If we return to Palau, we will do things differently.
For equipment, we will bring our own kayak. We have a Long Haul Mark II Expedition folding kayak, which we have already transported by plane for use in the Bahamas. It’s a bit costly to pay for the extra baggage fees, but no more costly than renting a touring kayak; and our kayak is simply faster and more comfortable than the typical plastic rental. We have also looked into shipping the kayak through the US Postal Service, and that looks both feasible and reasonably priced.
At the beginning, we will stay in Koror only two nights and one full day. This is enough time to obtain permits and supplies, cache one resupply of food and water with a tour boat company, and arrange for a delivered resupply by that same company.
Then we will paddle and camp through the southern lagoon, for several days more than what we recently did. A rough estimate is 15 days of paddling and camping, with a timeline that looks something like this:
- Paddle and camp for three days in Nikko Bay.
- Pick-up our cached resupply at Koror, during the transit from Nikko Bay to the islands farther south.
- Paddle and camp for six days in the area surrounding Ngeruktabel Island.
- Receive the resupply arranged for delivery by a Koror-based tour boat company.
- Paddle and camp for six days in the area surrounding Mecherchar Island, slowly making our way south to Peleliu, and stopping at Carp Island along the way.
The paddle will end at Peleliu. We will arrange with the hotel at Peleliu to have our bags collected from Koror while we are paddling. We will stay five nights on Peleliu, giving us four full days to clean and pack or equipment, SCUBA dive using one the island’s boat diving operations, and bicycle through the battlefield.
Then it is back to Koror, using the public boat. We will stay in the Koror area another two nights, which will give us a full day to ship our kayak home and obtain a shell permit.
This is a 24-day itinerary, not including the time spent getting to and from Palau.
Some things we will not do:
- Tour Babeldaob Island.
- Paddle to the German Lighthouse. It is too much work and time for too little gain.
- Paddle to Ulong Island. Again, it is too much work and time for too little gain.