Usually I would set an amazing landscape scene as featured image when I publish a post about a beautiful place. And Palau offers a lot of magnificent views which would be really worth it. But the beauty of Palau’s islands are not my main memories. These are the people I’ve met there.
Whenever I saw this popular picture of the Rock Islands from a bird’s eye, the desire simply to get up and go came over me. Even it is quite expensive to go there, it was a must to travel to Palau when I’m nearby. The landscape is composed by hundreds of limestone islands, overgrown with tropical jungle. Surrounded by the turquoise water of the West Pacific, which offers a spectacular marine life. I’ve spotted reef sharks for the first time in my life (btw in Palau is the worlds first shark sanctuary), mantas, lots of turtles, giant shells (I guess up to 1 meter), diverse soft and hard corals. Only a few, but very special jellyfishes – unfortunately there are no more jellyfishes in the famous Jellyfish Lake. The most stunning spot was Big Drop Off, an endless vertical wall with thousands of small and big fishes. After snorkeling for two days, I booked a day trip at a dive center in Koror and made two dives at Dexter’s Wall and Blue Holes (Blue Corner). Last one was really spectacular as we dropped down in a hole and arrived in a huge cavern at a depth of 23 meters (my diving license allows to dive down only up to 18 meters, but my guide simply said: “That’s Palau. Sorry!”).
It’s not surprising that Palau is a popular destination for luxury holidays. That’s why the most accommodations are resorts for wealthy customers. I looked for a cheap alternative and had no idea what to expect when I booked at Apo680 homestay. It’s managed by Diane, an incredible Chinese lady, and her helping hands from China and Taiwan. Even there was a language barrier, it was not necessary to say what I want. They offered everything before I knew what I want. And even more: they organized the snorkeling trips for their guests, so it was much cheaper as the offers of the dive centers. We had been only a small group at a private boat and could stop at the famous spots when nobody else is around, and they showed us all underwater sights. But it was not only about our activities, they cooked delicious food or took us to great restaurants. They drove everybody to everywhere for free, even in the middle of the night. They lended towels, fins, even a professional underwater camera. I can’t imagine how much money I would have to spend if I had to organize everything by myself.
And it was the first time as I spent such an intensive time with people from Far East. Usually Asian and Western tourists are separated, for example dive centers are only specialized for one group or at least they separate the people at one boat. But at the Apo680 my hosts and most of the other guests had been from China, Japan and Taiwan. And we all became friends so fast and had such a great time. That was an amazing experience and an unforgettable memory, which I take from beautiful Palau.