Things to do in Koror
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Koror
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, best overall, calmer seas, lightest winds and peak diving visibility.
Manta season peaks at German Channel cleaning stations.
Best months for first timers who can pay peak prices, with March and April statistically driest.
Wet season, quieter and cheaper, with heavy rain bursts and some southwestern sites occasionally undiveable.
Worst window, heaviest seas risk for signature southwestern dives combined with peak humidity.
What's on
- Independence Day / Belau Fair 1 October
National celebration at Ernguul Park with parades, feasts, cultural performance, fireworks and a boat race.
- Youth Day 14 March
Public holiday with local observances and some closures.
- Senior Citizens Day 5 May
Public holiday with local observances and some closures.
- President's Day 1 June
Public holiday with local observances and some closures.
- Constitution Day 9 July
Public holiday with local observances and some closures.
- UN Day 24 October
Public holiday with local observances and some closures.
Best things to do in Koror
Rock Islands Southern Lagoon
UNESCO lagoon of mushroom islets that is the whole reason to come to Palau, best seen by boat over a full day.
Jellyfish Lake
Snorkel at the surface among golden jellyfish evolved in isolation in a marine lake reached by boat and a ridge walk.
Blue Corner
Palau signature wall dive where currents gather sharks, rays and dense schools for advanced divers using reef hooks.
Milky Way Lagoon
Shallow turquoise cove where white limestone mud is used as a fun full body treatment on Rock Islands tours.
Belau National Museum
Oldest museum in Micronesia and the best hour in town for Palauan navigation, bai houses and colonial history.
Etpison Museum
Small private museum with a loving collection on weaving, canoes, storyboards, clam shells and historic maps.
Palau Aquarium
Working coral reef research centre with aquarium and lagoon displays that orient you before snorkelling or diving.
Koror Night Market
Biweekly Friday payday market with local food stalls, barbecue, live music, dance and handicrafts in central Koror.
Where to stay in Koror
Downtown Koror / Main Street
first trip, all-round base
Walk to dinner and the Night Market, with dive shop pickups daily and no beach or resort grounds.
Malakal Island
dive logistics
Harbour island home to the main dive shops and docks, removing friction on early dive mornings.
Meyungs / Ngerekebesang Island
resort stay and honeymoon
Only Koror side area that feels like a resort holiday, with a private beach and house reef at the flagship.
Airai / Babeldaob near the airport
drivers with a specific reason
Cheaper and quieter near the airport and handy for a Babeldaob road day, but isolating without a rental car.
Think twice about
- Airai and far Babeldaob properties marketed as Koror
Isolation is the trap, not safety. Without a car you can be 30 to 40 minutes from dinner and the dive dock.
Best restaurants in Koror
Elilai Seaside Dining
Koror fine dining flagship with seafood, oceanfront seating and the sunset terrace everyone wants, so reserve ahead.
The Taj
Authentic Indian cooking since 2003 with tandoori, curries and deep vegetarian choice for mixed diet groups.
Sakura Restaurant
Japanese sushi and hotpot in an elegant room, with local fish sashimi as the headline and strong recent reviews.
Kramer's Cafe
Waterfront diver social institution on the harbour for seafood, bar food and a post dive deck over the water.
Drop Off Bar & Grill
Pizza, poke and sushi rolls beside the Neco Marine dock, the livelier half of Malakal diver evenings.
Canoe House
American bar grill with build your own pizza and burgers, live music midweek and karaoke on Saturdays, open late.
L'Amarena Gelato Shop
Small Italian run gelateria loved out of proportion to its size, ideal for dessert after dinner downtown.
Carp Restaurant
Canteen style local institution famous for huge portions, low prices and a mangrove crab set to share.
Outdoor things to do in Koror
German Channel
Historic channel and Palau best known manta ray cleaning station site, most reliable in the December to March season.
Ulong Channel
Tide timed drift dive through coral gardens and lettuce coral walls with sharks and rays on the incoming tide.
Blue Hole
Cavern dive with striking light effects, commonly paired with Blue Corner and Ngemelis Wall on the same boat day.
Ngemelis Wall
Wall dive off Ngemelis commonly combined with Blue Hole and Blue Corner in the classic outer reef rotation.
Iro Maru
Large Japanese fleet oiler sunk in 1944 and now a coral covered wreck dive, with other wartime wrecks nearby.
Chandelier Cave
Multi chamber air filled cave near the dive dock with stalactites and air pockets, for experienced guided divers only.
Peleliu Express
Advanced current swept dive off Peleliu with very high shark counts on a good day and a real down current hazard.
Sam's Tours
Palau best known dive, snorkel and kayak operator with the largest review base and hotel pickups from Koror.
Best hotels in Koror
Palau Pacific Resort
Flagship beach resort in tropical gardens with a private beach, house reef, pool, spa and its own dive operation.
The Pristine Villas and Bungalows at Palau Pacific Resort
Premium and overwater bungalow tier at Palau Pacific Resort, Palau closest answer to the Polynesian overwater stay.
Four Seasons Explorer Palau
Ultra luxury floating resort and dive yacht competing directly with a resort stay plus dive packages on total cost.
Palau Royal Resort
Large Malakal resort with private beach area, pool, spa and sea view balconies a short hop from the dive harbour.
Palau Central Hotel
Highest rated Koror hotel, a modern central base where divers walk to dinner and get dive shop pickups daily.
COVE Resort Palau
Malakal waterfront resort claiming Palau largest lagoon pool, good for a pool rest day and dive logistics.
Sea Passion Hotel
Diver friendly mid range hotel on the water with its own jetty and packages aimed at dive groups.
Palau Carolines Resort
Small hillside bungalow resort above Meyungs with lagoon views, quiet and boutique feeling over a pool scene.
Is Koror expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $120 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $200 a person |
| Splurge | $450 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Rock Islands Southern Lagoon: weeks ahead
- Jellyfish Lake: weeks ahead
- Dolphins Pacific: a few days ahead
- German Channel: weeks ahead
- Ulong Channel: weeks ahead
- Blue Hole: weeks ahead
- Ngemelis Wall: weeks ahead
- Iro Maru: weeks ahead
- Book diving and liveaboards weeks to months ahead for December to April, and book the diving before the hotel.
- Reserve Elilai for sunset, Sakura for groups, and Palau Central Hotel early as its room count is small.
- Put a Jellyfish Lake day early in the trip so weather or low counts can be retried later in the week.
Is Koror safe?
- Low violent crime overall. Main risks are dive currents, decompression illness far from a chamber, sun and dehydration.
- Carry dive insurance that covers Palau evacuation and never dive beyond your training. Build 18 to 24 hours before flying.
- Use only reef safe sunscreen, bring small US dollar bills for permits, taxis, markets and small guesthouses.
Koror travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Paying the 100 dollar Jellyfish Lake permit when numbers have crashed. Confirm counts with two operators first.
- Koror land tours priced like boat tours. Self drive Babeldaob or accept the guided price knowingly.
- Choosing a dive operator to save 50 dollars when the operator is the product on guides, tides, boat and safety.
Getting around Koror: public transport and more
- No public transport or rideshare. Use hotel shuttles, dive shop pickups, taxis at 2 to 8 dollars in Koror, and rental cars.
- Rent a car for Babeldaob days only, book ahead in dive season, drive on the right and return before dark.
- Downtown Koror core is walkable by day. Taxi the causeways to Malakal and Meyungs, especially at night.
Who Koror suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Koror your trip
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