Koror

The first settlers reached Palau roughly three thousand years ago and built villages on the larger islands and on the limestone Rock Islands. Over centuries they developed a society of villages and clans linked by titles, obligations and a system of money made of beads and pottery. Descent runs through the mother's line, and women hold significant authority over land and titles, which still shapes family life. Villages were led by chiefs, and their meeting houses, the bai, decorated with painted and carved stories, were the centres of community life.

European contact was slow. British traders arrived in the 18th century, and in 1783 a British ship, the Antelope, was wrecked on a reef, an event that led to a famous friendship between its crew and a Koror chief. Spain claimed the Carolines in 1885, after an arbitration by the Pope between Spain and Germany, and Germany bought the islands from Spain in 1899. Under both, Palau was a distant possession with little investment.

Japan took over in 1914 and transformed the islands. Under a League of Nations mandate, Koror became the administrative centre of the Japanese South Seas Mandate, and Japan built roads, wharves, a hospital, schools and shops. Tens of thousands of Japanese and Okinawan settlers arrived, farming, fishing and trading, and at its peak Koror was a bustling town with a population several times the Palauan population. Many older Palauans still have Japanese names, speak some Japanese, and remember the era in a mix of admiration and hardship.

The Second World War brought destruction. In September 1944 US forces landed on Peleliu, and after weeks of fierce fighting in which thousands of soldiers died, the island was taken. Koror was bombed and the Japanese population was repatriated. After the war the United States administered Palau as a Trust Territory, and Palau became independent on 1 October 1994 under a Compact of Free Association with the United States. The national capital moved from Koror to a new site at Ngerulmud, in Melekeok on Babeldaob, in 2006.

Palauan society is built on clans and titles. Every person belongs to a clan through the mother, and each village has a ranked structure of chiefs, with a paramount chief at the top. Land, titles and obligations are inherited through the clan, and a group of senior women, the ourrot, hold important powers, including the right to name and remove chiefs. This is not a folk tradition but a working system that shapes politics, property and marriage, and it is why sites, beaches and lagoons often belong to specific villages or clans.

The bai is the most striking expression of the tradition. This is a traditional meeting house with a steeply pitched thatched roof and a facade of painted and carved beams that show stories, legends and morals. Only men traditionally met in the bai; today it is used for ceremonies, and some are built or restored as cultural centres. The Belau National Museum has one in its grounds, and the oldest surviving bai, at Airai on Babeldaob, is a common stop on a car tour. Ask before entering any bai; some are still used for ceremonies.

Storyboards, carved wooden panels that tell a story in pictures, are the craft that grew from the bai's painted beams. In the 1930s, a Palauan carver was asked by a Japanese anthropologist to reproduce the pictures on a smaller board, and the form took off as an art and a souvenir. A good storyboard is signed, shows a named legend, and is carved from local wood. They are on sale in craft shops and museum shops, and the carvers are proud to explain what each scene shows.

Traditional money, known as udoud, is made of glass and ceramic beads whose value depends on their age and origin, and it is still used for ceremonies and compensation. You will not spend it, but you may see it in a museum, and it is a good way to learn how obligations are counted in Palau.

For thirty years Koror was the capital of Japan's Pacific empire, and the town looked it. Japan built a grid of streets with shops, a hospital, a school, a fish market and public offices, and the population grew to tens of thousands, most of them Japanese and Okinawan. Koror had cinemas, restaurants, bars and a busy port, and it was a stop for Japanese scientists, artists and writers who came to study or draw the Pacific.

The legacy is still visible if you know where to look. A few concrete buildings from the period survive, some scarred by the war. Palauans of an older generation speak Japanese and eat Japanese-style food, and many family names are Japanese. Sashimi, noodles and rice are part of daily eating, and Japanese is still the most widely spoken foreign language after English. Many Japanese visitors come to Palau to visit relatives' places, to dive, and to visit war memorials.

The most vivid trace is on the islands themselves. Rusting tanks, caves and bunkers on Peleliu and Angaur, and wrecks in the lagoon, reflect the fighting of 1944, and the wrecks are now dive sites and home to marine life. The Peleliu memorials to the Japanese and American dead sit in jungle on a quiet island, and a visit is best done with a guide who can explain the battle and the ground.

The Etpison Museum in downtown Koror collects objects and stories from this period and from earlier, in a compact space. It is a small stop, but it pairs well with the Belau National Museum, and a short conversation with staff often adds detail you will not find on a label. For a deeper look, ask your operator about a Peleliu day trip with a guide.

Whatever you see, treat the war sites with respect: they are graves and memorials for people from several nations, and Palauan communities were caught in the fighting too. Stay on marked paths, do not remove objects, and ask your guide before photographing memorials or human remains.

