Palau
The best parts of Palau diving are the German Cut (mantas and really giant clams), WW II wrecks, Blue Corner and the mandarin fish lagoon. The fresh water jelly fish lake is also cool, if you're into that. Palau is definitely a live-aboard type destination, as the dive sites range over a large area. We were on a liveaboard, and service was excellent. Day boat diving would miss much of the good stuff. The week we were there, the visibility wasn't great, but it was adequate. Be sure to bring a good quality reef hook, or purchase one before going out--absolutely essential at places like Blue Corner. I would definitely go back to Palau. It has some unique things to offer, such as being able to dive on a variety of WW II Japanese ship wrecks, some of which still have depth charges scattered around on deck! You can also dive through a short underwater tunnel and surface in an enclosed cavern. Also of interest are the land tours of Koror and especially of Peleliu, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of WW II, where you can go into the 1000-man cave and still see sake bottles and personal items lying where they were left 70 years ago.
