Palau Islands

Trip highlights: shark action, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: From Palau: German Channel, Big Drop Off, New Drop Off, Blue Holes, German wall, Barnum wall, Blue Corner, Virgin Blue Hole, Turtle Cove, Ngedebus Coral Gardens, Ngedebus Wall, Fairyland; Peleliu: Peleliu Wall, Peleliu Corner, Peleliu Coral Garden, Orange Wall, Peleliu Expressway, White Beach, Yellow Wall, Peleliu Cut; Ngerechong Island, Jellyfish Lake (snorkelling and hiking), Ulong Channel, Siaes Tunnel, Siaes Corner, Shark City, Iro or Chuyo Maru shipwrecks, Jake Seaplane and Chandelier Cave

Day 1
You will board the MV Ocean Hunter III liveaboard to attend the safety and dive briefings and then begin your first dives in Palau today! Dinner will be arranged either before or after the night dive, depending on the group’s preference.

Core Days
During the next days, you will enjoy the full 'Best of Palau' route of the Ocean Hunter III, covering German Channel for manta cleaning stations and steady pelagic traffic, Blue Corner for powerful currents, hook-in action, large shark populations, and dense schools of barracuda and jacks, and Blue Holes, where wide shafts of light illuminate the cavern before you exit onto the reef wall.
The liveaboard itinerary also includes Big Drop Off and New Drop Off with sheer vertical walls coated in soft corals, Turtle Cove with its scenic swim-through leading to a vibrant wall, Ulong Channel for high-speed drifts over hard coral gardens and schooling reef fish, and Siaes Tunnel and Siaes Corner, known for their sweeping overhangs, resident sharks, and pristine hard corals. Additional diving highlights include Shark City, Ngedebus Coral Gardens and Ngedebus Wall with some of Palau’s healthiest reef systems, the Virgin Blue Hole with its dramatic vertical descent, and Chandelier Cave with its calm chambers and air pockets.
The Peleliu region is also featured, offering several WWII wrecks such as the Iro or Chuyo Maru, plus Jake Seaplane, plus sites like Peleliu Wall, Peleliu Corner, Peleliu Expressway, Orange Wall, and Peleliu Coral Garden, known for stronger currents, large predators, and big-school action. Expect encounters with manta rays, multiple reef shark species, eagle rays, tuna, bumphead parrotfish, Napoleon wrasse, turtles, schools of snappers and fusiliers, and rich macro life including nudibranchs, pipefish, shrimps, and other small invertebrates. A visit to Jellyfish Lake is also included for snorkelling and a short hike.

Final Day
Enjoy breakfast before disembarking from the Ocean Hunter III. Transfers to your hotel or the airport are provided.

Palau Spawning Trip

Trip highlights: shark action, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: From Palau: German Channel, Big Drop Off, New Drop Off, Blue Holes, German wall, Barnum wall, Blue Corner, Virgin Blue Hole, Turtle Cove, Ngedebus Coral Gardens, Ngedebus Wall, Fairyland; Peleliu: Peleliu Wall, Peleliu Corner, Peleliu Coral Garden, Orange Wall, Peleliu Expressway, White Beach, Yellow Wall, Peleliu Cut; Ngerechong Island, Jellyfish Lake (snorkelling and hiking), Ulong Channel, Siaes Tunnel, Siaes Corner, Shark City, Iro or Chuyo Maru shipwrecks, Jake Seaplane and Chandelier Cave

Day 1
Your adventure begins as you board the MV Ocean Hunter III liveaboard. After settling into your cabin and attending the safety and dive briefings, the crew will help you prepare your dive gear. By early afternoon, you are already in the water, diving around a World War II Japanese shipwreck. Dinner will be served either before or after the night dive, according to guest preference.

Core Days
Palau offers some of the most diverse and dynamic diving in the world. During Full and New Moon periods, fish gather in massive aggregations to spawn, including orangespine unicornfish, Moorish idols, sailfin snapper, bumphead parrotfish, and twinspot red snapper, attracting Palau’s largest predators. Grey reef, blacktip reef, and whitetip reef sharks are common on almost every dive with the Ocean Hunter, and bull sharks, silvertips, blacktip oceanics, leopard sharks, and hammerheads have all been spotted in these waters.
Dive sites include dramatic walls, swim-throughs, caverns, and coral gardens. You will encounter schools of bumphead parrotfish, Napoleon wrasse, and giant trevally, as well as smaller reef dwellers like lionfish, scorpionfish, pipefish, and frogfish. Cleaning stations are abundant, with wrasse, cleaner shrimp, and other symbiotic species creating fascinating interactions. Macro life is exceptional, featuring nudibranchs, decorator crabs, shrimps, seahorses, and octopus.
At German Channel, mantas glide elegantly through the currents, often accompanied by eagle rays and large schools of fusiliers. Blue corner sites and channels reveal dense schools of fusiliers, snappers, and anthias, while reef flats host hawksbill and green turtles.
Night dives bring out a different side of Palau, with flamboyant cuttlefish, octopus, and nocturnal shrimps emerging from the reefs, offering photographers and macro enthusiasts unforgettable experiences.

Final Day
Enjoy breakfast on board the liveaboard before disembarking the Ocean Hunter III. Transfers are arranged to your local hotel or the airport.