PART FOUR - PALAU DIVING & EXCURSIONS (Continued)
ULONG CHANNEL
The next day put us on another well-known Palau site, Ulong Channel. I recalled reading that Ulong can be a wild ride because of the fierce currents, so I was prepared for a roller coater. During the briefing, though, we were told about a very large bait-ball that liked to hang around in the channel, which was often pursued by large predators. As we entered the channel from the side, almost on cue the DM pointed enthusiastically to the right, and there was an enormous ball of silversides moving in graceful unison up-current along the channel, followed by two white tips and a grey reef shark, a large wrasse, and an enormous barracuda. It was a sight I will never forget. The parade soon disappeared past the 100-foot visibility limit, and we joined the current for a quite docile ride through the channel in the opposite direction, slipping along at comfortable two knots.
There were at least three nice photo ops that required vigorous finning against the current, but all were well worth the effort. These included a beautiful giant anemone, her skirt blown up by the current to expose her outrageous purple knickers, and a stand of gigantic cabbage coral whose "leaves" were protecting hundreds of fish from the relentless current as well as enterprising predators. At the end of the channel we were dumped into a huge, deep bowl with sheer walls, with lots of sharks cruising and waiting for easy meals. I tried my best to look old, tough and gristly, and I narrowly escaped, and if I ever see my buddy again I'll ask him how he managed.
BLUE CORNER AGAIN
On the second dive, the DM asked where we would like to go. He needn't have. How about Blue Corner again? And shortly thereafter there we were, attached by reef hooks to our favorite place. Only this time, we sat and waited, and nothing happened. Five, then ten minutes went by, with nothing of note, and I began to wonder if we were just lucky the first time. Nope. Here came the sharks, only this time I was smarter and hooked closer to the edge of the wall where I could get a better vantage for photos, and stuck strictly to my zoom lens. I also switched to manual focus because my auto-focus had a very difficult time locking in on sharks in the blue. I had better success this time although I was still usually 12 or more feet away from them, out of strobe range. And why are those people behind me banging on their tanks? Maybe because there is a school of Chevron Barracudas to my right that I hadn't noticed? How far to my right? FOUR FEET!!
I broke my previous record of 20 seconds for grabbing my wide angle lens out of my BC pocket and changing camera settings, and although by the time I got the camera ready the school had moved to about 10 feet away, I managed to snap away and get a keeper or two. Then we released, moved back through the sand chute again, and were entertained by a tame and nosey bumphead wrasse who was most happy to pose for us. Ah, Blue Corner. Get ye there before ye die.
ROCK ISLAND TOUR, JELLYFISH LAKE
The following day was easily the best non-diving day I have ever spent on a dive trip. I booked a full day Rock Islands snorkeling/sightseeing trip for the three of us, and how the gods smiled upon us. The weather was stunningly beautiful when the boat picked us up at 8:00 AM sharp. The first news was that we were the only ones signed up for the tour that day, so we would have a boat and all three crew to ourselves! We lathered up with sunscreen, and set sail for paradise. There was no sail, but it sounds better.
First stop was the Milky Way, a unique shallow cove whose bottom consists of a pure white clay that, when disturbed, seemed to turn the entire cove into a gigantic bowl of milk. The DM dived down and brought up two enormous scoops of the clay and suggested we cover ourselves with the soothing goo, which of course, we did. A quick dip to rinse off, and we all felt 10 years younger. My daughter actually forgot how to talk well because 10 years younger made her only 2.
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I can't really overstate how beautiful the expanses between the hundreds of Palau islands are. From the tiniest little atolls to large mountainous, forested islands, both inhabited and uninhabited, the endless stark blue seas and skies, the sheer cliffs and carved rock formations of the endless stretch of islands, the white beaches, the ever changing and ever beautiful cloud formations, it was truly awe-inspiring. Although the Sam's crew had an adventure-packed day in store for us, the cruising between the sights was as memorable as the sights themselves.
