In August I finally arrived in Palau to do my dive master training. I had heard a few things about it but not many people I knew and at this point nobody I knew has been traveled there before. It was very exciting. After me falling in love with Fiji and especially Nananu-I-Ra (Daydream Island) in 2006 I still was looking for a place comparable to my paradise. Something close to that and I have to admit so far on all my travels I could not find anything even close…. until visiting Ngemelis island in Palau.
What a pristine place – what a gemstone, a pearl of the pacific! Crystal-clear water surrounding that small island group close to the famous ‘Blue Corner’ dive site. Few years ago that island was only used by the chief family for holidays and now it is public. But it is about a 30min drive with boat from Koror and you barely see any people there ever. Maybe around lunch time few dive boats stop by and let their guest eat… Palau use to has the only intact reef people told me. They have the first and only shark sanctuary of the world. They take a fee for using their waters but therefore the Palauens also clean the beaches and reefs… It is definitely a garden Eden when you walk the empty soft beaches along the water watching the kingfisher and the paradise birds…. and then the sun touches your skin softly and you feel happy simply to be alive and to say thank you! After all amazing places I was lucky enough to visit this one is one of a kind – a last true paradise and it is worth protecting!
First impressions of Palau
On August - 13 - 2009