Nikko Bay

On Sunday, LB, Dave, and I went kayaking to Nikko Bay. Nestled close to downtown Koror, Nikko Bay feels like it is much further away. It is dotted with plenty of small rock islands and little coves. We left from Sam's mid-morning as the tide was going out. To get to Nikko Bay, we paddled back toward the Malakal causeway and crossed underneath. We passed the coral reef center and M dock. At M dock is one of landfills and it is always a bit jarring to see a landfill amidst the beauty of the rock islands. However, they do a decent job building up the sides and it isn't too visible or odorous. A peculiar thing about M dock is at the end is huge new house being built by Dr. Yano the head doctor at the hospital. He must figure that the landfill will be covered soon or otherwise it is peculiar why he would build a beautiful new house at the edge of a landfill (albeit on the water with a great view of the islands).

As often happens, we paddled into a headwind. We waved as we passed LB and Dave's house, which is visible from the channel. We went near the mangroves, but couldn't go in because the tide was too low. We saw a few Palauan men going out to spearfish in kayaks. It was quite a sight as two rather large men were perched precariously in a single kayak. LB and Dave kicked themselves for not bringing their fishing gear. After more paddling, we reached the entrance to Nikko Bay. We have heard there is another jellyfish lake back in one of the islands of Nikko Bay so we decided explore and see if we could find it. LB had an idea of where it might be after looking at her map and she directed us to a possible location. We attempted to find some sort of path, but could find none. I did start climbing up what might have been a path, but I couldn't find a clear trail and turned back.

In our searching, we did find a cove with a beautiful coral ledge, so we decided to call off the search and snorkel. There were all types of coral with a very full and vibrant color. I didn't see that many fish except for a few schools of parrotfish. I did see a handful of anemones. I swam around the edge of the cove and then returned back around to my kayak. We had tied them up to a small group of branches, but there was coral between us and the kayak. Mine was closest, so I was able to maneuver over to it without hurting the coral or myself and hop into the kayak. I freed mine and then LB's and got it to her in the cove. We paddled a bit further before breaking for lunch.

After lunch we continued exploring. By this time it was low tide and we found an old plane wreck exposed on the muddy bottom. A propeller blade still attached to the engine stuck straight up in the air and the wing lay flat on the exposed bottom. We didn't know the plane's history, but nevertheless it was a neat little find. We began paddling back towards the channel and had to take it slow because it was shallow. Then we reached a very shallow section that was only about six inches of water deep. We had to slowly maneuver trying not to scrape the bottom of the kayak on any rocks. The kayaks performed admirably and managed to get us across, although Dave did have to get out and drag his kayak. The paddle home was better with the wind at our backs. The channel near the causeway had very odd currents and it took some time to constantly adjust to a different current. We made it back to Sam's after about five hours of kayaking. I was very tired but content after an enjoyable day.