Koror-Palau

About Koror-Palau

Koror is Palau's main town and the cruise gateway to one of the Pacific's premier dive destinations, with ships tendering ashore. The Rock Islands Southern Lagoon — a UNESCO site of 445 limestone karst islets rising from turquoise water — is the centerpiece excursion, typically done by speedboat. Jellyfish Lake and the Milky Way blue-clay lagoon are standard options. Snorkel gear is essentially mandatory here.

• Koror was Palau's capital city until 2006, when the government officially relocated to the purpose-built new capital of Ngerulmud on the island of Babeldaob — but Koror remains by far the most populous state, home to about 65% of Palau's entire population.
• The first Western sighting of Koror was recorded by the Spanish expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos in January 1543, who charted the islands as 'Los Arrecifes' (The Reefs).
• In Palauan oral tradition, Koror is one of the children of the deity Milad, and it is the ancestral home of the Ibedul — the paramount high chief of Palau.
• Koror is the gateway to the Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of 445 uninhabited limestone mushroom-shaped islets famous for their biodiversity and WWII wreck diving.
• LtCol Earl Hancock Ellis, the first Director of Marine Corps Intelligence, died on Koror in mysterious circumstances in May 1923 while on a covert reconnaissance mission.