COMMENTS ON INDEPENDENT KAYAK TOURING IN PALAU
Based on a nine day independent trip in November 2014
GENERAL COMMENTS: Highly recommended. We enjoyed the combination of relaxed paddling, excellent snorkeling and private beach campsites on beautiful Palau islands. We've kayaked a fair amount on the BC West coast, Fiji and Australia; we rate our trip to Palau as one of our best kayak experiences, if not the best. Palau is not the cheap but it is worth every penny of your budget. Independent kayaking is a cost effective for such a high quality experience.
EQUIPMENT:
Kayaks – we rented touring, sit-on top kayaks from Blue Planet ( http://www.paddlingpalau.net/ ). The kayaks were surprisingly good, albeit a bit tubby, but they handled reasonably well. The paddles provided were 240cm in length which were appropriate for the wide beam, though a little heavy. There was a surprising amount of storage space in the kayaks; 2 hatches plus a removable rear container, which we used to store our food in, and a very small non-waterproof day hatch for sunscreen, etc. The rear hatch could actually hold 4 gallon containers of water. Additionally, more water and snorkel equipment can be strapped on to the kayaks. Blue Planet provided several dry bags and some clients strap a large dry bag on top of the kayak, but we found the two hatches were sufficient for 4-5 days travel with water. The sit-on top kayaks worked very well for snorkeling (easy to slip into the water and to get back on to the kayak; a good choice). The seats were adjustable and comfortable (foot pedals too). Blue Planet provided much more than equipment, they provided excellent advice, itinerary and drop-off/pick-up services included in the rental costs. Blue Planet is professional and highly recommended.
Camping Equipment – Rather than bringing our own equipment, we chose to rent the gear from Blue Planet because Palau was part of a longer trip for us. The Blue Planet camping gear package was fine. The tent was a new REI model with some screens. There are cooler tents on the market with more screens (like the MSR Hubba Hubba) and I would be tempted to bring my own tent next time. The Thermorests that were provided were thick and comfortable (sheets provided too). The Trangia stove and pots kit were standard stuff (note that the pots are small) but adequate for simple cooking. We had to be careful with the methylated spirit usage because the bottle provided barely lasted the nine days, used sparingly. We thought some of the equipment provided was superfluous such as the tikki lamps and stove oil (too messy to fill and empty every day); better to use battery operated lights. Pillows were a nice touch, but we didn't take them (we used our own cloth bags) and solar shower is not very water efficient, so we used our own 5 gallon collapsible water container and had “bucket” (actually, bowl) showers. Note that if you were to bring your own stove, a multi-fuel type would the best choice (gasoline). I did not see any camping propane/butane cylinders for sale in Koror and you would have to make inquiries from Blue Planet if you needed to source methylated spirits.
Marine radio – we have one, so we brought one. Not recommended, no marine weather radio forecast, locals don't have/use them and there were very few yachts around.
MAPS: The waterproof maps provided by Blue Planet were excellent and showed all the key places of interest that matched withe the suggested itinerary. We kept the current map in a large zip lock bag to keep it dry. GPS is not required.
FOOD: We were pleasantly surprised by the Koror supermarkets for choice and price, especially given that Palau is a long way from anywhere. It would be very possible to fully provision for an extended kayak trip using the Koror supermarkets at reasonable cost. We did bring some food items from home. Everyone has different ideas of what to eat and bring, but this is what we did for food.
Breakfasts: Muesli, milk powder, apples, coffee (all available in Koror)
Lunch: Frozen bagels and tortillas (available in Koror at surprisingly reasonable prices), peanut butter, tinned tuna, chopped cabbage, onion. Also, tins of chickpeas, corn, green beans, beets, etc and salad dressing. We didn't bring cheese or cured meats but it would have lasted a couple of days without refrigeration. The parks staff allowed us to leave bagged garbage with them at Jellyfish Lake.
Snacks: Clif bars, mixed nuts, prunes, Pringles. (Energy bars and nuts might be cheaper at home than in Koror).
