Palau is easy to travel independently on land, with English widely spoken, the US dollar as currency and very low crime, but nearly everything at sea runs through licensed tour operators.
Base yourself in
Koror, where rooms start around US$60 to 120 a night (true dorms are rare). Book lagoon tours at US$100 to 150 a day or two-tank dives at US$150 to 200, and buy the US$100 Rock Islands and Jellyfish Lake permit, valid 10 days. Budget roughly US$100 to 220 a day once tours are averaged in. Babeldaob is fully doable on your own with a rental car.
Four to five days is the right length for Palau, enough for the lagoon, Babeldaob and either Peleliu or a dive day.
With 2 days, stay in
Koror and spend one full day on a
Rock Islands Southern Lagoon boat tour with
Jellyfish Lake and
Long Beach. Three days adds a Babeldaob loop to
Ngardmau Waterfall and the bai at
Airai. Five days fits a Peleliu history tour (about 1 hour by speedboat) and a final reef day. Serious divers usually stay 7 to 10 days, since sites like Blue Corner and Ulong Channel deserve repeat dives.
You can get around Palau without a car in Koror and on the water, but exploring Babeldaob realistically needs a rental car or hired driver.
There are no public buses. In
Koror, taxis cover short hops for roughly US$5 to 10, and the airport in
Airai is a 20 to 30 minute ride (around US$20 to 30) or a free hotel shuttle. Every boat tour and dive trip includes hotel pickup. For
Babeldaob, rentals run about US$40 to 70 a day; driving is on the right, roads are quiet and the island’s ring road takes 2 to 3 hours to circle without stops.
The
Rock Islands Southern Lagoon and
Jellyfish Lake are the two places in Palau that justify the flight on their own.
Both fit on one full-day boat tour from Koror (US$100 to 150 plus the US$100 permit), often with a lunch stop on
Long Beach, a sandbar that surfaces at low tide. On land, the
Ngardmau Waterfall Trail on Babeldaob takes 30 to 45 minutes each way to Micronesia’s tallest falls, and the century-old bai in
Airai is the best example of traditional architecture. Divers should add
Blue Holes and Blue Corner, 45 to 60 minutes from Koror by speedboat.
If time is short in Palau, skip the far-flung islands and the Capitol, and put every spare day into the lagoon.
Kayangel Atoll and
Angaur are lovely but each eats a full day or more of boat travel for a quiet beach or village. The Capitol at
Ngerulmud is a curiosity worth a photo stop only if you’re already driving Babeldaob. Quiet
Ngatpang on the west coast can wait for a second trip.
Peleliu is powerful for history fans, but on a 2 to 3 day visit a second lagoon or dive day gives you more of what makes Palau unique.
Yes, our itinerary-planner does exactly that. Set your trip length in days, give your interests and travel style, optionally give start- and end location and/or some mandatory stops you would like to include and the itinerary planner creates your personalized routes for Palau in seconds. Try it out!
Try the itinerary plannerv2.webp){kind=logo}
Best Backpacking
