on our diving trips with Sam's Tours. A company that has been operating in Palau for over 25 years and offers an excellent experience with well trained guides adhering to the rules set out for protection of the special aquatic environment of Palau. Don't miss the opportunity to revel in a world class diving experience, come to Palau!


Thanks to Alessia for use of her underwater shots.

24/8/2014

Categories: diving, nature, Palau