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Diving Palau means warm water, sheer walls dropping into the blue and current-swept channels where the fish are lined up as if they bought tickets. The encounters it's famous for are grey reef sharks patrolling the plateaus at Blue Corner, reef mantas circling cleaning stations in German Channel, and snorkelling among golden jellyfish in a marine lake isolated from the open sea.
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Picture it. You're clipped into the reef with a hook and a length of line, flying in the current like a kite. Fifty metres of blue sit below your fins. A few metres in front of you a grey reef shark is holding still in the flow, mouth slightly open, tail barely moving, doing with no effort what you're doing with a brass hook and a lot of nervous breathing. Behind it a school of barracuda turns, and a Napoleon wrasse the size of a coffee table drifts over to see what you are. This is Palau. In 2009 it became the first country in the world to declare a shark sanctuary , and you can tell. The sharks act like they own the place, because legally they pretty much do. Palau is best for divers who are comfortable in current and want big animals, but the sheltered lagoon, the wrecks and the Rock Islands give newer divers plenty to do as well. If you already know you want to go, you can compare boats and dates on LiveAboard.com.
When is the best time to dive Palau?
Palau can be dived all year. The water stays warm in every season, usually around 27-30C (about 81-86F) , so the question is really about wind, swell and which animals you're after, not about whether you'll be cold.
Dry season: roughly November to April
This is the main season. The seas are generally calmer, the crossings out to the southern outer reefs are more comfortable, and visibility tends to be at its best . Most operators name December to March as the best months for reef mantas in German Channel . Peleliu, which is very exposed, is most reliably diveable in this window.
Wet season: roughly May to October
There's more rain, more wind and a better chance of rough days at the exposed sites, and visibility can drop on some days . In return the boats are less crowded, and the sheltered lagoon dives and wrecks around Koror are barely affected. It's not a bad season, just a less predictable one. Plan for a few weather days and you'll be fine.
Spawning and moon phases
Many of Palau's fish aggregations follow the moon, not the calendar. Several reef fish species gather to spawn around full and new moons, and the strongest currents in the channels also come with those tides. If you want aggregations, ask your operator about moon phases before you book.
What wetsuit should you wear in Palau?
A 3mm full suit suits most divers. People who run hot get by in a shortie or a 1-2mm suit for the shallow lagoon dives. If you plan three or four dives a day for a week, take the 3mm. Being warm on dive one is easy. Being warm on dive four of day five, after a surface interval in the wind, is another matter.
Insider tip: Ask your operator which days of your trip fall on spring tides. Those are the days the channels and corners are at their wildest, and the days you'll most need good hook technique and a full tank. Divers who are newer to current can schedule the easier sites for those days.
Koror and the Rock Islands: the sheltered lagoon
Koror is the main town and where almost every dive trip starts. Just south of it lie the Rock Islands, hundreds of limestone islands covered in jungle, undercut at the waterline so that each one looks like a green mushroom. They sit inside a large lagoon that is protected from the open ocean, and that makes this part of Palau calm, easy and full of variety. The Rock Islands Southern Lagoon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site .
Conditions in the lagoon are gentle. There's little current, depths are shallow to moderate, and visibility is lower than out on the walls because the water is full of nutrients. The lagoon holds Japanese ships sunk in the Second World War, cargo ships and smaller vessels now covered in hard and soft coral. It's also a very good place for macro. Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus) come out at dusk to court among the branching coral, a pair of fish in psychedelic colours rising together for a few seconds to spawn. Giant clams (Tridacna gigas) sit in the shallows, their mantles blue and green with algae.
Then there's Jellyfish Lake. It's a marine lake on Eil Malk island that has been isolated from the open sea long enough for its own population of golden jellyfish (Mastigias papua) to develop. They follow the sun across the lake every day, and their sting is too weak to notice. The lake is snorkel only, since scuba isn't allowed, and you need a permit. Tours stopped in 2016 after a drought caused the jellyfish population to crash, and the lake reopened in early 2019 . The numbers can change again, so check its current status before you plan around it.
