Accommodation: Black Pearl Explorer Liveaboard

With 7 or 10-night Palau diving trips, guests can choose from one of three different itineraries. The Classic Palau liveaboard diving itinerary will introduce you to the magic of the entire destination. The Spawning Special itineraries are scheduled to coincide with the phases of the moon to provide opportunities to catch the spawning aggregations of the bump head parrotfish and red snapper. Consistently acclaimed as one of the world’s best diving destinations, Palau offers a diving odyssey that you will never forget!

Palau’s thrilling liveaboard diving trips will get you hooked. Dive in a giant lagoon, discover WWII ship and plane wrecks, and explore the many astonishing caves and channel sites. Notably, this route visits Chandelier and Blue Holes caves, both globally recognized for their size and bright blue waters. In the Southern region, Black Pearl Explorer will also take you to Palau’s most famous stop Blue Corner, home to resident grey and whitetip reef sharks. You’ll drift past beautiful soft and hard corals on at Ulong Channel, encounter manta rays in German Channel, and wow at Peleliu Island’s magical walls. Join the Classic Palau route for a taste of it all, or visit during the Spawning Special itineraries which coincide with moon cycles to experience spawning of the bumphead parrotfish and the red snapper.

At 46 meters (153 feet) in length, the M/Y Black Pearl Explorer is spacious and sophisticated with state-of-the-art amenities.

There is plenty of space on board, both on the dive deck and on the extensive main deck. The main deck has an outdoor salon with a whirlpool, a small charging station with a variety of international plugs and for use by underwater photographers and videographers., and an indoor dining area completed with a bar. On surface intervals, divers can unwind on the beautiful covered sun deck (with sunbeds and comfortable benches), have fun in the dedicated upper-deck salon, or in the upper-deck outside lounge & bar and take in the 360° view of Palau’s scenic islands. Free satellite WiFi is available onboard.

The M/Y Black Pearl Explorer is specifically designed for divers looking for luxury and is a well-built vessel for cruising between dive sites. The waterline-level dive deck and the indoor gear station offer enough space for up to 24 divers, with rinse tanks, hot showers and at least 4 professional guides will be in the water on each dive. All dives are made with 2 shaded aluminum tenders, each with a capacity of 12. Everything is customized for effortless diving.

Lastly, the M/Y Black Pearl Explorer is equipped with all the essential safety equipment including life jackets and life rafts, plus smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in all cabins, salons, and engine rooms. An individual recompression chamber is also available onboard.

Black Pearl Explorer will visit many famous dive sites in Palau. From the most famous site, Blue Corner, to must-see thrilling channel and wall dives, the unique rock islands offer a variety of exciting scuba diving opportunities.

This is perhaps the most famous dive site in Palau with steep walls and an abundance of fish life. Expect to see fascinating underwater landscapes, experience full-throttle currents, and plenty of pelagic action. Snappers, jacks, and triggerfish schools roam around at this V-shaped plateau pointing out into the Philippine Sea. It is very common to spot oceanic predators like sailfish, hammerheads, dolphins, whales, and reef sharks due to the strong currents and nutrient-rich conditions.

A nice and easy dive site. Several holes at 16 feet/5 meters mark the entry point into the cavern, which drops to 120 feet/35 meters. The walls of the cavern are filled with sponges, crustaceans, black corals, and reef fish. Inside the Blue Hole, divers exit by the “window” and do a drift dive, finding their way to the Blue Corner dive site. It is always important to watch your depth and bottom time inside the cavern.

When the Palau Islands were a German colony, German miners dredged a channel that connected the inner lagoon with the open ocean to transport phosphate. Nowadays, the currents going through the channel help get nutrients in, inviting manta rays and large pelagics in from the open ocean. The German Channel has plenty to offer. Mantas rays, reef sharks, whale sharks, and hammerheads frequently visit the area, and the shallow reefs are home to a wide variety of macro life. Due to its remoteness, a liveaboard is the best option to explore this dive site.

