Family Diving in Palau

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Family Diving in Palau: Part 2

When I told friends our family was traveling to Palau this past Thanksgiving, I usually had to include a brief geography lesson as part of the conversation. The truth is, it's not enough simply to say it is part of Micronesia, because few people really know exactly where that is either. So to clarify, the Republic of Palau is a small island nation in the Pacific positioned north of Papua New Guinea and just east of the Philippines. But the most likely reason why anyone would have even heard of Palau is because the 10th season of Survivor was filmed there in 2005. That, or if they're into scuba, since anyone serious about the sport knows that Palau has some of the best diving in the world.  For that reason, our family had no problem forgoing a turkey dinner for the opportunity to visit.

After we finally figured out were Palau was on the map, the real fun began when we had to make plans to get there. From New York, it would require about 21 hours of flying time. We ended up hopscotching from New York to Los Angeles to Honolulu to Guam to Yap to Palau. Phew! I could write an entire post just on this journey, but suffice it to say that with or without kids, this trip is a bear. There's not too much I can recommend for trips like this other than suggesting you give into the fact that you'll be tired when you finally arrive and lighter in the wallet from paying for in-flight meals and entertainment along the way. Just remember to pack some good books and by all means, you might want to suspend any rules you have about how much time the kids can spend playing video games or watching TV. Read more at blogs.nationalgeographic.com

 

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