Our next adventure was an hour of snorkeling in a shallow portion of German Channel. Although still non-divers, the girls have a fair bit of snorkeling under their belts from following me all over creation, but I don't think they could have imagined what they were in for today. This was a drift snorkel, with a guide in the water with us, and the boat following along as we drifted in the mild current. The reefs were only a few feet below us, and beautiful beyond description. Even as a diver I was captivated by the health and diversity we were seeing as we drifted lazily along. Within minutes the guide spotted a three foot white tip shark passing by, and though the girls were at first terrified and happy to offer up dad as a human shield from these monsters, by the time we spotted the second and third shark the fear turned to fascination and curiosity, which was supremely entertaining for me to observe. By the time the day ended, we had seen a total of seven sharks and three sea turtles while snorkeling. I have been on MANY dive trips in the Caribbean where we didn't see that many sharks and turtles in a full week of scuba.
Green Sea Turtle |
But the excitement was just beginning. After a delicious boxed lunch on a deserted beach, we moved on to the world famous Jellyfish Lake. Jellyfish Lake is a large salt-water inland lake, which has no biological connections to the ocean. Only a few species survive on the lake, including a species of jellyfish that, because of the isolation and lack of predators, has evolved away any ability to sting. The government of Palau manages and protects this unique location, and it costs $30 per person to visit and swim or snorkel in the lake. After docking, you present your permit and begin a steep but short climb up a mountainside, then down the other side to a dock in the lake. There is a safety rope to assist you on the climb, but wear good shoes; it's steep and sometimes slippery.
You enter the water, which is comfortably warm, and even though you know exactly what to expect, there is still no way to completely prepare for swimming with hundreds and thousands of creatures you have spent a lifetime learning to avoid at all costs. Concentrations of the jellyfish vary as you paddle about, but regardless of where you are in the lake, they are there. The park estimates that there are over 7 million of them. I had no qualms reaching out and gently touching the creatures, but it took the ladies a few minutes and some last minute convincing to muster the courage. Once the ice was broken, though, they had a wonderful time observing and playing with the little blobs. We stayed for about a half hour, and then headed back to the boat to continue day in paradise.
Off we headed to yet another snorkeling adventure, this time another first for us, snorkeling over a deep wall. The wall divers among us know the intense rush of swimming out over the edge of a steep wall, and it was only slightly less exhilarating to snorkel along the edge, hand in hand with family who until now had only heard my descriptions of wall diving. More sharks, more turtles, parrotfish, anemone fish, a clown trigger, schools of smaller baitfish, healthy soft and hard corals, and wonderful Palau deep blue water and amazing visibility.
As if this wasn't enough excitement for one day, we had yet another stop on the itinerary, Clam City. This is a current swept beach where the conditions are just right for Palau's giant clams to grow to be real giants. At a depth ranging from 5 to about 12 feet, these gentle giants lay open in the sand, filtering out nutrients carried past them by the stiff current.Ê We paddled vigorously to keep our positions over the clams and watch the guide swim down and touch them on the mantle, triggering them to quickly close up for protection. My daughter even got into the act, I mean after all, once she had swam with sharks and jellyfish, what's there to fear from a clam? We didn't spend much time here, the current was really moving and we were pretty tuckered out.
As we spent the final hour relaxing on the boat while having the various sights described to us as we rode alone. To our left, the island Survivor was filmed on. To our right, a WW2 gun emplacement with a rusting piece of artillery still guarding the entrance. And everywhere, in every direction, more of the most beautiful ocean vistas we have ever experienced. Supper that night tasted particularly good as we review the day's adventures, and we slept long and soundly.
PELELIU
Our fourth day of diving was a special trip to the island of Peleliu, a trip I had been very excited about because of it's reputation for offering up even more extreme of high voltage currents and big animal encounters. The trip is about an hour further away than the already distant sites we had been visiting, and requires at least four divers willing to pay a surcharge for the trip. I began recruiting divers on the first day, and even though our DM repeatedly downplayed the diving at Peleliu, four of us decided to go. Peleliu, along with being an A-list diving spot, is also the location one of the most bloody and brutal battles of World War 2. I'm afraid I'm not a history buff, but when a guided tour of the island focusing on Peleiu's place in WW2 history was offered at an extra price, we all signed up. And this trip unfortunately turned out to be the only black mark on Sam's Tours otherwise sparkling performance.
