Palau – Part I: Diving in the Beautiful Blue Waters

The view from Ulong beach, where part of the Palau Survivor series occurred


Beautiful fish and coral at the world famous dive site, Blue Corner


Coral as far as the eye can see, again at Blue Corner


Thousands and thousands of colorful fish, swimming in our own aquarium


A beautiful sunset on the water

I apologize if I confuse anyone. I am safely in Korea now and have met up with The Korea Society teacher’s program and now hope to have a steady internet connection. I have two goals. First, to share a few highlights from my experiences in Palau, and second, to keep you posted on the many things I have the honor of learning about the history, culture, and people of Korea as a summer fellow.

Ten years ago for his sixteenth birthday, my husband’s dad took him on a dive trip to Palau. My husband loved it so much he hasn’t stopped talking about it ever since. And so, this year as we planned our summer vacation, and decided we really wanted to spend a few weeks scuba diving, Palau made it to the top of our list. Historically Palau has changed hands many times – the UK, Germany, Japan, and the United States all occupied Palau at different points in time before it became a truly independent country in 1994. Even still, there are many foreign influences – as my husband and I walked around Koror we passed a school that the US had helped construct and two other public buildings/elements of infrastructure that were sponsored by Taiwan and Japan.

From June 27 to July 5 we lived on what’s called a “live aboard” dive boat. …You literally live aboard the boat. It’s basically a large yacht that has several levels that include cabins to sleep in, a dive deck where we keep our gear and get ready for dives, a galley and dining area, and a sun deck. The daily schedule usually involves waking up around 6 am and grabbing a light breakfast; diving at 7 am; eating second breakfast (yes, we’re hobbits) that is a hot breakfast; diving again; eating lunch; diving again; afternoon tea (and something yummy and sweet to snack on); diving again; eating dinner and dessert; diving again…this time it’s a night dive; and then crashing from sheer exhaustion. You’ve earned it. There’s a reason the Aggressor advertises an “Eat-Sleep-Dive” life.

The diving in Palau has been phenomenal! The coral walls are absolutely amazing as they vertically span 90-150+ feet and stretch as far as the eye can see! There aren’t just a few reef fish, but hundreds of brightly colored fish bustling around the coral and thousands of fish swooping in schools around the reef’s edge and out in the deep blue. There’s entire underwater rolling hills and meadows of beautiful, bright, colorful corals! So…to sum it up, in Palau the coral and fishies are infinitely healthier, more diverse, more colorful, and there’s …just MORE of everything! We've gotten to do tunnel dives, cave dives, wreck dives, coral gardens, and drift dives along the coral wall - lots of fun!