Micronesia: Palau, Water Events and Awesome Adventures for All Ages. If scuba diving is your passion and your family shares the love Palau should be on your radar screen. Known as one of the “Seven Underwater Wonders of the World,” Palau hosts some of the most unique and truly exceptional ocean-based events, including Shark Week, Underwater Video Workshop, Wrexpedition, an annual Shark School, and Kid’s Sea Camp.

Eighth Annual Shark Week in March. Shark enthusiasts will enjoy a shark themed week full of adrenalin-packed activities as the Micronesian Shark Foundation (MSF) holds it 8th annual shark week at Palau’s Fish ‘n Fins dive shop, from March 12-19, 2010. Between February and April, hundreds of grey reef sharks migrate to the waters of Palau to mate, which generates a great opportunity for shark lovers to dive amongst them and to participate in data collection. Participants will get the opportunity to dive world famous sites like Blue Corner, Peleliu Corner and Shark City without other divers being around.  Shark Week features nightly lectures, presentations and documentaries presented by some of the world’s most admired leaders in underwater exploration, conservation and discovery.  Hotel/dive packages for Shark Week, include accommodations, multiple days of diving, seminars, participation in studies and research, lunches, transportation, an exclusive T-Shirt and a Gala Dinner. More information is available at  Shark Week or by emailing info@fishnfins.com. 
 
Underwater Video Workshop in April. For those interested in capturing their diving experience in the world’s number one dive destination, Ocean Wonders Productions and Sam's Tours Palau have introduced an exciting seven-day underwater video workshop offered by award winning filmmaker Nick Martorano, Ph.D.  Avid divers will be rewarded by this experience with Martorano because his credentials read like a “who’s who.”  He is an internationally-known and multi-awarded High Definition cameraman, filmmaker and digital media producer, whose credits include National Geographic, "Survivor," and GEO, to name a few.  Scheduled from April 5-11, 2010, this action-packed week is full of diving and instruction for an intimate group of only five divers.  Martorano is keeping the ratio small in order to provide top notch, hands-on instruction and interaction.  This course is being offered for beginner and intermediate students.  For more information, visit Ocean Wonders
 
10th Annual Wrexpedition To Palau in June. More than sixty five years ago, during WWII, Palau was a major Japanese military base. On March 30th and 31st, 1944, US Navy bombers and fighter planes raided the Japanese fleet and sank more than 60 ships and seaplanes in and around the lagoon. Today, Palau is renowned for its beautiful lagoons and thrilling marine action but is also the resting place for the "Japanese Lost Fleet of the Rock Islands." Wrexpedition is one of Fish 'n Fins annual special events which lasts one week and includes five days of diving, three tanks a day, seminars and tech-diving. Between the dives and during the seminars, participants have the unique opportunity to watch extraordinary documentaries about WWII. Wrexpedition 2010 will be held from June 4-11. Dive packages are available and include accommodations, multiple days of diving, lunches, transportation, seminars, movie nights, a T-Shirt and much more. More information is available at www.oceanwonders.org or by e-mailing info@fishnfins.com.

SharkSchool in September. For the first time, SharkSchool, a unique shark-human-interaction program, will take place in Palau with Sam’s Tours as the exclusive host. Created by shark behaviorist Dr. Erich Ritter, the program is dedicated to bringing divers, snorkelers and swimmers closer to sharks, with the intention of showing the true nature of these incredible animals. The SharkSchool program creates a sound understanding of shark behavior and teaches the basic principles of shark body language, the most likely intentions of a shark and how to react on the various encounters. SharkSchool Palau will take place from September 22-28, 2010 at Sam’s Tours Palau. The cost for the one-week-program includes the lectures, two dives per day, accommodations and meals. Available packages may be confirmed by e-mailing reservations@Samstours.com.

 
Kid’s Sea Camp in November. Sam’s Tours’ Kids Sea Camp makes a second appearance in Palau this year in collaboration with Sport Diver Magazine and PADI Diving Society.  Scheduled for the week of November 19-27, 2010, this trip “sets the table” for an unforgettable Thanksgiving family vacation.  With great value in mind, Sam’s Tours offer a variety of packages to accommodate a full family of divers or combination of divers and non-divers. The basic “Vacation Package” features seven days and seven nights of luxury accommodations; daily meals that consist of seven breakfasts, six lunches and six dinners, including Welcome Dinner, Taj, Beach BBQ, Thanksgiving Feast, Kramer’s and Graduation “Survivor Day”; round trip airport transfers; transportation for all excursions; Rock Island Tour/Jellyfish Lake; full-day guided Kayak Tour; Babeldaob Island Tour; Ngardmau Waterfall Hike; City Tour; and visit to Palau International Coral Reef Center.  Diver packages include all of the above as well as five days of diving at the famed Palau dive sites.  For more information, call toll-free 1-800-934-3483 or visit Kids Sea Camp Palau
 
About Palau, Micronesia. Located in the westernmost corner of Micronesia, Palau is an archipelago of more than 586 islands with about 20,000 inhabitants. Consistently ranked as one of the world's best dive destinations, Palau is the ultimate paradise for the adventurous traveler, boasting some of the most spectacular water features and beaches as well as the world famous Rock Islands and Jellyfish Lake. With more than 1,400 species of fish and 500 species of coral, some have called Palau the "8th Natural Wonder of the World", while others have identified Palau as "One of the Seven Underwater Wonders of the World."

Location on the planet. Visitors to Palau arrive on Continental Airlines by way of daily flights from Guam – the gateway to Micronesian. There are daily connections to Guam from Tokyo, USA, and other metropolitan centers around the world. Continental Airlines provides daily flights from Guam to Palau and twice a week from Manila, Philippines. From the western seaboard of the United States, hop to Hawaii, skip to Guam then, jump to Palau. From Europe, fly via Emirates direct to Manila, Philippines and onwards with Continental Airlines to Palau making it possible to get there without an overnight stay in Manila.

Make it happen. For more information about Palau, visit www.visit-palau.com or checkout the host of unique events at www.visit-palau.blogspot.com/

Content and images provided by Palau Tourism Coral diver image by Lorry Heverly. Copyright 2010.