Dinners: We opted to bring dehydrated dinners (backpacking meals, not available in Koror) from home and supplemented them with couscous (available in Koror) and vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage).
Beverages: cans of beer (not expensive in Koror) because warm beer is better than no beer. Note that hard liquor is expensive in Palau, so that would be a good use of your duty-free allowance.
WATER: Gallon jugs of water are available in Koror. Bulk water is sold in one of the Koror supermarkets (bring your own collapsible containers). Some campsites and local fishing camps along the way collected rain water that was good for washing but not for drinking (dubious metal content, etc.) We were offered drinking water by staff at Jelly Fish lake and at a couple of southern picnic sites by tour staff, and we topped up our day water bottles. We brought a gallon a day per person, but we ended up bringing back 2 gallons with us. Note that Carp Island Resort also provides free drinking water to guests.
CLOTHING: Don't forget your bathing suits. Bring some light clothing for the evening. We were never cool enough to wear a wind breaker in Palau (except on the dive boats after a day of diving). The sun is intense, so it is a good idea to cover up while paddling during the day with long sleeves and light long pants. We wore 0.5mm wet suits during the day with snorkel booties and paddle gloves. The wet suits kept the sun off, kept us cool (get wet) and kept us in the warm 30C water longer. The thin wet suits are highly recommended. We got some minor chafing at the armpits that was easily rectified by applying Vaseline.
SNORKEL GEAR: Mask, snorkel and fins are essential. If needed, reasonable priced gear is available at various outlets in Koror (either in town or at dive operator shops). Or, you could rent it at dive shops.
HAZARDS: The hazards or irritants were inconsequential to the amazing experience of kayaking Palau, except perhaps sunshine.
The sun is intense, but there is quite a bit of shade available if you paddle close to the islands. Also cover up and get in the water with at least a rash guard shirt to keep the sun off your back. We used surprisingly little sun screen because we were well covered up during the day.
Heat; get wet during the day. Evenings were warm (no wind). Sleeping in a tent is OK, a little warm, but you get used to it. We've slept in warmer, more humid places than Pulau.
Mosquitoes; there were a few around but not many. We never put on insect repellent. There is no malaria in Pulau. There were a few sand flies on the beaches but not in crazy numbers. We had gnats at one of the camps that were attracted by our head lamps at night. At the end of nine days, we had a few, expected bites on our legs, normally associated with tropical beach environments, but nothing to write home about.
Rats; did you say rats? There are small populations of rats at almost every camp so put your tent away from the cook area and store all food, and anything that a rat might chew on, away at night, including snorkel masks. Rodents like to chew.
ODDS & ENDS:
we were very, very lucky with the first half of November weather. We had only one rain shower (1 hour) over nine days of kayaking. All campsites had rain shelters if you need them. We kept our tent fly ready, but never used it at night.
Winds were light for us in November.
Without wind, the kayaking was quite easy. We made a couple of inter-island crossings, none of which were over an hour.
Early starts were magic. We normally got up in the dark and launched our boats shortly after sunrise to enjoy the relative coolness and magic of early light on the water. We seldom got into camp before 4:00pm because we snorkeled and explored so much.
Pulau has a USA zip code, so you can purchase items on-line in the USA and have them shipped to Pulau cost-effectively. I don't know how long it takes for delivery and you would have to pre-arrange it with your hotel or other.
SNORKELING AND DIVING:
Snorkeling in sheltered areas such as Mandarin Fish Lake, Secret Lake and Einstein's Gardens is so unique and were some of the trip highlights. The snorkeling in the middle reefs was good but not great. However, snorkeling near Ngmelis was excellent. Jellyfish Lake snorkel was worth the trip alone. We've visited another jellyfish lake in the Togean islands of Sulawesi, Indonesia but the Pulau version had much greater jellyfish numbers.
As much as we love to snorkel, we have to admit the Pulau diving was even better. Don't miss the diving, especially, Blue Corner.
