Palau for a Week? Suggested Itinerary? A bunch of questions!

My girlfriend and I are going to start "backpacking" after we finish our contract in Korea and have found a fairly cheap flight to Guam, Yap, Palau and Tokyo. My main questions are in regards to the Palau portion of the trip and if you could offer a helping hand I would appreciate it.

I know there is a lot to see but it can be a little expensive. I really want to Kayak around the rock islands, snorkel in JellyFish Lake, and scuba dive at least for a day. An extreme budget stretch would be a quick 20 minute flight over the rock islands if the prices were reasonable.

So for the questions :)

I have seen a couple people who have kayaked around the rock islands (not on a tour) and have camped overnight on them as it says that there is free camping on certain spots. I have heard that if you don't book a "tour" you have to pay a huge amount of money to get out there as you have to charter a boat or something to drop and pick you up.

Is it possible to book a tour for kayaking and then have them leave you there and pick you up a day or two later? If yes, do you know any companies that would offer a fairly cheap/reasonable rate to do so? Rough estimates if you know any, are appreciated so we can start figuring out our budget.

Second. Is it possible to kayak out to where the JellyFish Lake is during that time, or is it too far? Would it just better to have it included in our diving day? I know Sam's is the main man in Palau for diving but do you have any recommendations of others? Would they discount if we booked the majority of our stuff through them? Sorry to ask, but any idea of prices for dives as all the websites are a little unclear or don't seem to be working on my laptop in Korea.

Any 2 dive spots stick out for you as the "must do's"? I saw a picture of a snorkeler over top of a WWII fighter plane. Is that possbile to get to something like that in our time frame? I wouldn't mind doing a wreck dive but can't find any information on what is out there?

Just a few more, I promise. I have emailed Lehn's Motel and they have space for $45 which is what I kinda expected. But just for the sake of asking, do you know of any better deals for cheapie properties? Or of any possible homestays which might cost a little less and are still within Koror? Email addresses if you do would again be much appreciated.

Is there anything on the mainland which would be worth spending a day seeing in your eyes or should I focus on getting out of Koror ASAP?

As far as booking hotels, should I book accommodation for the entire duration of my time in Koror and just use it as a base or do you think I could plan it out before hand to get it so I would have a clear idea of if I could camp and stuff.

I apologize about all the questions but I could use some personal advice.

If you find the time to write me back, thanks for all your help. Palau is not the easiest of places to search on the internet but from what I have read I am extremely excited. ;)

Thanks again,

I assume that you have read my report on kayaking in the R,ock I.slands (see link in my signature)?

My opinions are based on three year old information.

The issue is whether a kayaking tour will go out and come back the days you want and will it go out to the outer rock islands (you don't want to camp at Lee Marvin beach or vicinity). Sam's Tours kayaking trips to the outer R.ock Islands don't run that often and are dependent on whether they have enough customers. Try Impac. They are a company catering to the very busy Japanese market. They don't have the nice expedition kayaks that Sam's has but you aren't planning on moving from island to island with a weeks worth of provisions. Send them an email and ask where they could drop you off if it's possible.

There is a Japanese zero that you could kayak to from Margie's Beach. There is a pole in the water that marks it. Another plane in the water is off Ngchus.

Depending on which island you are based on you could kayak to J.ellyfish Lake.

You could also have your dive operator drop you off on an island and pick you up the next day. Neco Marine uses U.long Island as its lunch spot. A lovely island if you don't mind rats. (I didn't.)

Don't book a full week in K.oror. Go for the R.ock Islands. You may have to spend your first day running around and arranging things but it's worth it. Remember that you will need to bring water with you.

$45 for two is probably as good as you'll do. You can check the dive room prices at Palau Marine Club.

Have a tent? Check if Carp Island still allows camping for a fee. Forget about kayaking from there - they charge a fortune for kayaks but you could go on dive trips with them. Their food is expensive but I think you can bbq there or buy a little cook stove in town.

I enjoyed seeing the P.alau Capitol Building as it was a P.alauan version of my capitol arising out of the jungle but ymmv.

First, look at my post from last summer: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1931212 (you might also want to see my Yap post: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1931231).

Scuba diving is expensive. Check my notes, but if you are renting all of your gear, it is $140+ and another $40 to add on Jellyfish Lake. This was with Fish 'n Fins. There are cheaper operators, but you have to be careful, because some have poor safety records.

If you want to camp, I highly recommend taking the state ferry out to Kayangel. See my post for more details.

Thanks guys for both your responses. Very useful info.

I've got my accommodation sorted and am currently emailing IMPAC to see about booking a kayaking tour which could allow us to camp over night for 2 nights in the "outer rock islands".

Just so I could give them a bit more info on where I want to go and not get confused. Which beaches/areas are considered the "outer rock islands", or in your opinion the best 2 or 3 to go to?

I see their kayaking tour goes to the Milky Way and around there. Is that somewhat close to some good areas that we could kayak through or is that the inner rock isalnds with lee marvin beach. Which I agree looks horrible and would be a tough sell to my girlfriend ;)

I think we will just include the jelly fish lake with the diving, but hopefully the 2 nights in the rock island, will just be 2 nights in a great area.

Let me know what you suggest if you have the time.

Jeremy

The milky way is in a great area. It's sheltered by some rock islands so the kayaking is great. The water will be as smooth as glass. It's close to Margie's Beach where you can camp. There are some beautiful beaches nearby that you can kayak to as well as a submerged Japanese plane.

Take a look at this map: http://www.claycritters.com/map/s16/survivor_16_map.htm

Everything east of the # 26 is what I consider an inner rock island. You can kayak around there directly from K.oror.

Now look at the big island in the middle (Ngeruktabel) - the milky way is on the south side behind the two little islands just above the Ngeruktabel name. Margie's is by the A of the eastern Challenges label. The submerged plane is at #38. J.ellyfish Lake is over at #40. (For anyone planning to kayak there please have someone point out where you have to go to access it because it is a short hike from the dock and I'm not sure if the entrance is where one would think it is according to the map - so double check.)

I went out on a snorkeling with a dive boat and that's when I visited J.ellyfish Lake. I was happy doing it that way.

There are many companies catering to Korean tourists and there are many of them. If you cannot read hangul, find a colleague or a friend who could and would like to help you out researching those companies. Judging from their boats' standard and equipment and etc during our stay in Palau, I thought that maybe they offer cheaper tours than the Impac. At least, when we were there there were more boats with Korean tourists than any other combined. So, I found it hard to believe that Sam's is the man to go, given the fact the saw few, maybe one boat, during our tours with them or Neco, I forgot which one. Probably, the later.

We used Impac. I speak Japanese, my wife doesn't. They attached for our tours a guide who had spent most of his life in the USA and had an American accent. So Japanese to think of the customer satisfaction even though I told them that I would translate for her if the guide speaks only Japanese.