The Ultimate Diving in Palau
‘Ultimate Dive Sites’ by Todd Thimios, published by Hardie Grant Explore
Hundreds of tiny, mushroom-shaped islands create a stunning backdrop to some incredible diving in Palau. In his recently published book Ultimate Dive Sites, Australian photographer and author Todd Thimios has listed Palau as one of the world’s top 50 ultimate diving locations. A passionate diver with a Bsc. in Marine Science, Todd shares what makes Palau’s underwater environment so special.
Words and Images by Todd Thimios
From reef sharks and giant Napoleon wrasse to manta trains, gentle sloping reefs to dramatic walls, blue holes and caves to WWII wrecks, the crystal-clear waters of Palau offer something for ocean lovers of all sorts. Koror, Palau’s biggest city, is the gateway to the action with speedboat tours heading south into the Rock Islands and reef wall beyond, each day.
Why it’s special
From reef sharks and giant Napoleon wrasse to manta trains, gentle sloping reefs to dramatic walls, blue holes and caves to WWII wrecks, the crystal-clear waters of Palau offer something for ocean lovers of all sorts. Koror, Palau’s biggest city, is the gateway to the action with speedboat tours heading south into the Rock Islands and reef wall beyond, each day.
Dive In
‘Children of Palau, I take this pledge, as your guest, to preserve and protect your beautiful and unique island home. I vow to tread lightly, act kindly and explore mindfully …’. When entering The Republic of Palau, every visitor must sign The Palau Pledge. Palau is the first country in the world to incorporate such a clause of environmental protection into its immigration laws. They’ve also banned toxic sunscreens; created the world’s first shark sanctuary back in 2009; and turned 80 per cent of their waters into a non-commercial fishing zone. With over 1400 species of fish and over 500 species of coral, Palau is a diver’s heaven, and thanks to the actions of its people it will continue to be for generations to come.
All of Palau is stunning, but the World Heritage-listed Rock Islands in Palau’s Southern Lagoon, also known as Chelbacheb, offer an array of incredible dive sites around the 250-plus islands, with many sites less than an hour’s ride by speedboat from Palau’s biggest city, Koror.
The drift dive at Blue Corner is a good place to start your Palaun dive adventure, being just 46km (about 50-70 minutes by speedboat) from Koror. Imagine a shallow table and vertical wall drop-offs with giant gorgonian fans, hard and soft corals, cabbage corals and large schools of fish. Then there’s reef sharks, dolphins, hawksbill and green turtles, eagle rays, and even the odd migrating whale or whale shark, together with visibility of up to 30m and depths ranging between 8m -30m. With fast-flowing currents that can change within seconds, this one’s best suited to experienced divers. Bring your reef hook so you can hook into the plateau and relax between drifting and watch the underwater cabaret pass you by. The Blue Corner dive marries together nicely with a dive at the nearby Blue Holes. If you time it right with the currents, you can fin across to the Blue Corner straight after your Blue Holes dive. Blue Holes is a unique dive where you’ll descend into a giant chamber with chimneys and tunnels leading off in different directions, and visibility of 20-50m.
The lesser known Siaes Tunnel and Siaes Point offer a similar experience to Blue Corner and Blue Holes, with plenty of action on the reef wall, and a stunning submerged cavern adorned with enormous gorgonian sea fans.
A great spot for newbie divers is Ngedebus Coral Garden (also known as Matthew’s Place), 45km southwest of Koror, with calm conditions and shallow depths of under 23m. There are plenty of lovely hard corals, amongst the best you’ll find in the Pacific, plus rays and some unique fish including crocodile fish, lionfish and scorpionfish.
At the man-made German Channel, 37km southwest of Koror (about 50 minutes by speedboat) you’ll find rich, planktonfilled currents and cleaning stations full of busy butterflyfish and cleaner wrasse, luring mantas year-round (though December to March is prime). You may also spot leaf fish, crocodile fish, octopuses and nudibranchs inside the coral gardens on the sides, plus schooling sharks, Jacks, barracudas and tropical fish aplenty. Visibility-wise, expect 20-40m, with the best visbility being on an incoming tide.
Ulong Channel is another favourite for divers, where, on an incoming tide, you can fly through the channel at high speed over enormous patches of cabbage corals, spying groupers, reef sharks and leopard sharks along the way.
These sites are just a few of the highlights, however there are many more including some great WWII wreck diving. And then there’s the whole cave diving scene with incredible spots like Chandelier Cave, a convenient 1.6km from Koror, sure to satisfy with its stalagmite and stalactite-filled chambers.
The above is an edited extract from Ultimate Dive Sites by Todd Thimios, published by Hardie Grant Explore – out on 1 February 2025.
JOIN THE VOYAGE TO THE ISLANDS & ATOLLS OF MICRONESIA