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PART TWO - PALAU PACIFIC RESORT
The flight to Palau is refreshingly short. An hour hop to Yap, then a quick stop, and 45 minutes on to Palau. We were staying at the Palau Pacific, and they had a driver waiting for us at the airport, our luggage was taken care of, and before we knew it we were in the lobby, and walking through the rainy evening to our room. And walking. And walking. It's a pretty sprawling resort, but our man-with-the-plan Jim definitely steered us right by booking us in the farthest building in an upstairs room. The Ocean View wing of the resort actually is on a small peninsula with the balconies overlooking the tranquil sea, and the front door facing a large tidal lagoon. Water on three sides, perfect. And the upstairs rooms were marvelously quiet and spacious, well appointed, comfortable, and included another of those NASA-esque toilets. There were over 700 possible combinations of spray, mist, direction, intensity, temperature, and forced air flow to satisfactorily clean, dry, and deodorize even the most discriminating naughty bits. I must say that in my decades of dive travel, I have never felt fresher. And the girls wrote down the brand and model and, I believe, are already planning a Christmas campaign.
Toilet Command and Control Center
Boat view of the back of our room
View out our front door
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Prior to WW2 the Palau Pacific was a Japanese military amphibious aircraft base, and the massive concrete ramp up onto the beach remains intact, now adjoined by equally substantial but more modern pier. Because of the unusually large equatorial tides of nearly 6 feet, the end of this and most piers is floating and hinged to allow boarding of watercraft during extreme tides. There is a dive/island tour/water-sports shop located beside the pier, but those in the know skip the resort shop and dive with Sam's Tours located a short boat ride down the coast.
The main hub of the resort is the lobby building, which houses the front desk, several nice shops, and the restaurant.Ê Free wireless internet is available in the lobby, and there is a small room with two computers offering paid access. The restaurant features mostly al fresco dining overlooking the beach and pool, but they do have a glassed in air-conditioned dining area for those extra-sultry nights. PP also offers a full spa service, but none of us are spa people so I can't tell you anything about it.
The "endless" pool overlooks the white sand beach, and is well kept with sparkling water, with a large Jacuzzi pool only a few steps away. The beach itself is large and beautiful, and it's appearance doesn't immediately tip you to the fact that it is man made. Just off the beach there is world-class snorkeling during high tide, and equally wonderful tidal pools filled with interesting things to explore during low tide. There is a nature trail that winds through the property and is worth a couple hours, and a very impressive salt water pond system filled with marine life including rays, remoras, parrot fish, sea turtles, and many other reef creatures is located behind the ocean front units.
Massage was offered on the beach
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Pan Pacific is rather isolated, with no nearby restaurants, but the on-site restaurant is quite good albeit expensive. There are buffets morning, noon, and night, with various themes including Japanese, Local, and Seafood. Do not miss Seafood night - all the grilled lobster you can eat. Evening buffets are around $30 per person (kids 12 and under 1/2 price) and breakfast and lunch buffets around $20. The resort does offer a reasonably priced shuttle into town, and a taxi trip is $6 each way, so you can travel into Koror to eat or shop if you desire. If you take the shuttle, be on time and watch the routes because there are two of them. We made the trip in for three meals, one at a Thai restaurant not worth mentioning, and two at one of the best Indian restaurants we've ever visited. In Palau? Well, we had read about it in several other trip reports, and all the reports were true! Be sure to go to the Taj. Order the Garlic Naan and Butter Chicken. Tell them Mike sent you.
Once a week a Manager's reception is offered on the beach, with free snacks, cocktails, and local entertainment. Don't miss it if you can, it's worth it.
After a local dance performance there were photo ops :-)
The three of us in imminent peril
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And now about diving Palau and Excursions...
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