Palau is an incredibly beautiful island nation with easily some of the best diving conditions in the world. The average visibility for my dives was somewhere between 100-150ft! For those of us fortunate enough to have visited, it's an experience not soon forgotten.
Palau is a group of islands in Micronesia which has been increasingly easier to get to. There are now a number of airlines that fly there, especially from Asian destinations due to the growing tourism industry. United Airlines goes there via Guam and Delta Airlines via Japan, so check out the airline mileage deals which can save you some cash if flying from the US. Europeans would probably be better off adding this onto a trip to Asia since the airfare to Palau is very reasonable from many Asian countries, which cater more to the package tourist market. Off the beaten path destinations like this are great times to use those airline miles to save some $$$.
Going to the Rock Islands, a string of limestone islands and National Park, is a must see. There are various day packages which can also include snorkeling in jellyfish lake. Many dive sites are located in the Rock Islands, so those of you that are diving will get to see plenty of the area. For non-divers the snorkeling is amazing with viewing coral and large sea life some of the highlights. I recall the first dive site we pulled up to, it looked like we were in around 30-40ft of water as I could see the coral below but it was actually 125ft deep! Pretty amazing stuff. The "blue corner" and "blue holes" which are very close to each other were a couple of my favorite dive sites.
An interesting point about Palau the amount of foreign aid that flows there every year: Palau is one of the last countries to recognize Taiwan as a country and as a result the Taiwanese government invests and provides aid. The Japanese is also very generous and many of the bridges are built by the Japanese government. The US has a pact with many islands in the Pacific, including Palau, resulting in millions of dollars in aid every year. China also provides foreign aid in competition with Taiwan. Australia and NZ have also been known to fund certain projects. With all of that money flowing in, along with the blossoming tourism industry, it shouldn't have been a surprise the roads, bridges and infrastructure was so great. You can even see a replica of the US's Capitol Building, which is used as the seat of government.