Peleliu Express is one of the deepest and most beautiful dive sites in Palau. This dive site is an advanced drift dive site. A large variety of marine life finds shelter in the deep canyons, crevices, and caves that cut into the wall. The vertical walls are covered with corals and sponges, attracting colorful butterfly and angelfish, as well as turtles. It is one of the best spots to experience countless sharks and dolphins. This dive site is only accessible from a liveaboard.

Please note that diving in Peleliu can be very challenging, especially with strong currents. Diving there will be offered depending on weather and sea conditions.

Please note: The Marine Park and Harbor Fees do not include the permit to get access to Peleliu: Since May 1st, 2024, an additional fee of $60 per person is collected onboard (Since May 2025, this permit is valid for 5 days, instead of 10 days).

Optional land tour in Peleliu (3 hours – A minimum of 4 people is required to confirm the tour): $69 per person, including transportation, guide and all entrance fees.

Again, the access to Peleliu is subject to weather, sea and schedule conditions.

This breathtaking drift dive is unique to the archipelago. Numerous coral heads and coral formations decorate the sandy bottom of this channel. You are sure to find grey reef sharks, stingrays, snappers, barracuda, and other pelagics. This is one of the region’s best dive sites to search for macro subjects, as well as a prime location for watching triggerfish spawning between April and July. Titan triggerfish dig out large grooves in the sandy bottom to lay their eggs. They are extremely territorial and protective when nesting on this site.

This site was once an open-air cave but is now a chain of cave systems made up of five separate, connecting chambers with air pockets. Its dramatic stalactites and stalagmites formed, resembling glittering chandeliers. Salt and freshwater created a halocline inside the cave. Visiting the site just before sunset might be the opportunity to spot some mandarin fishes or crabs on sponges.

This deep underwater cavern offers divers an awesome experience as they dive through a large naturally-lit tunnel. Divers can see black corals, soft corals, and invertebrates on the walls and ceilings of the tunnel. There are also white tip reef sharks and stingrays resting on the sandy bottom of the cavern. Currents can get strong here and the use of reef hook and safety marker buoy is mandatory.

The vertical reef wall, with plenty of small caves, arches, ledges, and reef sharks roaming around, is great for an introductory dive. On the top reef is a mini blue hole that forms a large cavern. The reef extends out to a plateau from and around Ngercheu Island. Different species of nudibranchs and schooling fish patrol the reef.

The Ngemelis Wall is considered to be one of the world’s best wall dives. Starting in water just knee deep, the wall drops off vertically nearly 300 meters. Close to the mooring buoy, a large chain connected to a 2 meters steel sphere can be seen, this chain and ball was used during WWII to prevent the Japanese from entering the waterway leading to German Channel. Divers can free float past a brilliant rainbow of sponges and soft corals whose intense blues, reds, or pure whites form a backdrop for quivering 3 meters of large orange and yellow Sea Fans and Giant Black Coral trees. Schools of Pyramid Butter fish, Sergeant Major fish, Yellowtail Fusiliers, Moorish idols, Angel Fish, Leaf fish, Stonefish, Lionfish, Green and Hawksbill turtles. Reef Sharks, Nurse and Leopard Sharks can be seen sleeping on the sandy bottom.

Although not a dive, Palau’s Jellyfish Lake is a natural phenomenon and a must-do. The land-locked saltwater lake contains two species of jellyfish that have evolved away from their stingers in the absence of predators. Snorkelers can swim among thousands of pulsating jellyfish without the worry of any pain. Special guidelines are required for snorkeling and swimming in Jellyfish Lake. No scuba diving is permitted.

UPDATE on Jelly Fish lake (May 2025): Due to the exceptional weather conditions, the Golden Jellyfish population has seriously decreased for several years, as explained on the Palau Visitors Authority website. We will follow closely and keep you posted on a regular basis. Therefore, we have decided not to include this snorkeling excursion in our package anymore.