Everyone is safe back from an awesome trip to Palau from the 8^th till the 20^th of May 2011. Although we are all complaining about how cold Australia is, it’s good to be home.

Palau has some of the World’s most amazing sights both above and below the Pacific. The rock islands peek high above the water level and stretch 300m+ below the water making for great drop-offs. I think I speak for everyone that the best dives were at blue corner, looking over a deep drop-off, hooked up and watching the Reef Sharks rest and hunt in the current.

This trip wasn’t just divers, Lee-Ann, Rayna, Ron and Lynn had a nice relaxing time snorkeling, kayaking and discovering Palau’s natural beauty. It was easy to get lost with a book overlooking the sparkling waters and rainforest topped rock islands. One of our non-divers, Michelle decided to discover scuba and turned into a keen diver on her first backwards roll into the blue. Shelly was now one of the divers on our boat. Her personal dive guide, Danny showed her turtles, manta rays and sharks at 12m while the rest of us were blowing bubbles beneath her.

Mars provided the on boat entertainment, while we relaxed and watched the mushroom islands float past on the way to dive sites. Every dive site in Palau has unique species and terrain making every dive different. My personal favorite was Ulong channel. The dive started with hooking up and watching the sharks do their thing and when it got strong enough we entered the channel and let the current drag us through. At the end of the channel it opened up into a bay with eddie currents forming which disorientated the best of divers. While we were ascending our bubbles were going crazy around us, it really was an awesome experience.

A third dive of the day was at Chandelier Cave. Stalactites formed when the cave was dry now hang in the water to resemble chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.  After getting over the fact that you’re in a cave you start to relax and take in these magnificent formations. After having a quick chat to your buddy in the 1^stair pocket it’s onto the next one with a series of four air pockets, all with different formations to enjoy.

My 20^th birthday was celebrated while we were in Palau. Two of the best dives I have ever had were at Blue Corner and Ulong Channel that day. We got up early but unfortunately Mares boat broke and we were left seeing who could do the biggest dive into the water and relaxing in the sun while we waited for a replacement boat. We were moving again shortly after that and the day seemed to fall perfectly onto schedule. SURPRISE! That night Sams Tours provided a Hawaiian themed party and almost everyone ended up in the water. Again a big thank you to Shelly, everyone that celebrated with me and Sams Tours for making the night unforgettable.

Just like Chuuk, Palau has many ww2 wreaks to discover. We dove on two of them filled with fish life and beautiful corals. Depth chargers littered the swim throughs and the main decks, some were not disabled and others had exploded leaving giant holes in the ship. We got some awesome photos being extremely careful not to touch the hard corals or the edges of the ship,

We were lucky enough to see beautiful Manta Rays Glide past us at German Channel. These creatures were a sight to see as they sat on top of cleaning stations for shrimp to clean there bellys. Everyone held their breath to see how close these massive Rays would get

Literally every dive site we visited had White/Black Tip Reef Sharks, Turtles, Humphead Rass, Giant schools of fish as well as tiny macro crustaceans and fish. There were so many colors and the Vis was unbelievable.

Most of our nights were spent at the beach bar at our hotel. They had great food and really cheap drinks in a friendly, relaxed environment. We were also able to night snorkel around the bay at the hotel; you just had to be mindful that trigger fish were out to protect their rocks. A plane wreck was a fun free dive just meters off the hotels beach; it looked extra gloomy by night.

Our entire group ventured to Jellyfish Lake. The lake is cut off to the ocean, no predators can get in, and therefore the jellyfish have no need to sting. They spend their days following the sunlight and keeping out of harm by the Japanese tourists.

Palau was the perfect choice in dive holiday destinations. Perfect weather, perfect hospitality, perfect diving! Visiting this place needs to be on every divers bucket list.

Uepi Island is the next stop and I’m very jealous of Kat and Mick. Uepi has magnificent reef diving. Dive sites vary from coral gardens with magnificent drop-offs, ledges and gutters featuring an enormous diversity of reef fish. Turtles, mantas and eagle rays are fairly common sights, as well as the (friendly) Uepi hammerheads.

Many of Uepi's dives are conveniently located within a 5 to 10 minute boat ride from the resort. Uepi also has some wreck diving. There are three wrecks lying in Wickham Harbour, all are Japanese freighters sunk by the US during World War II. All are upright, relatively intact and display varying degrees of artifacts and marine life.

Uepi Island sits on the meeting place of several major currents, making it an excellent place for both drift dives and stationary dives, allowing you to watch the activity of the reef play out before you. For an even bigger adventure we are offering an extension for those who can’t get enough of wrecks. We will be ducking off to dive the Aaron Ward located at Honiara. For enquiries visit Shellharbour scubas website or contact the shop.

Jamie