Are you wondering how many days you should spend in Palau, but don’t really know if you’ll enjoy visiting or not? Whenever anybody thinks about an island in the Pacific, images of white sand beaches and the sound of rustling palm trees spring to mind.
The UNESCO protected Rock Islands are what draw tourists to Palau and rightly so. They are insanely beautiful and worth the expense (Palau is crazy expensive), but what about the rest of Palau? Keep reading to help you decide how many days to spend in Palau.
Diving
If your into diving, then Palau is a good spot for it. A morning of diving can cost from $100 – $140. How many days you dive is entirely up to your personal preference.
For the non divers amongst us, this is what else there is to do.
Beaches and Beds
Palau doesn’t have many beaches outside of the Rock Islands. The Palau Pacific Resort is the only resort that is located on a beach. It is the most overpriced resort I have stayed at in 73 countries, but it’s all about the location.
The resort opened in 1984 and the room decor reflects this. It’s a 5 star resort, but I’ve stayed in much better 5 star resorts (I’m spending my retirement already). The pool, heated jacuzzi and Japanese food served were awesome, but the rooms, although well kept, definitely needed upgrading. If I compare this beach in Palau to those on other Pacific islands, say Samoa or Vanuatu, I would give this beach a 3.5 star rating, because it’s nice, but it’s not that memorable. I’m still happy I stayed at this resort, so I could be close to the only beach. Also, the grounds are lovely and well kept, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a long stay, due to the inflated cost. All accommodation in Palau is inflated in cost in comparison to other a Pacific Islands. You jut don’t get much beach or bed for your money here.
There is a man made beach connected to Palau Royal Resort. Also the Rip Tide Bar and Grill is on a beach. I didn’t get to check these out due to bad weather on my trip.
The Rock Islands
I went to the Rock Islands with a Japanese tour company called Rock Island Tour Company. It was a great tour and very organised. It was $150 for the tour and $100 for the permit to the Rock Islands and Jellyfish Lake. I told you Palau was expensive. You can reduce the cost by $50 if you skip Jellyfish Lake.
Here is what I saw on the tour:
Milky Way
Jellyfish Lake
https://agirlcalledwander.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/981471aa-e0e3-48ec-b85a-bbffa646dfc7.movThis beach for lunch
The German Chanel
and the last stop was Long Beach
You can also kayak around the Rock Islands on a full or half day tour, starting from about $75 for a half day tour. I didn’t do this, because I had bad weather everyday of my trip, except for the day of the awesome Rock Island tour. The thing that annoyed me about the Rock Islands is that every tour boat went to the same spot at the same time. Even the private boats with two passengers were following the same route. It’s the only place in the Pacific I’ve had to run away from people.
Waterfalls
Ngardmau waterfalls is a 30 minute hike and costs $15 to enter. The day I set out to do this the rain became so heavy and I had to give up. I didn’t want to spend $15 to hike to a waterfall in torrential rain, when the people of Trip Advisor seemed to think the waterfall was overpriced.
Land Tour and Stone Monoliths
If you’re into seeing some relics from the World War and some Ancient monoliths. Then you can pay $20 for a land permit to see them. Again rain hampered me seeing this. I think I probably would have put more effort into seeing them if it was free or cheaper, but paying $20 dollars to see an old military tank in the rain was not my idea of fun.
Now you might think that I sound like the most boring traveler ever, because I didn’t brave the rain to see everything Palau has to offer. I swear I’m not, but after visiting 73 countries (and counting) I don’t waste my time on average or overpriced sightseeing. I’d rather be relaxing in a heated jacuzzi (while it’s raining) drinking Hawaiian beer. So that’s what I did.
Saturday Night Food Market
Just opposite the Bank of Guam between 6-8pm every Saturday night is the weekly food market. All the restaurants in Palau congregate to offer their best dishes. I highly recommend this. Go hungry.
3-7 days is probably going to be enough time in Palau. The Rock Islands are beautiful, but require an expensive boat trip to see them, so it’s just not a country that you can take your time in, unless money isn’t a problem.
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