“Why would you want to come all the way to Palau when Australia has the best beaches in the world?” asks a German guy at our lunch stop. My reply was quick and succinct “Jellyfish lake”. “OK I now get it” says he.
12000 years ago the lake lost contact with the sea. It is a deep salt water lake where the jellyfish, without any natural predators have multiplied and lost the ability to sting. The result is an amazing almost sci fi experience of swimming with masses of alien looking gelatinous blobs.
Our day trip starts with a 30 minute speed boat trip to “Paradise point” snorkelling. I am just in the water fiddling nervously adjusting my mask when Anthony calls out “sharks” and ducks back into the water. My initial response was to treat it as a joke but getting my head in the water I saw three graceful reef sharks gliding by deep below me. They stayed for the whole time we were there, alas a bit too deep to get any decent photos.
Nonetheless the smaller tropical fish put on a better show.
From there the jellyfish lake did not disappoint,although for a weak swimmer like me the 500 metres swim to get to them as they have congregated on the other side of the lake was a bit daunting.
Lunch was on a beach on one of the many uninhabited rock islands and the view was spectacular.
After lunch an invigorating sea kayak in among the rock islands.
The finale saw us stop at a beach they call the milky way where we jump in and grab handfulls odf the sulphurous smelling limestone mud that substitutes for sand and apply it as if it were a some sort of spa treatment. A frivolous end to what is one of the most spectacular day trips that I have ever done.