We arrived off Peleliu excited to see what diving that was potentially more intense than the sites we had already visited could be like. Our first dive was a ho-hum drift dive on a sloping reef called Orange Beach. We were completely under-whelmed, and frankly disappointed. For lunch, we motored less than two minutes to a sheltered harbor, had a quick meal, and then traveled from the dock another 5 minutes out to another dive site called Peleliu Wall which was a fine wall dive, but not noticeably different or better than the wall we had already visited. Then, quickly back to the dock where we were met by a guide and a mini-bus for our land tour. Expectations were high for this tour, and were never remotely approached. The tour began with the guide asking us "Well, what would you all like to see?" Of course, we didn't know what we wanted to see, that's why we paid for a guided tour. So our guide shuttled us around the island from place to place, describing sites in a voice so low it could only be heard by people in the front seat, then stopping, letting everyone out, and telling them to walk around and read the signs.
We made the best of the tour, and actually the "museum" was quite unusual and interesting.
The interesting part was the fact that all the artifacts were simply sitting on shelves, completely exposed and unprotected. You felt like you were looking at memorabilia in an attic rather than a museum, but here were photos and medals, weapons and cooking utensils, all in a hodge-podge of decay and disarray. They are trying to raise money to improve the museum, and I wish them well. It's sad to see this historically important collection so poorly cared for.
The tour eventually became so monotonous that we all asked for the guide to just take us back to the boat. She eagerly complied, even though we still officially had an hour to go. I hope she wasn't planning anything important with that days tips. We then settled in for the 2-hour plus ride back to Sam's, and I'm sad to say that the sightseeing on the trip to and from Peleliu was the highlight of the trip. To be perfectly frank, I believe our DM did not want to get home late, and took us to two dive sites near the starting point of the land tour in order to save time. I did complain to management about the trip and they refunded my surcharge.
Later on at home I took the time to read up on Peleliu, and I realize now that a skilled guide could have made this tour fascinating to history buffs and laymen alike, but our tour was just awful. I would still highly recommend diving Peleliu if you visit Palau, and by all means take the land tour, but bone up on the story of the island siege before the tour so you can appreciate Peleliu's grim place in history. And be specific about the sites you want to dive so there can be no misunderstanding.
SIAES TUNNEL
The trip was winding down now, and there was only one day of diving left. One always wishes for a memorable last day of diving to hold on to until the next trip, and sometimes wishes come true. Our first dive of the last day was Siaes Tunnel. We were joined that day by a new couple, one experienced diver and his friend who was on her twelfth open water dive. We were all diving Nitrox 32%. The dive begins by dropping into a large vertical hole at about 30 feet, which exits through an opening onto the wall at 60 feet or so, then swimming left to the top of the opening to a massive cavern, the top of which lies at 90 feet. As you may have guessed, this is an advanced deep dive, and one where a flashlight is more than handy, as the huge chamber is protected from direct sunlight and as you transit the cavern some places are nearly dark. Our DM led the group, pointing out a couple creatures that are rare but reliably found in Siaes Tunnel, including the several unusual fish breeds that swim up-side down all the time, a fire scallop species with animated moving colors they call the Disco Clam, and the shy and beautiful Purple Dartfish.
"Disco" Fire Clam
Purple Dartfish
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The sandy bottom of the cavern begins at about 170 feet, and gradually becomes shallower as you proceed through, at its shallowest 110 feet. There were sharks sleeping in the sand, and while I was focused on one of them our DM led the rest of the group to see something on the bottom behind me. I turned to join them, but as I was passing 120 feet I decided something at 130 wasn't worth seeing on 32% nitrox, so I went back to the shark.
Later, as we were finishing the dive at 30 feet on a shallow reef, the new diver ran completely out of air and had to rush back to her buddy to share air for an emergency ascent. I'm not sure why someone with 12 dives was allowed to dive this site, and the briefing did not include any mention of the depths we would be diving. I guess the lesson here is to watch your own behind; you may be the only one doing it.
