Palau: Rainbow’s End

*posts may contain affiliate links.
learn how this blog makes money

It’s no surprise that many call Palau “Rainbow’s End.”  The pot of gold is its rough-hewn islands, diverse marine life, and friendly people – treasures truly worth finding.

Lying just 805 km southeast of the Philippines, Palau is composed of six major island groups consisting of about 300 islands.  Most of the people who have heard or have been to Palau are scuba divers.  The coral reef and the marine life are truly amazing.  It is one of the best diving spots in the world.

According to the Belau National Museum, the origins of the Palauans are not exactly known, but the general theory is that they were drift voyagers from Indonesia and later, the Philippines.  Like the Philippines, Palau is believed to have been first sighted by Magellan.  In fact, the islands, which was part of te larger Carolinian chain of islands, were claimed by the Spaniards in 1686.  A series of foreign colonizers ruled Palau – first, the Spaniards, the Germans, the Japanese and then the Americans.

Relics from long-forgotten ages

At the Belau National Museum and Epistol Museum, there are relics from long forgotten ages like canoes; replicas of a bai, the traditional venue for community meetings; udaoud, money beads in precious gems and stones still being used today; and works of art like the story-board, an intricately-carved block of wood which tells the stories of a community, a historically-carved block of wood which tells the stories of a community, a historical event, or even the life of the artist

Rock Islands

The Rock Islands are so called because they are made mostly of limestone:

Milky Way

The erosion of the limestone from the islands had settled on the bottom, making it milky white.

The Big Drop Off

This famous snorkeling and scuba diving site is like having a huge aquarium all to yourself.  The coral reef is magnificent, with astounding colors of reds and greens.

Jellyfish Lake

A long time ago, Palau and its many islands were presumably underwater.  As the water levels decreased through time, saltwater lakes were created.  In the case of Jellyfish Lake, the lake trapped thousands and thousands of jellyfish which eventually lost their sting because they no longer had natural predators.

To see the jellyfish, which looks like transparent globs surrounding you reminding you of alien movies like”Sphere”, you have to swim to the middle of the lake.