Chandler Wall

For our second dive of the day, we went to a site called Chandler Wall. It was a sheer vertical cliff covered in corals of all kinds! We swam along it at about 60 - 70 below the sea surface, relishing the diversity of reef-building corals along the way. Fish of all sorts hung out near the cliff, sometimes hovering under ledges, sometimes venturing out into the blue water. It was an absolutely gorgeous!

At one point, the guide told us to follow him and swim up over the edge of the cliff to the plateau on top. We were carried by the incoming tidal current, but once we got on top, the current was so strong, we had to hold on to avoid being carried away! The guide gave us reef hooks to attach to the reef. It's basically a giant metal hook that you place in a piece of dead coral and then clip the attached line to your gear to stay in place. I must admit, it was pretty nerve-wracking for me to feel the sheer strength of the current on the ledge, but once I got into the right area, the current abated.

We released our reef hooks and drifted along the top of the plateau. Clumps of coral passed by underneath us, and a giant wrasse followed us as we drifted. Eventually, the guide signaled us to swim upward and kicked away from the reef into the blue water. He inflated an orange signal bag, which floated above us on the surface and showed the boat where to find us.

It was an incredible day of diving, and I'm so glad Hanny and I got to experience more of the coral reef environments in Palau. This place is absolutely gorgeous!