Today was our last day of diving in Palau. Jeremy (our dive guide) took us down to Ngedebus & Peleliu for a day of diving and land-based activity that was nothing short of spectacular.

The first dive was at Ngedebus Coral Garden. It was arguably the most relaxing dive we’ve done all week. Quite honestly, I don’t know that either Scott or I ever really actually kicked our fins (we joked when we got back on the boat that we probably burned zero calories on that dive…we may have even gained a little weight). The Coral Garden was like nothing we had seen in Palau to this point. We saw a few small sharks, some turtles, a lionfish and a ton of reef fish.

For our surface interval, we spent almost four hours on Peleliu. Peleliu was the site of a fierce battle between the Japanese and the Americans during World War II. In September of 1944, during the battle, the U.S. lost some 2000 soldiers; 46 are MIA and a large number were injured. Japan lost 11,000 soldiers and only about 200 surrendered. Our tour guide on Peleliu, Tanjie Hesus, is the islands World War II Museum Curator and official Historian. He took us through a Japanese cave where we saw old sake bottles, defunct mines, artillery shells, silverware, bones, a chamber that was once used as a medical room and mass graves. The Palauans have taken all of the remains of the Japanese in each of the caves and placed them in mass graves. We were told that the Japanese wanted to recover the bones but it is too soon – they are not ready to give them back yet.

Tanjie showed us Bloody Nose Ridge, tanks, guns, the old airstrip a memorial to U.S. Marines, a memorial to the Japanese (that was given by the Americans), the former Japanese State Building and the original burial site for all Americans (the bodies have all been moved to either Arlington, Hawaii or the Philipines). It was an incredibly moving tour. If you are at all interested in World War II history, I highly recommend it. And you will want to ask for Tanjie.

After the Peleliu tour, we hopped in the water for our last dive in Palau. Jeremy took us to German Channel where we had hopped to see manta rays. Unfortunately the mantasa weren’t there, but it was a great dive nonetheless. German Channel has some interesting coral formations and a lot of reef fish. We saw a few sharks and turtles here as well.

On the way back to the marina, we had a mini rock island tour that included a stop at the Palau Arch. We got a few pictures of it and then asked if we could swim through it. While it was likely not a request they get a lot, I think for most of us we were just trying to extend our time on the water and around the beautiful islands. Most of us jumped in the water for a quick swim (and a few pictures) through the Arch. We got back on the boat and had a beautiful boat ride back with an amazing sunset.