Diving in Palau - December 2006

Dive Sites: Jellyfish Lake, Chandelier Caves
Weather: Sunny and warm

After breakfast we took the skiff to a close by island where we jumped in with our fins and snorkels. We swam to the center of the lake where we were surrounded by millions of jellyfish! The lake has been cut off from the ocean for hundreds of thousands of years and the jellyfish have no predators so they have lost their sting. They range from thimble sized up to about 6 inches in diameter. It's the only place on Earth that this situation exists. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

After the jellyfish lake the captain took the boat on a tour of the Rock Islands of Palau. We sailed a twisty path between the rock outcroppings and enjoyed the scenery. Then we did a dive at Chandelier caves, which consists of three caverns linked by an underwater tunnel. Rick did all three, but Randy headed out after the first one since it was a bit on the small side.

That afternoon we washed our dive gear, went through pictures and edited Rick's video from the week. In the evening we had a cocktail party on board and then a meal at a restaurant on shore. After dinner we talked with some of our fellow passengers for a while, then it was time to head for the airport.  Our trip home took a total of 27 hours, with stops in Yap, Guam and Tokyo.

A fantastic week of diving! The crew was awesome and made our trip really enjoyable. We had a great time with all of our fellow passengers, they were a very interesting and diverse bunch, we'd love to run into them on a future trip!

Randy used a Nikon D200 camera in a Hugyfot housing with a Nikon SB-800 strobe in a Fantasea housing. All of his pictures we taken on program or aperture priority, with TTL strobe. Rick used a Sony HC-3 in a Gates housing.