Give Koror five days and spend most of them on the water. Dive Blue Corner and the German Channel, or snorkel the Rock Islands on a Koror State permit, with Milky Way and Long Beach on the same boat. Keep one day dry before your flight: the Belau National Museum and the Etpison Museum in the morning, the Palau Aquarium after lunch, a storyboard from the Koror Jail shop, and sunset on Malakal.
Updated · Wimup Editorial
Koror is the one real town in Palau and the harbour for everything else. It spreads over a handful of islands joined by causeways and a bridge: dive shops and marinas on Malakal, resorts on Arakabesang, museums along the main road, and the Rock Islands lagoon a short boat ride south.
Palau's most famous dive, a reef point where the current pulls sharks, turtles and schooling fish along a steep wall. Divers clip a reef hook to the edge and hang in the flow, so book it with a Koror operator and come with experience in current.
Hundreds of uninhabited limestone domes in a lagoon UNESCO listed in 2012, a short boat ride south of town. Every visitor needs a Koror State Rock Islands permit, which your operator buys with you before the boat leaves.
A marine lake cut off from the sea on Eil Malk, where stingless golden jellyfish drift near the surface. Numbers crashed in 2016 and have been recovering since, so ask your operator what the lake holds before paying the separate permit.
A sheltered cove where the boat crew scoops pale limestone mud off the bottom for a swim-and-scrub stop. The water turns an opaque turquoise, and it sits on most Rock Islands snorkel days.
The oldest museum in Micronesia, with storyboards, money beads, canoes and the Japanese and American years laid out in order. A replica bai, the painted men's meeting house, stands in the grounds.
A private family museum opened in 1999, strong on traditional navigation, archaeology and ceremonies. It is the best second stop after the national museum, and the building is a short taxi ride east of downtown.
The aquarium of the Palau International Coral Reef Center, with tanks that recreate each habitat from the mangroves to the outer reef. It is the clearest way to put names to what you saw underwater.
Inmates carve storyboards, the wooden panels that tell Palauan legends, and sell them from a shop on the jail grounds. Carving here is part of rehabilitation, and buying one supports the carver.
An open-air bar and seafood grill by the Malakal marina, where dive crews and their guests end the day. Come for the sunset over the water and order whatever came off the boats.
Cross the Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge to the big island and follow the Compact Road north to Palau's tallest waterfall. The jungle trail runs a steep half hour each way, so pair it with the Badrulchau monoliths.
A national holiday with youth events and sport across Koror.
A public holiday honouring Palau's elders, with community gatherings.
A national holiday. Offices close and the long weekend fills the boats.
Marks the 1981 constitution, with speeches and ceremonies.
First Monday of September, a public holiday on the US pattern.
Boat races by the Friendship Bridge, music and fireworks, a week of events.
All 16 states bring food, crafts and dance. Dates follow Independence Day.
Fourth Thursday of November, kept as a public holiday.
In Airai on Babeldaob, a 20 to 30 minute drive from Koror. No taxis wait at arrivals, so book a hotel or dive-shop transfer.
The way around town, with no public buses. Hotels and restaurants call one, and the Malakal bars are a short ride from downtown.
Everything south of Koror is a boat. Operators collect you from your hotel and leave from Malakal and the resort docks.
Worth a day for Babeldaob, over the Friendship Bridge and round the Compact Road. Drive on the right, at island speeds.
Yellowfin and skipjack with soy and wasabi, a habit from the Japanese years.
Taro leaves in coconut milk, often with crab. Judge a kitchen on it.
Pulled from the mangrove roots and cooked simply. The best thing on most Koror menus.
Crab minced with coconut cream, lime and chilli, packed back into the shell.
Whole bat in coconut broth. Confronting to look at, mild to eat.
Chicken with green papaya and ginger over rice. The Filipino dish that stayed.
Squash and shrimp fritters, sold hot from roadside stands.
Grown in wet patches and served with almost everything.
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