Palau: Dive Day

We had gotten scuba certified before we left so we could check out a few of Palau's dive spots. They are supposed to be the best in the world and being so close we just couldn't pass it up.

The first one we went to was called the Virgin Blue Hole. It's over 100ft down and you swim thru a tunnel to get to a drop off. I was pretty nervous since we had only gone a max of 60ft prior to this and my ears sometimes hurt when I don't equalize quick enough. To my surprise it really didn't feel that much deeper. 

Glowing blue.

I can never get over the color of the water in tropical places. 

This is for real. They warned me that we would see some sharks but I didn't know they meant we would get so close. We used hook lines to float like kites on a drop off and there were tons of fish and sea life passing by. Unfortunately, for me (everyone else in the group were thrilled) there were about 5 or 6 great white sharks (granted they weren't fully grown) swimming about 6 feet from us. They circled around for half and hour. I was terrified. Longest half hour of my life!

After mentally peeing my pants with the sharks we moved on and saw a sea turtle. They are my absolute favorite to see while scuba diving.

After two dives we went to Jellyfish Lake. Tim had found out about this place before we even thought about moving out to the Marianas Islands and vowed to go there one day. It was pretty surreal that we were actually there. Unfortunately, our camera battery died about five minutes after arriving but it was incredible. Over 3,000 jellyfish are in the lake and because the lake closed off from the ocean several hundred years ago they no longer have stinging capabilities.

They are really squishing and soft. 

Seriously just layer upon layer upon layer of them just floating around.

Palau: Bungalow

While in Palau we rented out an awesome little bungalow right on a private beach. It was an hour out of the city but it was less than half the price of the resorts in town and it totally rocked our socks off.

The owner had a friend who caught this crab fresh and sold it to us for dinner. She cooked this poor fellow for our meal that night along with a homemade sauce, tropical fruit and jasmine rice.

I loved this porch. We also had an outdoor sitting area and outdoor cooking area as well.

In Palau all the cars have the steering wheel on the opposite side. It weirded me out the whole time and Tim had to drive the entire trip.

Tiny car.

Seriously, so good.

Fresh papaya and pineapple.

Chillaxing.

Pathway to our bungalow.

We were seriously in the middle of the jungle. It was AWESOME.

Palau Beach

When we were in Palau our bungalow was only 2 minutes from a private beach. Palau is made up of mostly rock islands so there isn't a whole lot of beach anywhere so we made sure to stop by. It was low tide but we all had fun exploring and covering ourselves with sand.

The path from our bungalow to the beach.

The sand bar.

These pictures of June and I made me a little teary eyed. I can't believe how big my baby is getting. 

The best kind of photo bomb.

Giggliest boy I know.

His "I'm-having-fun" hair.

We originally thought we would check out the beach and then head back for our swimsuits if it looked nice but we couldn't pull the kids away. We probably spent an hour or so here before attempting to de-sand our clothes and each other. It was a good afternoon.

Palau: Dolphin Bay

We recently went on a trip to the Republic of Palau. It was one of the group of islands that we researched when we were thinking of coming out to the Marianas Islands and Jellyfish Lake had quickly become something we dreamed of doing. Tim's work asked him to take some vacation and we jumped at the chance to take a quick trip to Palau. We also heard the diving there was some of the best in the WORLD so we took an accelerated course and got dive certified in only 2 weeks.

Our first day in Palau we headed to Dolphin Bay. It was beyond beautiful. The rock islands are so rugged and distinct and the water was unbelievable. Dolphin Bay is a sanctuary where there are a number of dolphins cared for and trained by professionals. It was unreal.

I wore the worst outfit possible to get wet in (I didn't know they'd actually let us touch the dolphins!) but I wasn't going to let that stop me from making friends with Layla. (this mama dolphin--her baby was recently born in the spring)

This entire bay is set aside for the sanctuary.

The kids were mesmerized. We couldn't get them to look at the camera for anything. They both got so excited and clapped each time the dolphins did a trick.

Just behind Dolphin Bay is an area they call Emerald Pool. It's naturally that color and sharks, rays and other beautiful creatures thrive there.

Seriously was blown away by the color of the water. 

So much fun.