(January 17, 2013) --- Considered by industry experts and scuba diving enthusiasts as “the best of the best,” Scuba Diving Magazine’s Top 100 Gold List is a “popularity contest” where rankings are based on a total number of responses from global readers and divers. The Top 100 Gold List features operators, resorts, live-aboards, underwater experiences (i.e., best wall, shore and wreck sites), dive bars and more. Here are some of the highlights … [Read more...]
Dropping onto Saipan
Dropped into Saipan in the dead of night - starry skies, the blackness of the sea greeted us - disturbed only by the lights emanating from this small island. I had only done cursory research before our visit here and after speaking for nearly 2 hours to my seatmate who lives here now - I wasn't really sure what to expect. He spoke of sweat shops (now extinct), high alcoholism, a hub for smuggling drugs in from China, unemployment, gambling … [Read more...]
World War II History Tour on Peleliu Island, Palau
Peleliu Island in the country of Palau is a part of the beautiful "rock islands" - hundreds of small limestone islands all covered with vegetation. This southern most part of Palau offers spectacular beauty in the form of pure white sand beaches, peculiar looking umbrella-like shaped islands, intense green vegetation covering the islands and its turquoise waters. There are a number of reefs in the area and snorkeling provides excellent visibility … [Read more...]
Final Thoughts on Palau
It was like pulling teeth to leave this amazing place. Now it is just a dream - a dream of sadness at being back yet a dream still tinged with those amazing turquoise waters - that are in front of me whenever I close my eyes. I cannot sleep. I stay awake and write about Palau and this remarkable trip. I gorged myself silly on sashimi the last few days - both from fish that I caught and that my home-stay hosts caught. Peleliu Island has … [Read more...]
Ngardmau Waterfall & More
Ngardmau Waterfall is Palau's largest waterfall - dropping over the edge of a cliff about 30 meters. The main island in this country is by far the largest - yet it is still very small. You can drive around this entire island in about an hour. One of the highlights to the north is definitely this waterfall - its about a 30 minute hike in - or for those who prefer not to walk, jump on the small single engine mono rail and move along at a snail's … [Read more...]
Peleliu Island Palau
This island has seen much pain - it was scene of intense battles fought in WWII between Japanese and American forces. Initially the Americans thought the fight for the island and its airstrip would take a couple of days but ultimately winning the island took over 2 months. Existing limestone caves and new ones specially built as hide outs were constructed by the Japanese. A group of Japanese even lived undetected in one of the caves for 2.5 … [Read more...]
Paradise in Palau – Kayangel
The word "paradise" is truly defined by Palau's northern most state of Kayangel, which is composed of merely four small atoll islands. Total population: under 100. Total "wow" factor: 100+ percent. It is places like this that you only read about in travel magazines or see on TV - and when you find yourself in one of these places (such as Kayangel), you have to pinch yourself to make sure its not a dream. It's easy to get 'high' here - perhaps … [Read more...]
Kayangel, Northern Palau
Today we visited Kayangel - the northernmost coral atoll island in all of Palau. The scenery here is much different than the rock islands to the south - yet just as stunningly beautiful. We went line fishing for an hour and almost every time we dropped the line we pulled it back up with a fish on the other end. We caught White snapper, grouper, a long fish the locals called a "marijuana fish" and other colorful fish. We dropped anchor on a … [Read more...]
Pretty, Pretty Palau
Have hundreds of photos of our trip so far - but no time to upload them. Will do so as soon as can catch a break. There's plenty of perspective to be found in Palau - the island is made for outdoor adventure. Today we spent the entire day on or near the water. Rock Islands are located south of the main island and capital city of Koror. These are a series of many small limestone islands completely covered with tropical vegetation - with amazing … [Read more...]
No Journey, No Perspective
We touched down in Koror Palau on a cloudless evening - with a full moon blazing and reflecting off of the wings of the plane the entire flight over from Guam. We had arranged a homestay ahead of time and the owner was going to pick us up. We arrived at 130am, waited until 2am then called our homestay. The father of the owner spoke no English. We called back with someone from the Visit Palau doing the talking. He told us, "oh she's not here - she … [Read more...]