Who it suits: Everyone, including new divers and snorkellers. How to get there: Day boats from Koror reach it in minutes, and liveaboards use the lagoon for night dives and calm-water days.
Insider tip: Leave the dive torch in your bag for the lagoon wrecks during the day and pack it for the dusk dives. Wreck holds and dusk macro are where a good torch earns its place, and a backup light weighs less than missing the best five minutes of the dive.
Ngemelis and the southern walls: Blue Corner and friends
Less than an hour south of Koror by speedboat, the Rock Islands open out onto the barrier reef, and the bottom drops off fast. This is the Ngemelis area, home to the dive sites that made Palau famous: Blue Corner, Blue Holes and New Drop-off. These are the reef corners and walls where the open ocean meets the reef and the current brings everything along with it.
Blue Corner is a reef plateau that sticks out into the current. You drop down the wall, swim up onto the plateau, set your reef hook in dead rock and hang there to watch. Grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) and whitetip reef sharks (Triaenodon obesus) are commonly encountered, cruising the edge and turning into the current. Schools of blackfin barracuda (Sphyraena qenie) and bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus) move past, and Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) swim up to divers with their usual expression of mild disappointment. When the current changes direction the whole show can switch to the other side of the plateau in a few minutes. Your guide will move you, and the shark that was here a moment ago will be there.
Blue Holes is right next door: four openings in the top of the reef that drop into a big cavern, which then opens onto the wall. Many boats do Blue Holes first and then drift along to Blue Corner on the same dive.
Currents vary from mild to properly strong, and they can change during a dive. Visibility on the outer walls is usually good to excellent.
Who it suits: Intermediate and advanced divers who are confident with buoyancy, current and a reef hook. Newer divers can do it with a good guide on a mild day. How to get there: Day boats from Koror or a liveaboard. Both work well.
Insider tip: Practise deploying and releasing your reef hook in calm water before you need it. The hook goes in dead rock or rubble only, never live coral. Put a little air in your BCD to float off the reef once you're hooked in, then let the air out before you unclip. Divers who skip that last part go up fast, and they go up to an audience.
German Channel and Ulong: mantas and the western reef
German Channel is a channel through the barrier reef, dug in the early 1900s during the German colonial period to give boats a route through . The tide pushes plankton-rich water through it, and that brings in the mantas. Reef mantas (Mobula alfredi) are commonly encountered here, especially in the dry season, either feeding in the channel or hanging over cleaning stations near the mouth while small wrasse pick at their gills. Etiquette is simple: get low, stay on the sand, keep your distance, and let the mantas decide how close they want to come. They often swim over to have a look at the divers who are behaving.
Further north along the western barrier reef is Ulong Channel, a long channel with a fast drift through it. Grey reef sharks often wait at the mouth, and the floor of the channel holds large patches of lettuce coral and giant clams. When the tide is coming in it's one of the better drifts in Palau. You just fly through.
Conditions here are mixed. German Channel can be fairly calm or quite lively depending on the tide, and the visibility in the channel itself is often lower because of the plankton that brings the mantas in. Ulong can run fast.
Who it suits: Intermediate divers. German Channel on a gentle tide is fine for confident newer divers. How to get there: Day boats from Koror and liveaboards both cover these sites.
Peleliu: Palau's wild south
Peleliu is the island at the southern end of Palau's main barrier reef, best known on land for a major Second World War battle. Under the water it's known for the strongest currents in Palau . It sits exposed to the open ocean, with no lagoon to shelter it. Sites such as Peleliu Cut and Peleliu Express are deep walls and corners where the current can be powerful and change direction or go down without warning.
In return you get the big animals of the open ocean. Grey reef sharks are commonly encountered in numbers, along with whitetip reef sharks, schools of jacks and spotted eagle rays (Aetobatus ocellatus). Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) feed along the walls, completely unconcerned by the current that has you holding on with both hands.
