Palau After Survivor

The Japanese took Micronesia over from the Germans in 1914 and sent a large number of immigrants to open up bauxite mines, farm rice paddies, and build pineapple plantations. In 1930, the Japanese built military bases and closed the area in 1938.

One of the bloodiest battles of WWII took place on the island of Peleliu called The Battle of Bloody Nose Ridge. Following Japan's defeat in WWII, the Caroline Islands (Palau) became United Nations Trust Territories under the US. In 1994, it became fully independent as the Republic of Palau.

Most visitors arrive on Continental Micronesia aircraft, with daily flights from Guam.

Palau has many things to do: You can visit a cultural center or museum; dive world famous dive sites; snorkel in the beautiful Rock Islands; tour Jelly Fish Lake (home of non-stinging jelly fish); kayak; go on land tours, boat tours, or sailing charters; or go sport fishing, all available in these beautiful islands.

Today you can actually take a boat tour of all the sites of the "Survivor Palau" and visit the tribes’ locations.

I highly recommend this location for a wonderful vacation.

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This hotel is situated on 64 acres of a garden paradise with 160 rooms and suites. The hotel has 48 garden-view rooms, 12 fish pond-view rooms, 68 ocean-view rooms, 24 ocean-front rooms, 8 luxury-front suites, and 4 junior suites. The hotel is in a hamlet off Koror and surrounded by pristine crystal-blue waters and a choice destination for scuba-divers and non-divers alike. I was surprised on how many of the staff members we recognized from our previous trips.

We had the breakfast buffet each morning before going to the dive boats. They have a full table set up of Japanese breakfast foods, toast and breads, fancy pastries, fresh fruit, American-style meats and potatoes table, juice bar, and "The Chef." The Chef would cook any style order of eggs, from omelets to fried eggs. He also cooked pancakes and French toast to order. While we were getting our food, the waiter delivered a pot of tea and coffee to our table.

We only ate lunch one day at the Mesikui Waterhole, which is their outside bar near the swimming pool that is attached to the restaurant. We ordered the good old American cheeseburger and french fries. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the view, along with our food and tropical drinks. This outside bar is open throughout the day and into the evening, and is a great location for viewing the daily of the sunset.

We ate approximately 10 different dinners during our visit. This restaurant has a nightly buffet that changes by the day of the week and is Japanese, Italian, Palauan, American, etc. The buffet had soups, salads, breads, fruits, vegetables, The Chef preparing specific requests, and desserts, with an ice-cream station. Some nights we had the buffet, and other nights we ordered off the menu. The menu had American steaks, Italian pastas, Japanese dishes, Palauan seafood, and all kinds of salads, soups, and desserts to choose from.

Although we did not try the King and Queen Dinner, we did 2 years ago, and I'd like to tell you about this special dinner. Guests are met at the front entrance to the restaurant by the hotel manager and presented with flower crowns. They are then escorted through the restaurant and down onto the beach. A special table with high-back wicker chairs has been placed on a mat at the water's edge. Guests arrive just before sunset, the two fire torches are lit, and the sunset is watched while sipping champagne and listening to the water gently lap against the sand. A special waiter has been assigned for the evening, and a five-course dinner of both Palauan seafood and delicious international dishes are presented for your enjoyment. This dinner can last up to 4 hours and is the most romantic dinner I have ever eaten and attended. We choose this for our 35th wedding anniversary, but it's perfect for a special time with the person you love.

The next morning, we took our gear out on the dock at Palau Pacific Resort and were met by Bert Yates, our requested dive operator, and his boat diver Aris Hinosa. We climbed onboard the new dive boat, which was a new addition since "Survivor." Bert is a published photographer and a well-known dive master, and we were thrilled to be spending the next 11 days with him.

We travelled 45 minutes through the beautiful Rock Islands to our first dive site, which was Blue Corner, a great way to start a dive trip. After a 60-minute dive with the sharks and our old sea friends, we tied up in calm waters and had our lunch, which was provided by Neco Marine. Lunch became the best meal of the day. Neco Marine provides water, soda, ice tea, and about 12 different lunch boxes everyday. We simply ordered the night before, and our lunch was on the boat!

After our surface time, we dropped in for our second dive of the day before travelling back through Rock Islands.

The good news is that we got to leave our gear on the dive boat for the next 10 days, and it was returned to us the next morning, along with the boat. Neco Marine also handles all the tanks and equipment. It's effortless diving.

Two of the days we dove the Ulong Channel area, and our lunch spot was the beach on Ulong Island, which was the home of Survivor Ulong Camp. Although, "Survivor" has left and the beach has been cleaned up, we got to see the area and explore the site of their camp.

One day, Bert took us north to Devil Ray City so we could see the manta rays. We dropped down to the cleaning station in a heavy current, settled on the bottom, and watched a manta being cleaned. They are beautiful animals, with a 15-foot span that just glides into the cleaning station. On this day, the manta stayed for just about all of our bottom time. We got a lot of great photographs of her.

Another day we went to Mandarain Fish Lake to see the very colorful little Mandarain Fish. Their home is in an inlet of the lagoon that is about 15 feet deep. They live on the coral head. Mandarain fish do not like the sun, so we went on a cloudy day, put on tanks, hung out about 12 feet down, and waited. A Mandarian fish is blue, green, yellow, and orange and a dragonette. They play in and out of the coral and appear to be skipping along. We got lots of pictures of them. These fish can also be viewed from above, looking down while snorkeling.