ARMANDO KRAENZLIN IS STANDING ON the back deck of our luxury catamaran grinning. After sailing through rain and choppy seas, we’ve arrived at our destination as the clouds clear and sunshine appears. But that’s not the only reason he’s happy. “We just got approval this morning to anchor here overnight. It’s the first tourist ship to get permission to do so,” he says.
Around us, limestone islands covered in verdant jungle sprout like mushrooms from a cobalt-blue lagoon as a whisper of breeze ruffles tufts of clouds reflected in the water. We’re alone among the stunning World Heritage-listed Rock Islands of Palau, a speck of a nation in the remote Micronesia region of the Pacific Ocean, population 20,000 people.
It’s a coup for Kraenzlin, Four Seasons Regional Vice President and General Manager of the Four Seasons Explorer. The ship, which he describes as a “floating resort,” heralds the arrival of a true luxury brand to this emerging tropical paradise.
Getting here isn’t easy, which adds to its appeal. Most travelers transit through Manila, Taipei, or Guam for one of a handful of flights to the city of Koror. Miss your flight, and it might be days before another is available. On arrival, visitors are asked to sign a pledge to act in an environmentally and culturally responsible way to protect the island.
Exiting the airport, Four Seasons staff area ready to whisk me to the jetty for a launch transfer to the Explorer itself. With no minimum stay and daily embarkations, guests are shuttled to wherever the ship is on the day of their arrival, making for a highly flexible itinerary.
Approaching the vessel, I get a sense of déjà vu. That’s because I sailed on it a decade ago when it cruised between the two Four Seasons resorts in the Maldives. Relocated for its new job as a luxury Palau cruise vessel last year, the Explorer has been given a refresh, though still feels familiar. The 39-meter luxury catamaran features three decks, with a master suite and 10 staterooms. The staterooms, each of identical size (20 sqm) and layout, are located on the lower level, with large windows, comfy beds, and small bathrooms.
While well-appointed, with indoor and outdoor dining areas, sundeck, library, and massage area, the compact ship is best suited to active travelers rather than those who’d prefer a lazier luxury Palau cruise. Fortunately, a full schedule of activities, adventure, and cultural discovery awaits.
Palau is a diver’s paradise, with some of the planet’s healthiest and most diverse coral formations, relatively undamaged by the bleaching that has blighted the Maldives or Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Visibility is excellent and sightings of colorful reef fish, rays, and sharks abundant, with the country home to a shark sanctuary.
On the first day, I undertake one of several wreck dives found in the area. It’s an eerie experience as we explore the torpedoed hull of the Iro, a Japanese supply ship destroyed by the Americans during World War Two. That evening, a night dive in cold and pitch-black conditions is a thrilling experience, our torches turning forests of soft coral into a swaying neon light show. We manage four dives in total before wild weather caused by a typhoon hundreds of miles away makes it too rough to dive for the rest of our trip.
You don’t have to be a diver to enjoy the Explorer, however, with snorkeling, fishing, standup paddleboarding, kayaking, and swimming with stingless jellyfish available. Early one morning, we head out by launch for a birdwatching tour, spotting just a fraction of the 170 bird species recorded in Palau, including Micronesian starlings and the national bird, fruit doves.
Many activities are also land-based, some of them heartbreaking. On the island of Peleliu, our guide, Lavinia, tells of the country’s horse-traded history. Spain, Germany and then Japan brutally ruled it before the Americans took over following some of the bloodiest battles during WW2. Although Palau gained independence in 1994, it remains reliant on the US for support, which can be seen by the ongoing construction of a military airfield.
As our small group cycle and drive around Peleliu we see grim reminders of war, from destroyed bunkers and tanks to unexploded bombs and mines. At desolate Orange Beach, a cemetery commemorates the more than 1,100 American and 11,000 Japanese soldiers who died in the Battle of Peleliu. A Japanese memorial does likewise before the climb up to Bloody Nose Ridge. And at 1000 Man Cave, one of our group finds the network of tunnels where Japanese soldiers were trapped and killed too claustrophobic to endure.
Despite occupation, Palauan culture remains remarkably intact. In the state of Airai, local guide Velma Obek, dressed in traditional hibiscus bark skirt, takes us on a tour of her community. We’re shown a fiercely decorated outrigger war canoe, before visiting the country’s oldest bai, or meeting house.
Bai are the heart of the community, with raised floors, steeply pitched thatched roofs and symbolic motifs painted outside and in. Palau is a matriarchal society, and women are responsible for most matters—like finance, land and selecting clan chiefs—yet bai are for men only and visitors are not allowed to enter either. We content ourselves with watching a sunset dance performance while sipping cocktails under swaying coconut trees.
Unreliable weather scuttles al-fresco dinner plans beside the bai on our final night. Instead, we are treated to a Palau-inspired feast onboard the Explorer, including whole fish cooked in banana leaf and giant baked coconut lobster. The kitchen offers a rotating menu of international dishes that might include delicious crab tacos, veal schnitzel, spiced fried parrot fish with coconut rice, pumpkin tortellini in burnt butter, or tiramisu and dark chocolate cremeux for dessert.
Our final day is spent exploring Palau’s parliament building, a folly modeled after the United States Capitol, and the ancient stone monoliths of Badrulchau. We end with an exhilarating if slightly treacherous hike down to the spectacular Ngardmau waterfall. The falls aren’t high but they’re wide and powerful, and we have them to ourselves. Sitting in swirling pools below thundering torrents of pristine water, my face lashed by spray, I reflect on what makes Palau special. It’s wild, welcoming, authentic, ridiculously beautiful, thought provoking, and makes you feel alive. Go, before the rest of the world does.
BOOK YOUR STAY AT FOUR SEASONS EXPLORER - PALAU VIA BOOKING.COM
Double cabin with full board from USD3,300 per night + 10% GST and 10% cabin occupancy tax. fourseasons.com/explorerpalau.
Images courtesy of Four Seasons.
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
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Written By
Kee Foong
Born in Malaysia, raised and educated in Australia and based in Hong Kong, Kee Foong has had the privilege ..Read More