Who it suits: Experienced divers only. Come with solid experience in current and a good number of logged dives, and expect some sites to be dived only when conditions allow. How to get there: Liveaboards from Koror (Malakal Harbour) include Peleliu on many itineraries, and some day boats from Koror go there in good weather. It's very much weather dependent.
Insider tip: At Peleliu, carry your SMB on every dive and know how to deploy it from depth. Separations are rare with a good guide, but if the current takes you off the wall you want the boat to see you before it sees anyone else.
What marine life will you see in Palau?
Big animals
Sharks are the headline. Grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) are the signature species of the outer reefs, with whitetip reef sharks (Triaenodon obesus) resting on ledges and blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) in the shallows near the islands. Reef mantas (Mobula alfredi) are the other big draw, and spotted eagle rays (Aetobatus ocellatus) are often seen on the walls and channels. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) turn up on most trips. Palau also has a small population of dugongs (Dugong dugon), but they're shy and rarely seen by divers. Count yourself lucky if you see one, and don't believe anyone who promises you one.
Reef fish
Bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) move across the reef in herds, chewing coral loudly enough that you hear them before you see them. Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) are, as mentioned, nosy. Two-spot red snapper (Lutjanus bohar) gather in big groups at certain sites around the full moon, and the walls are covered in anthias, butterflyfish, Moorish idols (Zanclus cornutus) and orangespine unicornfish (Naso lituratus).
Macro
Palau is known for its big animals, but the lagoon and the Rock Islands hide a lot of small stuff: mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus), nudibranchs, gobies on whip corals, and leaf scorpionfish (Taenianotus triacanthus) swaying in the surge pretending to be a dead leaf. Every boat has one macro photographer who comes up after an hour with 300 photos of the same goby and is entirely happy about it. Let them be.
This is where Fins comes in handy. When you get back on the boat and someone asks what that grey fish with the blue face was, you can snap a photo, and Fins will tell you what it was before the debate over lunch gets out of hand.
Liveaboard or land-based?
Palau is one of the few places where both options really work, because the best southern sites are within reach of day boats from Koror. Here's the honest version.
Liveaboard
Pros: More dives a day, usually up to four or five including night dives. You're at the site before the day boats from Koror arrive, so you may have Blue Corner to yourself for the first dive. You don't spend time on a speedboat morning and evening, and Peleliu is far easier to reach. Cons: It costs more, the schedule follows the boat and the weather, and there's less time on land for the Rock Islands, the jungle or the WWII history. Most Palau liveaboard trips last around a week. Browse the options on LiveAboard.com to compare itineraries and cabin types.
Land-based
Pros: Flexible, often cheaper, good for mixed groups that include non-divers and snorkellers, and easy to add kayaking, Jellyfish Lake and land tours. Day boats from Koror usually do two or three dives a day, with lunch on a beach in the Rock Islands. Cons: A long boat ride each way, rough crossings in bad weather, and busier sites in the middle of the day.
Who each suits: If you want the maximum number of dives and Peleliu, take a liveaboard. If you want variety and more downtime, or you're travelling with non-divers, base yourself in Koror. Some divers do both: a week on a boat, followed by a few days on land.
How do you get to Palau?
Palau's main international gateway is Roman Tmetuchl International Airport (ROR) on Babeldaob, a short drive from Koror. International flights usually connect through a regional hub in Asia or the western Pacific, such as Guam, Manila, Taipei or Tokyo, depending on the carrier and the season . From the airport it's a quick transfer into Koror, where most resorts are located and where liveaboards leave from Malakal Harbour .
Routes and entry requirements change, so check current flights and entry rules before you book. When you arrive you'll be asked to sign the Palau Pledge, a promise to the children of Palau to act in a way that protects the islands. Palau also restricts sunscreens containing certain chemicals that harm the reef, so bring a reef-safe one or buy it locally.
