KOROR STATE GOVERNMENT MARINE TOUR GUIDE ... - C3

weak or non-existent currents. Inside the plateau Napoleon wrasse, schooling big eyed
trevally, barracuda, anemones, anemonefish, leaf fish, lion fish, turtles, a resident
spotted eagle ray, and others can found on a regular basis. Usually the dive ends by
drifting off the plateau into blue water for a safety stop. Sometimes a large school of
blackfin barracuda, along with other pelagic species can be found out in blue water. The
dive is very popular so the ideal time to dive this site is either early or late in the day in
order to have the site to yourself. It is recommended that diver’s do this site at least
twice while in Palau, once on the incoming tide and once on the outgoing tide. Visibility
usually ranges from 18m to 50m.
Bkul Chotuut (Big Drop Off)
Done on either incoming our outgoing tide, this is one of the more famous wall dives in
Palau. Usually a mellow drift dive along a vertical wall covered in many soft corals and
sea fans, sponges, anemones, and small reef fishes. Quite often turtles are seen
feeding along the wall. Purple headed filefish, longnose hawkfish, schools of squarespot
fairy basslets are seen here. Schools of surgeonfish, parrotfish, angelfish, and
butterflyfish are common. Even safety stops are exciting here, for the reef is teeming
with sea fans, anemones, spotfin and clearfin lionfish, and moray eels. On top of the
plateau, in rather shallow water, many new corals are growing and this may be one of
the healthiest looking shallow reefs on the barrier reef. Visibility usually ranges from
18m to 50m.
Mesikm (German Channel)
German Channel is a manmade channel cut out of an inner reef within an inner lagoon.
The best time to dive at the channel is during an incoming slack tide when manta rays
may be feeding or being cleaned at a couple of cleaning stations. Divers descend to
about 20m/65ft and swim crosscurrent along sandy bottom. Feathertail stingrays and
thorny rays may be seen. Whitetip and gray reef sharks may be either cruising or being
cleaned at cleaning stations. Microscopic organism called plankton funnel into the
channel, and are a food source that manta rays regularly feed upon - especially late in
the day on an incoming tide. After watching mantas or sharks or exploring coral heads
divers drift into shallow part of channel where leopard sharks sleep and turtles feed.
There are certain times of the year when the rays are more common but resident rays
are seen year round.
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