Palau Day 4 - Ulong Channel + Jakes Seaplane

5/16/2022 - Diving Day 2, I think this was my favorite day of diving, even with the famous blue corner to come. Huge shout out to our fearless photographer, Winifred. She is in the first two images in the element taking some great shots. The topwater perspective, post dive, is the first shot, love the angle, composition, a spot that normally you would not get photos. Winifred and Joan look very happy post surfacing of that first dive. 

Ulong Channel is as it sounds a coral channel that sits next to this small island called Ulong. This spot was  about 30 mins from our launch point, so much closer than day one, still far enough out though that you get this feeling of being in open water. A bit chilling the first time you think about it and see it. Today we had a different scuba master, his name is Ray, also an awesome lead. Ray gave us the dive brief for the channel with advisement that this is a drift dive so be ready for underwater current as you go down, the boat will then pick us up however far we drift. To start a drift dive, the boat is moored to a line that is attached underwater, this prevents the boat from drifting and gives the divers something to hold onto as you descend. 

One by one we each got into the water, swam our way to the mooring line, and then descended down the 45 ft to the bottom. This took a bit of time, so the first ones in the water had to wait at the bottom for the group prior to letting go of the line and then drifting with the current. Ray ensured all the divers were accounted for, then gave the signal to let go and off we went down the beautiful reefed channel. I think this was the first time my brain captured and realized the feeling of weightlessness while diving. Its one thing to swim and hover over a wall that goes deep, its another to feel slightly out of control as you are drifting along in a current, surrounded by ocean coral no less. You know that scene in Finding Nemo where the dad and Dori go with the turtles into the ocean current? This experience was just like that, only surrounding you at every turn was some really amazing things to see. We saw schools of fish, reef sharks, and even at one point a manta ray. You see each thing so fast that its hard to remember it all, but what I do remember was at one point we hit a fork in the channel and I went left as the group went right. 

Suddenly I was alone in the current, and the water visibility was such that I could no longer see my lead or the group. Next I thought, well I can panic or flail, I can try to swim at an angle and get back to them, or I can start my ascent and use my bouy to find the boat. My breathing definitely got faster, but I chose the swimming option to see what I could do to find the group. After about 20 heavy kicks I could finally see the group again, very much relieved. No Adam floating out in the open abyss today. Ray calmed me down and helped me rejoin the group, Joan of course very happy to see me, I could tell by the shapes of the bubbles that came out of her regulator. Very quickly we came to the end of the channel and with guidance Ray had us kick out of the current along a sea wall filled with more fish and coral. We all took a breath, we made sure everyone was there and pretty soon it was time to return up top to the land of the walking. We grouped together, Ray deployed the diving buoy and the boat was 100ft away as we surfaced, another successful dive. 

At this point, the three of us were ready for lunch, 🍱 bento boxes once again were on the menu, yum! As we were eating, and furiously catching up on what cool adventure we had, Ray came over and laughed saying Adam we almost lost you. I said, on a scale of 0 to hard, how bad was that? He said, about a medium, but much harder than I expected. Even well trained dive instructors can be caught off by how the ocean responds a sunny day. We all had a good laugh, and I think in many ways it helped the camaraderie of the dive group for the day. The dive community is a very social group. 

Dive 2 was much less innocuous, about a quarter mile away there was a reef closer into Ulong island. Once again this underwater adventure was breathtaking, Image 6 + 7 show some of the color and vibrance of the life under the ocean. These images have been corrected to bring that color out, sadly things look a little less yellow and red under the water as the light doesn't penetrate as you go deeper. We were all quite happy that this was an easier dive, and one we could enjoy together pointing out unique fish and coral. Just being in the water felt great, as I have spoke before, the time underwater is precious, you get max an hour per dive and then have to recover on the surface for another hour. So cool, Its taken 10 + dives to go from anxious to loving the ocean, I can see why people get addicted to this. 

Luckily Joan, Winifred, and I had the opportunity again for a third dive. I had asked Ray and our boat driver Cello about any airplanes that we might see. Prior to leaving for Palau I knew there was quite the WWII history and seeing a wreck was something none of us had yet done. He recommended Jakes Seaplane, a 10 min ride from Sam's into another open marina on the west side of Babledoup. We really pushed the GoPro to the limit again, so we have just a few photos. The story we got was this seaplane was a Japanese aircraft that was shot down during the battle of Peleliu, one of the southern most islands in Palau. The pilot was still able to fly the plane north just outside of the seaport, but upon landing the plane was no longer about to float. The Japanese pilot did survive and was helped to safety, but the plane laid to rest in this dive site some 50ft down. 

This time it was just the four of us diving, a neat perk of adding that third dive on, extra time with the divemaster. As we descended to 15ft you could start to see the outline of the plane, there wasn't much left and that was notable from a distance. One wing of the plane had all but disappeared along with the right side float and the tail section of the fuselage. Either this landing was much harder than our original guidance or the sea has slowly taken over the aluminum wreckage. Actually, it must have been a bit of both, the plane was covered in coral as evidence of the image above. Anything that was steel must have corroded away, the aluminum seemed to make a nice home for the coral though. I enjoyed swimming around and looking at the engine and all the mechanical bits, I think much more than my female dive friends. After about 25 mins we had really seen what was left of the plane, and with the time left we got the chance to practice and focus on our buoyancy, a key skill to have while in the water. 

Post diving, we were all tired out and very much ready for some dinner. Upon returning to Sam's we took everything out of the boat, and cleaned up our gear. Sam's had these cool wash tubs designed just for this, so it was a quick soak then hang up the gear and we were off to the hotel. 

Back at Palau Royal, our hotel, we met up with Wilbur. I don't think I mentioned this earlier, Wilbur decided to spend time doing non dive activities, so he had ideas for dinner and lots to share on what to see on the island. The guidance for dinner was to go to a place called Kramers just a short walk from the hotel. 

Kramers turned out to not be so simple to find, this must be a Palau thing, hide your nice restaurants next to all the boat shops, dive shops, and ranger stations of all things. Great place though once it was found, we had a patio overlook into the marina once again, a slightly different view looking over the tiny port of Palau. We sat here and had a drink, watched the sun go down, the moon come out, and of course decide on dinner. At this point I had not had any fish yet, so tonight was the night. Joan ordered some fresh Poke on a bed of salad, and I the fresh blackened tuna + sea-bass Nigiri. The fish was outstanding, along with the saffron rice and local potatoes. The four of us must of sat for 2 hours just enjoying the view, the food and the friendship. Also, if you do find yourself in Palau, ask for the dessert here. Starfruit cheesecake was yummy and something very local to try. 

Palau day 4, what a place.