Palau
My first trip to Palau in late June of 2002 was a weather disaster. Two, not one, hurricanes hit and I never got to see the major dive sites.
First, Jellyfish Lake is absolutely amazing. It is highlighted in a major ad campaign right now and it always makes me want to go back. It is a hard climb to get to, so you will get good exercise to get there.
Blue Holes and Blue Corner are also great. Both of them live up to their world class status. I love the Blue Holes in particular although it was kind of crowded. I was a bit afraid of the Blue Corner given the current reputation, but it really was quite nice. The boat operators new how to get us to a great spot, we got hooked up with our reef hooks and then we were all set to watch gray tips patrol in front of us for 15 minutes.
German Channel was also a wonderful dive site. We saw mantas both time we were. One time it turned and did a barrel roll right over my head.
Peliliu Express was incredible the first time. We saw an annual aggregation of snappers that seemed to go on for miles. The second dive a few hours later was raked by currents and we pretty much held on to avoid being swept out to sea. Might be the scariest conditions that I have ever been in.
We had a very small cabin on our liveaboard boat because we booked late. The main living area was very nice with a great home theater where we watched violent HBO shows most evening.
The meals were great and the chef made beautiful carvings out of food that was very clever. I tell anyone who has only dived in the Caribbean, that Palau is the best place in the world to go to. You will see schools of fish, WWII wrecks, sharks, mantas and beautiful coral. I do recommend that you stay away in mid summer though. Being there during a hurricane is scary and no fun.
