By Mark McGinley
I spent a week, January 3 - 10, 2004, diving in Palau off of a live aboard (The Big Blue Explorer) and was able to dive at a wide variety of locations (including Blue Corner, Blue Hole, Ulong and Peleliu). Because this was my first visit to the Pacific, everything was new to me so I felt like I had returned to "critter identification kindergarten". I was especially impressed by the diversity and health of the hard corals, the brilliant colors of the soft corals, and the diversity of the fish life. I was thrilled by the "big fish action" that I observe while "hooked on" at Blue Corner and Peleliu Express, but I also appreciated being introduced to species such as anemone fish and giant clams that are lacking in the Caribbean.
Some of my most interesting experiences took palace in the Rock Islands. Because I am not a poet I will not try to describe the beauty of Palau's Rock Islands. Racing through the mushroom-shaped Rock Islands in a boat at times seemed like a Disneyland ride (definitely and "E ticket"), only even Disney couldn't have thought up anything this good. The Rock Islands offer some unique diving and snorkeling opportunities. In Chandalier Cave we entered a hole in the side of the island at about 10 feet and we surfaced in a series of four caverns filled with interesting rock formations (if you want to know what dark is just turn your lights off in Chandalier Cave). At Mandarinfish Lake we observed Mandarinfish as they darted through the finger coral. If there are any colors more beautiful than the blues and greens of the Rock Island it is the green, orange, yellow, purple, and blues of the Mandarinfish. I never would have thought that I could have had such an enjoyable dive spending the whole time examining a single coral head at depth of only 8 feet. To me the highlight of my visit to the Rock Islands was snorkeling in Jellyfish Lake. A short hike through the rainforest led to Jellyfish Lake where we were able to snorkel with jillions (I never was able to get an exact count) of jellyfish who, because they are isolated, have lost their ability to sting. As I was surrounded by jellyfish I felt that I was starring in National Geographic special.
The beauty of the islands and the quality of the diving brings lots of tourists to Palau. On occasions I observed up to 7 dive boats at a site and our divemasters told us that at times there can be twice that many. Although tourists bring money that helps to fuel the Palauan economy, it was clear that the high traffic of tourists and divers could have an adverse effect on the environment. Unfortunately, on many occasions I observed divers inappropriately touching the reef (and some of the stories of diver behavior that I heard from our divemasters really made my toes curl) which suggests that not all divers have been instilled with the same environmental ethic that I have. It is clear that more education about how to interact with the environment would be helpful. I was impressed with the efforts being made to educate visitors about the biology and culture of Palau and how to interact with the environment appropriately. Our divemasters stressed diving in an environmentally friendly ways during our dive briefings and they always set a good example. The signs located along the trail to Jellyfish Lake were quite informative and added greatly to my appreciation of the experience there. Hopefully, attempts to educate visitors will continue so that visitors will be able to enjoy the wonders of the Rock Islands for years to come.
We are interested in your dive experiences. If you would like to share information about places you've been, please email us at texas@scubafied.com
