Palau Travel Guide

Palau is a small island nation in the western Pacific, best known for its extraordinary marine environment. The Rock Islands — steep, vegetation-draped limestone formations rising from turquoise lagoons — are stunning from above and below water. Most travellers come for the diving and snorkelling; the reef health here is genuinely exceptional by global standards.

The main hub is Koror, a modest town of a few thousand people. There's limited accommodation and dining outside tourist brackets, and inter-island travel relies on boats. The country is compact; you can cover the highlights in a week, though longer stays let you explore less-visited islands and dive sites.

Palau sits outside the typical Pacific cruise circuit. It demands more planning than Fiji or Samoa, but rewards it with fewer crowds and sharper natural drama. Come for the water. Everything else — the modest museums, the wartime history — is secondary.

Highlights

1. Rock Islands & Lagoons — Limestone karst formations rising sheer from shallow lagoons. Kayak between them or dive beneath. Stunning and surreal.
2. Blue Corner & Reef Diving — World-renowned dive sites with healthy hard coral, sharks, and grouper schools. Suits experienced divers; sites demand respect.
3. Jellyfish Lake — Brackish lagoon inhabited by millions of stingless jellyfish. Snorkel amongst them — an odd, meditative experience.
4. Palau National Museum — Small but well-curated. Covers Palauan history, Japanese occupation, independence. Context without the hype.
5. Koror Town & Markets — Modest waterfront town. Local markets, decent restaurants, dive operator headquarters. Base for everything.
6. Ngarchelong & Northern Islands — Less-visited outer islands accessible by boat. Quieter reefs, stronger sense of remoteness. Requires day trips or camping.