What is it?

Palau is a scattering of more than 340 islands in the western Pacific that looks less like a country and more like a green mirage — hundreds of mushroom-shaped limestone knobs, undercut at the waterline by centuries of tide, floating in water so luminously turquoise it seems backlit. Above the surface you kayak through hidden marine lakes, drift into Chandelier Cave's stalactite chambers, and smear yourself in the silky white clay of the Milky Way lagoon; below it you hang onto a reef hook at Blue Corner while a river of current delivers grey reef sharks, jacks and Napoleon wrasse straight past your mask. Palau declared the world's first national shark sanctuary in 2009 and turned 80% of its waters into a marine reserve, and every visitor has the Palau Pledge — a promise to the children of Palau to tread lightly — stamped into their passport on arrival. Threaded through it all is history: sunken Japanese warships and Zero fighters from Operation Desecrate One lie in Malakal Harbor, while Peleliu's jungle still hides tanks, bunkers and the scars of one of WWII's most brutal battles. Add the ancient bai (men's meeting houses), the matrilineal Palauan clan traditions and stone monoliths older than written record, and you have a place where geology, war history and culture are all wrapped in the healthiest coral on earth.

Where is it?

Palau sits in Micronesia, roughly 800 km east of the Philippines and 1,300 km southwest of Guam, with most visitors basing themselves in Koror, the buzzy little former capital, and flying in via Manila, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo or Guam. The headline attractions are the UNESCO-listed Rock Islands Southern Lagoon (Jellyfish Lake, Milky Way, German Channel, Ulong Channel), the legendary dive sites of Blue Corner and Blue Holes, and the somber battlefields of Peleliu to the south; liveaboards range further to the remote reefs of Angaur and Kayangel. The dry season from November to April brings the calmest seas and best visibility, with December to March the sweet spot — while July to October is wetter, greener and better for manta encounters at German Channel.

What makes it worth it?

Divers routinely describe Palau as the best diving on the planet, and Blue Corner is the reason: you clip in, the current surges, and suddenly you're a spectator at an underwater stadium filled with sharks, turtles, barracuda tornadoes and fish in numbers that most of the world's oceans lost decades ago. But even non-divers leave changed — floating in Jellyfish Lake surrounded by thousands of pulsing, harmless golden medusae is the kind of surreal, weightless moment people say they still dream about years later. There's also the moral clarity of the place: a nation of around 20,000 people that chose to protect its ocean rather than sell it, and asks you to sign a pledge to do the same. Travellers talk about the silence in Peleliu's jungle, the taste of a cold Red Rooster after a three-dive day, the sunset turning the Rock Islands into black paper cut-outs. What you'll remember is the feeling of having seen a reef the way reefs are supposed to be — noisy with life, crowded, uninterrupted — and the quiet resolve it leaves behind.

How accessible is it?

Palau is easy once you arrive but genuinely remote and not cheap: flights are the biggest hurdle, with limited routes and often long layovers in Manila, Taipei or Seoul, and return fares typically $900–$2,000+ depending on origin. On the ground you'll need the Rock Islands / Jellyfish Lake permit (around $100 for 10 days, plus a separate Peleliu permit), and a $100 Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee is built into your airfare; dive day-trips run roughly $150–$250 for two or three tanks, liveaboards $3,000–$6,000 per week, and mid-range Koror hotels $100–$250 a night. Most visitors get 30 days visa-free on arrival (US citizens get a year), the currency is the US dollar, and English is widely spoken alongside Palauan. Snorkelling and island-hopping tours suit almost anyone with basic swimming ability and reasonable mobility, but Palau's signature dives are current-driven and best suited to Advanced Open Water divers with 30+ logged dives and reef-hook experience — most operators will ask. Around 60,000–100,000 visitors come each year, so book dive shops and boats a few weeks ahead in high season, pack reef-safe sunscreen (non-compliant sunscreens are banned) and allow 7–10 days to do the archipelago justice.