Kayaking in Palau
Palau was made for kayaking, where paddlers can make their way into any one of hundreds of solace-giving bays and lagoons with perfectly unspoiled scenery of impeccable preserved reefs and coves. Palau is probably the best place in the world for nature-loving kayakers to take day trips or excursions of several days.
Seabirds pass through narrow channels and soar to their nests set high in the mushroom-shaped Rock Islands, and the only sounds you hear are their calls and the swirling of your paddles breaking the placid surface.
Passing over shallow reefs where motorboats can’t reach, you witness Palau’s rainbow of corals in the crystalline waters and the reef fish, which each seem hand-painted as they go about their business, unafraid of your kayak’s quiet presence.
Excursions allow glimpses of early morning sunrise after a star-filled night, after which the colors of the day change by the hour, until the peaceful sunsets at the end of a day traveling through waters that range from deep cobalt to bright aqua, and just about every shade in between.
The same serenity of nature’s pure embrace, through protected mangrove forests, is a twisting labyrinth of life set on a mirrored sheet of water. High in the tops of the canopies, fruit bats sleep. Channels take you to deltas of white sand set on top of the black mangrove mud. You will also find land crabs, monitor lizards, and the amazing amphibious mudskipper fish. Also found deep in the mangroves are ancient village ruins including stone platforms where meeting houses once stood.
