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Micronesia - Palau
offered by supplier M18599 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 8
- 10
day(s)
Group Size: 1
- 15
people
Destination(s):
Micronesia
Specialty Categories:
Scuba Diving
Season: May
Airfare Included: Yes
Tour Customizable: No
Minimum Per Person Price: 2600 Australian Dollar (AUD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 3425 Australian Dollar (AUD)
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* Minimum certification level: Rescue Diver
* Available Dates: 11th May to 22nd May 2009.
The Republic of Palau is Micronesia's western most island chain. The tightly clustered Palau archipelago, consists of over 200 islands covering a distance of around 125 miles. Palau is the home to one of the world's unique phenomena, the Rock Islands. The Rock Islands are Palau's crowning glory. More than 200 of these jungle-topped knobs of limestone dot the waters for a 20 mile (35km) stretch south of Koror. Their bases, having been worn away by tidal action and grazing sea creatures, are narrower than their tops, causing them to look like emerald-hued mushrooms rising from the turquoise sea.
Palau has three ocean currents converging in its waters to bring in some of the most varied and dazzling marine life in the world. Palau is also blessed with a rich diversity of plants & birdlife. Tropical forest covers much of the islands, species of trees include ironwood, banyan, coconut palm and pandanus.
* Diving:
Palau's warm tropical waters are legendary amongst divers for their dramatic sheer walls rising from the depths to within inches of the surface and capped with thriving coral reefs. Palau is home to over 1,300 species of fish and more than 700 species of coral. World renowned for its' marine bio-diversity and abundance of large pelagic animals, Palau also offers avid wreck divers one of Micronesia's largest collections of WWII shipwrecks.
From current swept plateaus to sheltered coral gardens, Palau offers a wonderful range of diving for every level of interest and skill. The majority of diving in Palau is drift diving along the walls, plateaus and coral gardens of the outer reef, with the dive boat following along from the surface to meet you upon ascent. Experience the sites that make Palau one of the top dive destinations in the world: the sharks of Blue Comer, the manta rays of Devilfish City and German Channel, and the coral reefs and stunning drop offs teeming with marine life.
* Some of the more popular dive sites:
The Ngemelis Drop-Off: The Ngemelis Drop-Off is considered to be one of the world's best wall dives. Starting in water just knee deep, the wall drops off vertically nearly 300 meters. Divers can free float past a brilliant rainbow of sponges and soft corals whose intense blues, reds, or pure whites form a back drop for quivering nine foot orange and yellow sea fans and giant black coral trees.
Blue Corner: Blue Corner is regarded as one of the best single dives on earth! The wall is vertical and deep and is known for it's sheer abundance of underwater life. There are large pelagic fish; schooling barracudas; tropical fish in every variety; turtles; guaranteed sharks; hard corals; soft corals; and fan corals. Strong tidal currents nourish this chain of life. Best diving is from 15 to 24 meters. Not a dive for beginner divers.
Blue Holes: Blue Holes is a huge cavern on the north side of Ngemelis Island. Four big holes on the ceiling enable a lot of ambient light to penetrate the cave and create great photo opportunities. Maximum depth is 30 meters
Big Drop Off: This steep wall offers an amazing formation of soft and hard corals and a healthy population of reef fish. The best of Big Drop Off lies relatively shallow in 2 - 17m, which also makes it an excellent snorkeling area.
German Channel: German Channel is a man made shallow channel that connects the lagoon with the outer reef. The channel was blasted by the Germans in the early 1900s in order to transport the excavated phosphates from the island of Angaur to the Koror port.
Today, many Manta Rays visit the channel and feed on the plankton that the strong currents bring. Few cleaning stations in the channel's mouth allow one to view those great creatures from such a short distance. The cleaning station is at 18m and the beautiful coral garden at 7-13m.
Notes:
Airfare is included in the tour price.
Prices:
- $3200 Diver (Dive Club)
- $3425 Diver (Non Dive Club)
- $2600 Non Diver (Dive Club)
- $2825 Non Diver (Non Dive Club).
Also see tour packages in:
Australia and Oceania
Micronesia
Outdoor: Water Drifter
Scuba Diving
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, ext: 18599
