Long Beach, kayak and bike rental, Babeldaob and Kayangel

Hello guys,
I'll travel to Palau in about 3 weeks and I have a few questions for those who have been there! I searched a lot on the web and haven't found much;)!

1. What are the different ways to go to Long Beach? Can we go there by kayak (it seems to be a bit far from Koror)? Which would be the cheapest way?

2. Is it possible and safe to rent a kayak without a guide? I guess around Koror (Nikko and Risong bay) it would be possible, but how far can we go alone?

3. Are there many bike shops in Koror? Can we also rent a scooter somewhere?

4. Can we visit a bit of Babeldaob by bicycle? Is the road in a good state?

5. I know the state boat goes to Kayangel on Friday and comes back on Sunday. Is it possible to have a one-day trip there? How much would it cost approximately?

Thanks a lot guys :)

Hi srebou,

Just like you I'm going to Palau (only that I gave 2 months) and struggle to receive information about almost everything.
I read a lot about kayaking and I sent 2 requests (Fish and fins & Paddling Palau / Planet Blue). Only Fish and fins replied. I am particularly interested in kayaking and camping on Rock islands, so here's what they told me:
- Kayak rental $45.00 per day for single and $50.00 per day for doubles
- Transportation to/from Rock islands $145.00 per person per way
- Koror Rock Island Permit is $100.00 per person valid for 10 days. You purchase the Government Permit at Koror State Office.

I am also very interested in going to Kayangel but not for one day. Impac tours offer a day tour, from what I see on their website it's $190. But as I said, I'm trying to find more about the state boat, without any success so far :(

Hope someone can give more information about your questions. Have a great trip! And please, give us your report, when you come back.

Hello pikonio,

Thanks for the infos :) Yeah I would have loved to stay longer to do a kayak trip, but because I only have 5 full days I will only be able to do day-trips ;)! I want to see Long Beach, Jellyfish Lake, Milky Way and kayak around the Rock Islands. However as the prices are so high, I want to combine these activities as much as possible. Here are the best combos I found:

-Jellyfish Lake and kayaking around the Rock Islands (Impac Tour): 100 US$
-Long Beach and Milky Way Boat Tour (Belau Tour): 100 US$

MAML Dive shops also offered me a pick-up and drop to Long Beach for 65 US$. I haven't found anything cheaper than that. I also read that it's pretty much impossible to kayak to Long Beach, it's about 25 km from Koror and there is dangerous surf aroung Ngeruktabel island, it seems the only place it would be safe to kayak alone without having a transportation to the Rock Islands is Nikko Bay and maybe Risong Bay. But I'd love to have a confirmation of that. With transportation to the Rock Islands, I read some fantastic reports of kayaking between Ulong Island and Ngeruktabel, so I think you'll have a fantastic experience there (I unfortunately won't have time for that). For a kayak day trip alone around Koror, I guess I'll settle with Nikko Bay and the safe surroundings ;)!

As for Kayangel, just like you I also have only read about the Impac tour that costs 190 US$, which is too expansive for me. It's about a 2 hours trip by motor boat which is quite a lot, so I guess it will be tough to find something cheaper than that... The state boat costs 20 US$ one way, but you have to spend 2 days there (from Friday to Sunday)... But I don't know where we can book it or find more information about it...

I still haven't found any information about scooter rental on Koror and the possibility to bike around Babeldaob! I'll let you know if I find anything else. I'll also definitely post a report of my trip here :)

Hey srebou, are you back?
Hope you had (or still have) wonderful trip to Palau.
Waiting for you trip report :)

Hello :)
Yep I'm back!! It was an awesome trip definitely. Here are some infos:

-You can pretty much see most of Koror in 1 day. You can do it by walking, which I did, but your feet will hurt by the end of the day. Going to the top of Malakal island is quite a walk! The waters surrounding Koror are incredibly beautiful, but as I was able to confirm, there are NO public beaches on Koror. There are 2 sandy beaches, Riptide beach (which belongs to Riptide Restaurant) on Malakal Island and at the Palau Pacific Resort, but both are private and won't let you swim for free. Long Island Park is nice and calm, snorkelling is good and the volleyball games are entertaining, but there's no place to lie down unfortunately (maybe on the grass...). Ice Box Park was quite ordinary I thought, except for the views on the ocean which are of course incredible. It has to be said that there is a new public park with restrooms under the Babeldaob-Koror bridge, but again no beach, only swimming.

-Visiting the rock Islands is a MUST of course. I did the Risong Bay kayak tour with Sam's Tours which was fantastic. It was 125 US$ + the 50$ permit if you don't want to visit Jellyfish Lake (otherwise you have to add another 50$ to the permit fees).

-I was absolutely stunned by the boat trip to Milky Way and Long Beach, plus snorkelling in many places around the Rock Islands. I chose the tour with RITC-Palau, which was 100$. It was an incrddible one-day experience I'll always remember. Long Beach was perfect, Milky Way was awesome (the color of the water! Some people around me can't believe the pics I took there haha) and the snorkelling is world-class.

-I found only 1 place where they can rent a scooter; it is 45$/day (Alii's Tour). However they wouldn't let me get out of Koror with it (it's a battery scooter), so they rent me a regular bike instead (35$/day). I got to Babeldaob but couldn't go very far as the slopes are way too hard to handle for an ordinary traveller, especially under the humidity and heat! Babeldaob is huge and mostly unhabited; you clearly need a car to get to the waterfalls and monoliths. That was the fail of my trip, I'm disappointed I didn't rent a car instead, if only I had known it was too complicated to rent a scooter...

-The only day-trip you can find to go to Kayangel is with Impac Tours; it is 190$. You can also rent a boat with a group if you're able to arrange such a trip; it is around 700$/day (MAML Divers gave me that info). I wasn't able to organize such a trip in 1 day.

These are the tips I can give you :)

Thank you very much for your report!
I still hope I can find a way to go to Kayangel once I get there. But whatever happens I am sure Palau will be an awesome trip.

Hello,

Guys thank you for the information... it helps a lot! it's seems info about Palau is not easy to find.

Pikonio, how was your experience like? Any tips that you might share? I will be there in a months time and looking for the different options available.

I haven't taken care of the hotel yet, any recommendations?

Thank you!

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