Oceania
Mushroom-shaped islands, shark-filled walls and a lake of jellyfish.
Palau is an island nation in the western Pacific best known for the Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, a UNESCO site of forested limestone islets rising from turquoise water. Divers come for Blue Corner and German Channel, among the world's great dive sites, and the islands are also home to the famous Jellyfish Lake. On Babeldaob, Ngardmau Waterfall and ancient stone monoliths reward a day on land.
Life centres on Koror, with small hotels, dive shops and restaurants mixing Palauan, Japanese and American influences. Every visitor signs the Palau Pledge, a promise to protect the environment. Boats are how you see the Rock Islands. It is warm all year; February to April tends to be driest and calmest, while June to October is wetter.
February, March, April.