Rock Island Tour

On Thursday, we signed up to take Sam's Tours guided boat tour to snorkeling spots around the rock islands. We had one of Sam's smaller boats because the tour was just the five of us, our driver, and our guide Melahi. The wind had decreased a little and it made our boat ride much smoother than earlier in the week. It was another beautifully sunny day in paradise and the trip to the first site was gorgeous. Our first snorkeling site was cemetery reef. While I had been there a few times before, I was not aware that it got its name from coral outcroppings in the 1970s that looked like tombstones. On the reef, Melahi found a clownfish and anemone for us to look at and touch. The clownfish allowed us to touch it and I also touched the spongy feeling anemone. We also saw the large lettuce coral.

We took a thirty minute boat ride to our next stop, Big Drop-off. We had tried to dive here Tuesday, but wavy conditions had prevented us. Today it was a little calmer. This was a current snorkel where we got in the water and went with the current and were picked up by the boat at the end. Big Drop-off is aptly named because it the edge of the reef and drops to nothingness. Many different types of marine life live along the edge of the reef. We saw lots of different types of fish as we swam along, including two white-tip sharks resting on a sandy ledge. We also saw divers below us diving at only 20-30 feet. The highlight was seeing five sea turtles. At first, we came across a pair, one large turtle and one smaller turtle. The big one eventually swam in the opposite direction, but we followed the smaller one. As we did we came across two more turtles. They were close enough that Tiff swam down and was swimming next to one. We saw one more before we reached the end of the snorkeling area.

From Big Drop-off we drove to Ngermeads Island and had lunch on the public beach. Koror State has set up picnic tables and shelters on some of the rock island beaches and they make excellent lunch spots. After eating, we explored the island a bit. Around a small point from where had eaten lunch is an unspoiled beach area. We hung out there for a while taking pictures and playing with the small hermit crabs. It was a beautiful spot to spend some time.

Our next stop was the most anticipated spot, Jellyfish Lake. At the dock we headed up the short hike up and over the limestone hill. At the top, Melahi showed us some old pottery from when Palauans inhabited the island. Melahi also told us there were actually six Jellyfish Lakes, but this was the only one open to public. At the bottom of the hill was a new dock recently built by Koror State. We put on our snorkel gear and jumped in the lake. Melahi guided us to the center of the lake where the jellyfish congregated. Being my second time there, the initial hesitation and creepiness was absent, but it was still an odd feeling as I swam through the jellyfish. I had the underwater camera and took pictures of both the jellyfish and my friends swimming amongst them. Melahi took us to the far corner of the lake where there was a literal wall of jellyfish. They follow the sun, so where the trees cast a shadow on the lake there was no jellyfish but right at the edge of the shadow they all congregated forming a massive wall. We took turns swimming down underneath the wall and coming up through it. That was an amazing and unique experience. We did that a few times until Melahi guided us over to where there were anemones who eat jellyfish. We could see jellyfish stuck to the anemones slowly being sucked in. I took more pictures of everyone in the jellyfish and Tiff got a good one of me too. It was time to go and everyone had a really great time. They proclaimed it a once in a lifetime experience and truly unique to Palau.

Our next stop was clam city, a small area where about 20 giant clams are grouped together. We had fun diving down to the clams and watching them snap shut. Their insides are very colorful and pretty. Tiff got a little too close and cut her hand on one of the shells. We didn't stay too long at clam city and headed to our next stop. Our next stop was Milky Way. A cove in the rock islands, the muddy bottom gives the normally clear bottom a clouded and sandy look. Masks don't help see in Milky Way, the attraction is the mud. We jumped in and dove down to bottom to collect the mud. We smeared it all over our faces because it is supposed to be good for your skin. Being the adults that we are, we then began having a mud fight. That was a lot of fun and we each landed some good hits. We collected some mud in the tupperware we had used for lunch to take with us.

Our final snorkeling spot was Melahi's reef, a spot our guide had popularized. It is a new reef with lots of new and colorful coral. This was also a current snorkel and the current there was moving fast. We got off the boat and took an express trip over the coral. At one point we went close to one of the islands and saw a lobster. We floated to the end of the reef and climbed back aboard the boat for the trip home. It was a full day of snorkeling and we had a lot of memorable experiences.

After leaving Sam's, we went to PPR to watch the sunset. We climbed to the gazebo and watched a pretty sunset, but not a horizon sunset. We drove home to clean up for dinner. We then went to the Penthouse Hotel and ate in their restaurant. They have excellent fish dishes. Katie, Tiff, and Sara all had the whole parrotfish cooked in the Palauan style with oil and salt. I had the marlin also in oil and salt. The fish was fantastic and they all enjoyed eating the fish off the bone. After dinner, we were all exhausted from the long day, so we headed right to bed.

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