The Rock Islands are more than three hundred small limestone islands south of Koror, uplifted from an ancient reef and eroded by the sea into mushroom shapes. Most are covered in dense green forest that grows straight from the rock, and at low water their undercut bases show a thin, dark line where the sea has eaten in. They are uninhabited, and the lagoon around them is a set of channels, sandbars, coral gardens and sheltered bays, with clear water in the dry season.

The lagoon is protected. The Rock Islands Southern Lagoon was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012 for both its natural values, including the reef, marine lakes and endemic species, and its cultural remains, including old village sites, stone monuments and burial caves. The islands are also home to marine lakes, isolated saltwater lakes connected to the sea through cracks in the limestone. The most famous, Jellyfish Lake on Eil Malk, holds millions of golden jellyfish that have lost most of their sting, and visitors can snorkel among them when it is open. Jellyfish numbers rise and fall, and the lake has closed in dry years, so ask your operator before you plan around it.

Palau has made protection part of its national identity. It created the world's first national shark sanctuary in 2009, banned reef-toxic sunscreen, and in 2017 introduced the Palau Pledge, a promise stamped into every visitor's passport to treat the islands with care. In 2020, it set aside most of its ocean as a marine sanctuary closed to commercial fishing. The Rock Islands permit you buy is part of the same system: the fee funds ranger patrols and management by Koror State.

For a visitor, the practical advice is simple. Use an established operator, follow the guide's briefing, wear a rash vest and use only reef-safe sunscreen. Do not touch or stand on coral, feed fish, or take shells. Bring your own water and a small dry bag. If you dive, carry your certification and logbook, and keep the last 24 hours before a flight free of diving.

Palau is one of the world's top dive destinations, and the reason is the mix of walls, channels and currents that bring big fish close. Blue Corner is a reef wall where divers hook in and watch sharks, barracuda and other big fish ride the current. German Channel, a cut through the reef, is known for manta rays that clean at set stations in the dry season. Ulong Channel, Chandelier Cave and the wrecks of Japanese ships add variety, and there are gentler sites for new divers in the sheltered lagoons.

The currents are the main risk. Palau's famed sites are drift or current dives where conditions change with the tide, and a dive that is a pleasant float on one day is a hard fight on another. Established operators plan around the tide, brief carefully, and use reef hooks and surface markers. Follow the briefing, ask about the current, and turn back if you feel uncomfortable. Diving is safe with care, but accidents have happened.

The season matters. The calmest seas and best visibility are usually from about November to May, with the busiest boats in February to April. In the wetter months some outer sites are rough or closed, and boats cancel more often. Book with an operator who has a clear weather policy and a spare day built in.

The last rule is about the flight. Do not dive for at least 24 hours before flying, because nitrogen in the blood expands at altitude. Koror has a hyperbaric chamber for diving injuries, but the aim is never to need it. If you do not dive, snorkelling and kayaking give a fine taste of the lagoon, and a boat day with a sandbar lunch is enough for many people.

Bring less than you think you need onto the boat, but do pack the basics: a rash vest, reef-safe sunscreen, a hat, a towel, a change of dry clothes and any seasickness medication. Eat a light breakfast, drink water before you go, and tell the crew about any medical condition. On the first morning, choose the easiest dive site your operator offers, even if you are experienced, so that you get used to the current and the local routines.

Palauan cooking centres on the sea and the garden. Reef and lagoon fish are grilled, fried or boiled, and served with taro, the starchy root known as kukau, and tapioca, the local word for cassava. Coconut appears as milk, cream and oil, and fruit such as papaya, banana and pineapple is sold in season. Tuna and other pelagic fish are eaten raw as sashimi, a Japanese legacy that is now part of Palauan eating.

Older traditions include foods for feasts. At a celebration, families prepare large quantities of taro, fish, pork and fruit, and pass them through the clan, and the size of a feast shows the standing of the family. Some traditional foods, such as certain reef creatures and coconut crab, are protected or seasonal today, so ask before ordering and follow local rules. Fruit bat soup, once a delicacy, is a sensitive subject given the conservation status of bats, and it is not a dish visitors need to seek out.

Modern Koror has a mix of restaurants. Japanese and Korean places sit beside Filipino canteens, Chinese restaurants and cafes serving American-style breakfasts. Prices are US-level or higher because almost everything is imported. A local plate lunch is the best value, and a sashimi dinner is the best splurge. Dive boats usually provide a picnic lunch on a beach or sandbar, and the food is simple: grilled fish or chicken, rice, fruit and water.

Kitchens close early, often by 21:00, and small places close on Sundays. Eat early, book dinner in the high season, and carry small US bills for small eateries. Tap water in Koror is treated, but many visitors prefer bottled water. If you are diving, keep hydrated and avoid heavy meals before a dive.

When you are invited to a Palauan home or a village event, arrive on time, bring a small gift of fruit or something from the shop, and let the elders and hosts begin. Accept what is offered, take small helpings of everything, and do not photograph the food or guests without asking. Leaving some food on the plate is polite, and thanking the cook with 'sulang' is always welcome.