Palau
REVIEW ON DIVING PALAU
Big reasons to go to Palau ….
Daily flights from most European cities via South Korea or from North America via Guam make Palau one of the most accessible tropical islands to travel to no matter where you live.
Made up of approximately 250 islands with a land mass of only 200 square miles, Palau is a Western Pacific Ocean nation located a few degrees north of the equator.
Being a tropic holiday destination it’s best to check the weather patterns prior to booking a trip. The months of June, July and August have more rain than other times of the year, but pack a rain coat whenever you travel there so not to be caught out.
The biggest draw for snorkelling and diving visitors are the Manta rays, which can reach widths of 7 meters and weigh up to 1.5 tones.
In Palau, the south west opening of German channel is, in my opinion, the best place to see the manta and can be enjoyed by novice to experienced divers.
German Channel is so called as it was created by the Germans during their administration of Palau in WWI in order for their boats to have a passage from the capital city of Koror to the islands in the south.
Manta rays spend most of their time out in open ocean and can often be seen from boats as they cruise below the surface.
During late afternoon the Manta move into the channel to feed on plankton and krill then visit the cleaning station where cleaner wrasse and butterfly fish remove parasites while the manta hovers above the coral outcrop.
The best way to get the most out of this dive is to descend to the sand, approach the coral mound and keep very low to the sand, or even position yourself next to a rock as if you are part of that rock.
You will see the cleaner wrasse above the coral obediently waiting, and then the manta arrive almost blocking out the light above with their immense wing span. The manta will remain for a moment and then swim off, they make an oval path and will be back within a few minutes for further cleaning following the same route as before.
It takes about an hour to travel by day boat to German Channel, and is also accessible by Liveaboards. The maximum depths for a manta dive should be around 17 to 20 meters.
I have used day boats from Fish n' Fins and from Sam's Tours and the Tropic Dancer liveaboard.
My recommendation is to travel on a liveaboard, you will get many more dives and will be much more comfortable than the day boats, especially if it's raining and the water is choppy.