Planning tips
- Certification and experience: Open water certification is enough for the lagoon, the wrecks and German Channel on a gentle day. For Blue Corner and the channels you'll enjoy it much more with an advanced certification and some current dives in your log. For Peleliu, you'll want both.
- Nitrox: Widely available and well worth it. Many of the walls and corners have you around 20-30m for a while, and nitrox gives you more bottom time and a bit more margin on multi-dive days.
- Dive insurance: Essential. Palau is remote, and an evacuation for treatment is the kind of bill you want an insurer to pay. Check that your policy covers the depths you plan to dive.
- Reef hook: You'll want one at Blue Corner and Peleliu. Many operators lend or sell them, but your own is better.
- SMB: Required on every outer reef dive in practice. Bring your own surface marker buoy and reel or spool, and know how to use them.
- Torch: For wreck holds, dusk dives, night dives and peering into the ledges on the walls.
- Gloves: Many operators discourage them or ban them, as gloves tempt people to grab the reef. A reef hook is the right answer to current, not your hands.
- No-fly time: Allow at least 18 hours between your last dive and your flight after several days of repetitive diving. Most divers make their last day a land day, which is also a good excuse to kayak around the Rock Islands.
Booking your trip
Once you know whether you prefer a boat or a base in Koror, these are the next steps.
Why I recommend LiveAboard.com
I've worked on liveaboards for 13 years. I've booked through LiveAboard.com many times, and so have a lot of my guests. They don't sponsor Fins and they don't see what we write. Here's why I point people to them:
- The biggest choice of boats. In most of the places we dive, they list more boats and departure dates than anyone else, so you can compare everything in one place.
- You don't pay more. Booking through them doesn't cost more than booking with the boat directly, and you get some of the most competitive prices around.
- Service that actually helps. They answer questions quickly and help with the planning before your trip and with anything that comes up after it.
If you're not sure which boat or itinerary is right for you, they're a great place to start: compare liveaboards in Palau.
Before you go: get Fins
Know what you're looking at. Fins is a marine life ID app built by divers. Before your trip, use it to get to know the animals you're likely to meet. After each dive, identify what you saw from a photo, or answer a few simple questions if you didn't get a shot, and keep it all in your dive log. Download Fins before you fly.
Before Palau, learn to tell a grey reef shark from a whitetip and a blacktip, and a bumphead parrotfish from a Napoleon wrasse, so that you know exactly what's hanging in the current in front of you at Blue Corner.
Frequently asked questions about diving Palau
Is Palau good for beginner divers?
Yes, with some limits. The sheltered lagoon, the wrecks and the Rock Islands suit new divers well, but the famous outer sites such as Blue Corner and Peleliu have strong currents and are best saved until you're confident in current.
When is the best time to see mantas in Palau?
Reef mantas are seen in German Channel all year, but most operators name December to March as the most reliable period. Sightings are common, never guaranteed.
Can you scuba dive in Jellyfish Lake?
No. Jellyfish Lake is snorkel only, a permit is needed, and the lake has been closed in the past when the jellyfish population dropped. Check its current status before your trip.
How strong are the currents in Palau?
They range from gentle in the lagoon to very strong at Blue Corner, the channels and especially Peleliu. Currents are strongest around full and new moons, which is why reef hooks are standard kit.
What water temperature should I expect in Palau?
Roughly 27-30C all year. A 3mm full suit suits most divers, especially on trips with several dives a day.
How many days do you need to dive Palau?
A week is the usual minimum, either a standard liveaboard trip or five or six diving days from Koror. Ten days or more lets you add Peleliu, a weather day and some time on land.
Palau is the kind of place where you surface from the first dive grinning and start working out how to come back. The sharks are confident, the mantas are curious, and even the jellyfish don't sting. Learn the names before you go, use your reef hook properly, and save some air for the moment the current turns and everything starts to move. Download Fins before you fly, and you'll know exactly what you're looking at from the first giant stride.
