Day 3 of my Palau Adventure onboard the Black Pearl: Orange Beach, Peleliu Cut, German Channel
The first two dives of the day were planned for sites around the Island of Peleliu. This Island is at the southern end of the Palau archipelago and was the subject of intense fighting during World War II, evidence of which can still be seen today. For the journey from the Black Pearl to the dive site, we were joined by a massive pod of spinner dolphins in a very playful mood, riding the bow waves of the dive tenders and putting on an acrobatic show.
Orange Beach was our first dive site. This was an enjoyable dive on a sloping hard coral garden. White-tip reef sharks and turtles glided over the reef. Schools of fusiliers, anthias and red tooth triggerfish joined them. A nice, relaxed dive to start the day.
After the dive, we had breakfast on Peleliu island, where there is a war memorial for the 3,000-plus soldiers who lost their lives taking back the Island from the Japanese.
After breakfast, we dived at Peleliu Cut; this was definitely one for the adrenaline junkies. The ref starts at around 10m on a large plateau which black tip reef sharks zipped across. A sheer wall then plunges into the depths. A massive school of jacks hung in the blue just off the reef, and below them, 30 plus grey reef sharks had congregated. A large bull shark also joined this shiver of sharks. Adding to the list of predators that the schools of jacks had attracted were tuna, rainbow runners, trevallies and mackerel. This was a fantastic dive and definitely one of the trip's highlights so far.
On the way back to the Black Pearl, we made an unscheduled stop at the Beach at the German channel. At low tide some of the corals are completely out of the water, and stopping at this stunning Beach was well worth delaying lunch for.
The final dive of the day was another dive at the German Channel, hoping we would meet a manta or two at one of the cleaning stations. Sadly, this did not happen; instead, we did get to witness a couple of grey reef sharks visit the clearing station. With the need to keep moving, these sharks are not quite as graceful as mantas are when they visit a cleaning station. Also, on the dive were plenty of schooling humpback snapper, sea bream and big red eyes. Once again, when returning to the Black Pearl through the German channel, two mantas cruised past under the boat; it was almost as if they were waiting for us to finish our dive!
The ding on day three was excellent, but I also enjoyed the relaxed pace set by the cruise directors. This allowed us to enjoy the dolphin interaction, a leisurely breakfast on Peleliu and the visit to the German Beach without being rushed.
I think those Mantas are playing games with you guys from the Pearl. They hide as the boats go out and reappear as the boats return to the Pearl…fish hide-n-go seek. I like the description and identification of what is seen and experienced. And the excursions to the beach adds so much more to the trip….it’s not just eat dive eat dive sleep.