Palau is rather rarely visited and expensive destination, but once someone decides to go, visiting Rock Islands is the must. They are a symbol of the country, their aerial view is presented on postcards, advertising materials, even politicians put their photos on this background on election billboards. Rock Islands are also considered one of the most stunning diving spots on Earth.

Rock Islands are - as the name suggests - a group of hundreds of stone islands and islets, most of them uninhabited and entirely covered by tropical jungle. They are similar to other famous and UNESCO-listed sites, such as Ha Long in Vietnam. First islands may be visited from Koror, the biggest town in this tiny country (17k population total and about 12k lives in Koror), but inscribed area is 'Southern Lagoon' only, so to visit the site properly you have to either take a public ferry to Peleliu (I found no information on that in Koror) or buy one of the organised tours. The tours are very expensive and make this WHS one the most pricey on the list. Basic fare for a ship and snorkeling in the lagoon is 125 USD per person (children under 6 go free) and you have to add an obligatory state permit of 50 USD pp. The permit is valid for 10 days but you cannot buy it for shorter terms, even if you go there for a couple of hours only. So the minimum fee is 175 USD (diving is obviously much more expensive).

The trip we took (me, my wife and our two small kids) was aimed for divers, so they chose a good place for diving but a bit too deep for snorkeling. Nonetheless it was fine, but there are many better snorkeling spots in many places on our planet. It took us about one and a half hour one way to go there with a very high speed, so good wind protection is advised (the boat is open and has only tarp roof).

Unfortunately our experience was messed up by the weather. After some snorkeling, in the middle of the sea, it started to rain heavily. Our older son started crying and demanded to go home. The retreat was terrible and nobody on the boat had a piece of dry cloth or towel.

I have to add that the most interesting part of the Rock Islands, the world famous Jellyfish Lake, due to the dramatic decrease of the Jellyfish population since April 2016 is closed until further notice. Hopefully the jellyfish will recover, as it happened in the past and the Lake will be reopened.