Palau

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Amber Waves Photography Galleries » Truk & Palau » Palau

Known as the #1 Underwater Wonder of the World, Palau astounds divers, from the beautiful vistas, healthy reefs and walls, history and culture, not to mention the "big critters".

PalauRockArch Going to and from dive sites, you can see the beautiful Rock Islands of Palau. This limestone arch has worn down from the wind and waves.

PalauWWIIGun3 You can also see clear signs from the Japanese occupation of these islands during WWII. The Japanese were well entrenched and it was a fierce battle to win them back. This is a cannon left from that time.

PalauWWIIGun2 Closer view of the cannon.

PalauPacific6 Early morning view of the Palau Pacific dock and dive shop.

PalauPacific5 Morning at the pool. Almost tempting... except for the wonderful diving.

PalauPacific4 The grounds at the Palau Pacific are beautifully done. They even have their own orchid nursery on the grounds and you see the delicate flowers everywhere.

PalauPacific3 The restaurant is open air, and a wonderful way to start your day.

PalauPacific2 And did I mention it's the only resort with a beach? What a beautiful one at that.

PalauPacific1 The buildings at the Palau Pacific are all low - no more than 2 stories - so they don't mar the beauty o fthe location.

BlueCornerDiver But of course it's all about the diving. Blue Corner is known for it's big critters, but there are also a lot of pretty hard coral formations.

BlueCornerDiver

GregEagleRay And then there are the eagle rays! Quick, Greg, get that shot!

PinkAnemonefish And on this site known for sharks and rays, you can even find a shy little anemonefish.

PinkAnemonefish

Nudi Like the little critters? This very large nudibranch was found at New Dropoff.

Nudi

AlienInvaders Blue Hole is one of the signature sites in Palau. Here you see divers descending into the hole like alien invaders. Coming down the first time, you wonder what you're going into, then you emerge into an enormous cavern.

TrioDescending More from the Blue Hole.

BlueGreg Typical expression of divers descending into the Blue Hole - you look around in amazement.

BlueGreg

BlueHoleTrio Once you've looked around, you exit back out into the blue.

Barracuda Schools of barracuda are a common site in Palau.

Barracuda

PalauWWIIGun1 There's a strong sense of history and pride in that history in Palau. From the artifacts such as this which haven't been defaced, to the Etpison Museum, it's obvious the Palauans take pride in their islands and heritage.

Napolean This Napolean Wrasse was several hundred pounds in weight (no, I didn't weigh him, but he was huge), and quite friendly.

Napolean

PalauWWIIRelic2 There are hundreds of caves around Palau, which was how the Japanese could become so entrenched and difficult to defeat. This cave contains hundreds of barrels of munitions.

PalauWWIIRelic2

PalauWWIIRelic1 A closer view of the munitions barrels in the cave.

PalauWWIIRelic1