New diver, very happy to be diving Seiss Tunnel
New Diver, very unhappy about absence of air
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BLUE HOLES
Blue Holes lies just west of Blue Corner, and is yet another of Palau's signature dives. The afternoon dive begins with a long, deep descent into a wide tunnel, and ending in a gigantic cavern where the light filters in through various openings in the reef, creating an eerie deep blue light show. We were preceded into the holes by a large group of Japanese divers, who stayed very close to each other and emitted large clouds of bubbles, which caught the light and shimmered like diamonds. It was breathtakingly beautiful. And after 20 minutes of admiring this unique view, we exited the cavern and proceeded slowly along the wall, planning to finish the dive with a short stay on Blue Corner. When we reached Blue Corner we realized there was going to be a bit of a problem, namely that the current was blowing exactly the opposite of usual, directly off the wall. We all swam to the reef and grasped pieces of rock, and held on like flags in the wind while waiting for the DM to decided how to proceed. I knew I wasn't going to last long holding on, so I waved goodbye to the DM and released my grip, and was swept out into the blue water. I worked my way up to 15 feet, did my safety stop, and surfaced only a few hundred feet from the boat, which picked me up promptly. I was the first aboard, so I helped the captain locate and recover all the other divers, and then we motored back to Blue Holes for lunch.
Twenty minutes into lunch, we heard an odd noise coming from the bow, sort of like a weak sighing, and we looked over to see a lone Japanese woman diver clinging desperately to our mooring rope, too weak to ever shout to us. She had been separated from her group and swept away in the current, and found our mooring line. We helped her aboard and got her gear off, and then, most oddly, the DM sat back down and finished his lunch. After lunch, we motored over to a couple other boats also on mooring, found her boat, and returned her. A good ? hour had passed after she was helped onto our boat, and the boat that lost her wasn't even looking for her. I saw no radio contact between the boats, but maybe this was a common occurrence and the DMs had a plan in place, but it wasn't what I would consider standard operating procedure for a lost diver.
SAM'S DOCK MANDARINFISH DIVE
The final dive of the trip was short, shallow, and sweet. The seawall at Sam's dock is known to be a habitat of the rare and gorgeously colored Mandarinfish. These elusive fish hide and forage in and around the rock wall during the day, and at dusk each evening begin courting rituals where they rise together and mate, during which time they are usually distracted enough to allow photographs. I wasn't going to be able to stay at Sam's until dark, but I was told that with patience I might find a single Mandarinfish out looking for food.
I strapped on a fresh tank and slipped off the dock into 5 foot deep water, and worked my way under the dive boats over to the wall, where I spent the next 20 minutes seeing lots of cool stuff, none of which was what I was looking for, but interesting muck creatures just the same. Although the vis was poor, I spotted something moving erratically down at about 15 feet, and I moved over to spot the most unusual tiny brown fish with white spots, flamboyantly wiggling about like a tightly wound toy. I took a few shots and a little video of him, and later was told that I was looking at a juvenile Harlequin Sweetlips. I wondered how such a brightly colored and active fish could keep from being eaten, and it turns out it's movements mimic a poisonous flatworm, which keeps predators at bay.
Back at the seawall, I redoubled my efforts to locate a Mandarin fish, and just as I was at my peak of stealth and concentration, I was shocked and startled by a loud "KerPlop" right over my head. I looked up quickly and laughed as a full, green bottle of Heineken drifted slowly down to me. Seems my dive buddies thought I was working too hard and might have needed a refreshment. I pocketed the beer for later, and went back to work. Soon, sure enough, I spotted a flash of green and red and knew I had found my quarry. Over the next 20 minutes, I settled into the muck and inched forward as the lovely fish became more comfortable with my presence, and eventually got close enough for a couple of full frame shots to necessary offset the murky water. Success! It really was a superb ending to a superb week of diving.
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We spent our last day relaxing around the pool, and attempting to catch naps when possible to prepare for the trip home. The flight home from Palau is the price you pay for the experience. Most flights, including ours, depart at midnight, stop in Yap, then on to Guam for a plane change at the jolly old hour of 4 AM. From there we flew to Honolulu, then to Houston, on to Washington DC, then a hotel shuttle back to our car, and then a two hour drive home. There were no major travel disasters, we managed to score bulkhead seats for the long flights, and we all have long flight experience under our belts, so we hunkered down and slept as much as possible through the flight and managed just fine. As you might expect, we were all zombies for the next couple of days, but the wonderful memories of the trip helped us cope with the jet lag and the "home again blues".
Even considering the grueling travel necessary to get there, we all agreed that our Micronesia adventure was the best overall trip of our lives. The only thing that could have made the trip better for me would have been more diving, so Palau is now high on my list for a return trip, but this time on a live-aboard dive boat where I can give this unique underwater paradise the bottom time it truly deserves.
I leave you with a couple shots of the achingly beautiful Palau sunsets.
© Mike Southard 2007
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