HOTEL:
We stayed at Guest Lodge, nothing fancy but it had nice staff and adequate facilities (large room/good for organizing your food & gear, fridge, A/C, hot showers) and it was 5 minute walk from downtown. Allow most of a day to get your food and gear organized, including a number of trips back and forth to downtown. The hotel was happy to look after our extra baggage while we were kayaking.
REGRETS:
We weren't sure how good Pulau and we made flight bookings for an 18 day stay. We could have stayed another 10 days longer and extended the kayak trip by a few more days (and stayed on Ngmelis).
COMMENTS ON OUR KAYAK ROUTE:
We were out for 9 full days, including 7 nights of camping and 1 night at Carp Island Lodge (although the lodge was expensive, it was quite nice and facilitated our return boat journey back to Koror). We kayaked north to south from Koror to Carp island.
Day 1 - Nikko Bay – nice “old growth” corals at Lettuce Coral Wall
- Cathedral Cove – interesting to paddle into a fair sized cave
- Black Tip Lake – very beautiful (near the Blue Devil Campsite, so we visited it twice)
Day 2 - Risong Bay – beautiful
- Mandarin Fish Lake (within Risong Bay) was particularly interesting to snorkel for sponges and gorgonians. We did see a mandarin fish in coral branches.
Day 3 - German lighthouse
- Fantasy Lake channels was in a nice snorkeling setting.
- The lighthouse walk was a worthwhile change, walking, view , WWII relics.
- Milky Way has to be done for the photo opportunities
- We arranged for a shuttle to bring us from the German Lighthouse area to Ngermdu Beach (and bring more water & food), because there is a reef on the east side of the island. Otherwise, it is and extra day's paddle around the west side of the island. We later boated over the reef through a marked channel and saw that the surf break could be considerable unless swells and tides are favourable.
Day 4 – Long Lake
-The mangrove approach into Long Lake was a highlight.
- Einstein's Gardens are wonderful
- Japanese Zero near Ngermdu Beach very worthwhile
Day 5 – Island Hopping
- Rainbow reef snorkel was good, but not the best.
Day 6 – Neco Island – very good snorkeling site.
-Jellyfish Lake – excellent. There is plenty of room in the lake, so don't worry about other groups. The jellyfish are most active in sunlight so afternoon is probably the best time to visit. Look around and you'll find unimaginable concentrations of jellyfish.
- Stone money quarry (near Jellyfish lake) – nice !
- Giant Clams – interesting photo opportunity, except that we were there late and early in the days.
Day 7 – Wonder Channel – more very good snorkeling
- there are more tour boats as you go further south to Long Beach and Ngemelis area.
Day 8 – Ngemelis
- German Channel – find the outside entrance to the channel (normally, dive boats are there) and admire the coral, fish and hang around to see manta rays. Give it the time it deserves.
- Ngmelis – lovely wall snorkeling but get in the water before the wall is fully formed and see plenty of turtles, etc.
Day 9 – Turtle Cove – not as pretty as Ngemelis but plenty of sharks and there were a couple of huge snapper schools (about 1,000 fish) when we were there.
- Ngemelis – always worth a return visit.
COMMENTS ON CAMPSITES
- Blue Devil (Lee Marvin) Beach (2 nights) – nice beach at low tide, very private (not used much by day trippers), not part of the park picnic/camp sites, but still has a shelter if it rains.
- Ngermdu Beach (2 nights) – quite beautiful, nice beach at low tide, spacious, likely busy by day, but we were never there while day trippers were there.
- Ngchus Bay (1 night) – least favourite site. Deep inside a cove, very warm place after dark, gnats at night. Skip it if you can.
- Giant Clam Beach (1 night)– nice spot, nice sunrises, explore the area behind it on foot at low tide. Monitor lizards.
- Long Beach (1 night)– busy by day but you have the place to yourself by night. Nice spot. We preferred it over nearby Ioulomekang (“Jackson's Beach”).
- Carp Island Lodge (1 night) – we stayed in a bungalow. Not cheap but quite a nice setting. Beautiful walk over to the stone money quarry and nice dock. Meals are relatively expensive so we brought our own food.