Where to dive
Palau Dive Sites: The Best Dives in Palau
Palau dive sites range from current-swept walls on the outer reef to calm lagoon wrecks and caverns. Most lie within an hour's boat ride of Koror, through the maze of the Rock Islands, so on a typical day you'll make two or three dives at very different places.
Palau's reef system forms a long barrier around a big lagoon. On the outside the reef drops away as sheer walls into deep water; where tides push water through gaps in the reef, channels and corners concentrate food and the animals that hunt it. Inside, the lagoon is sheltered, greener and full of Second World War history. This guide covers the sites most divers come for and what each one demands.
The famous current dives
Blue Corner
Palau's signature dive. A reef plateau juts into the open ocean, and when the current runs divers hook onto bare rock at its edge to watch grey reef sharks, whitetips, Napoleon wrasse, barracuda and jacks hang in the flow. It's often combined with the Blue Holes next door. Read the full Blue Corner diving guide before you go, especially the section on reef hooks.
Blue Holes
Four openings in the reef top lead down into a large cavern that opens onto the wall below. Light beams through the holes, and divers usually exit through a window in the wall and drift on to Blue Corner. Stay within sight of the light and inside your training.
Ulong Channel
On an incoming tide, divers wait at the mouth of the channel with grey reef sharks, then let go and fly along the channel floor over one of the largest fields of lettuce coral you'll ever see, with giant clams and schools of snappers along the way. Timing with the tide is everything, so leave it to your guide.
German Channel
The place to see reef manta rays at cleaning stations, plus grey reef sharks at the channel mouth. Conditions are usually gentler than Blue Corner. The German Channel manta ray guide explains tides, etiquette and your chances.
Big Drop-Off and New Drop-Off
Big Drop-Off is a vertical wall smothered in soft corals and sea fans, an easy, gentle dive when the current is light and a favourite for a second or third dive. New Drop-Off, nearer Blue Corner, has a corner where the current brings sharks, turtles and schooling fish.
Peleliu, in the far south
Peleliu Island lies at the southern end of the Palau reef, a longer boat ride from Koror. Peleliu Wall is a huge drop-off with giant sea fans and big-fish action. Peleliu Express and Peleliu Corner face the open ocean and can carry very strong, unpredictable currents and down-currents, so they're for experienced divers only, on calm days and with a guide who knows them well. Peleliu was also the scene of one of the hardest-fought battles of the Pacific War in 1944, and many divers add a land tour of the battlefield.
Inside the lagoon and the Rock Islands
The Rock Islands are hundreds of limestone islands, many undercut at the waterline into mushroom shapes, scattered across the southern lagoon. The Rock Islands Southern Lagoon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Between the islands you'll find calm, sheltered dives that are ideal on windy days or for newer divers:
- Chandelier Cave, close to Koror: a cave with several air-filled chambers decorated with stalactites. Enter only with a guide and a torch; the entrance shallows are also good for mandarinfish at dusk.
- Lagoon wrecks: Japanese ships and aircraft sunk during the Second World War, covered in coral and full of fish. See the Palau wreck diving guide.
- Soft coral arches and clam gardens: easy, colourful dives that local guides know by name.
Jellyfish Lake, on Eil Malk island, is snorkel-only: scuba is not allowed there. It's covered in the trip planning guide.
Matching sites to your experience
Palau suits most certified divers, but its famous sites are current dives. If you're newer, start with Big Drop-Off, German Channel and the lagoon wrecks, and build up to Blue Corner and Ulong Channel once you're comfortable with drift diving and holding a position with a reef hook. Peleliu's open-ocean corners are best left for experienced divers. Your operator will match the day's sites to the tides and to the group, and the best time of year for the outer reefs is covered in the guide to the best time to dive Palau.
Palau dive site questions
What is the most famous dive site in Palau?
Blue Corner, a reef plateau on the outer reef where divers hook in to watch sharks, Napoleon wrasse and schools of barracuda and jacks in the current.
How far are Palau dive sites from Koror?
Most of the well-known sites are roughly 30 to 60 minutes by speedboat from Koror, through the Rock Islands. Peleliu, at the southern tip, takes longer.
Can you scuba dive in Jellyfish Lake?
No. Jellyfish Lake is snorkel-only. Scuba is prohibited for safety: below about 13 metres the lake has no oxygen and contains poisonous hydrogen sulfide.
Start with Palau's most famous dive
Learn how the current works at Blue Corner and how to use a reef hook properly.
Read the Blue Corner guide