German Channel is another of the most popular dive sites in Palau. Primarily due to the possibility of getting up close and personal with Manta Rays. The channel is named due to the mining of a long channel through the coral during German occupation of Palau prior to WWI. The original purpose of the channel was to ease and speed up transport of guano (phosphate) into town from Angaur island so it could be shipped internationally.
While seeing Manta Rays have been more miss than hit lately
I have had one very special dive where a very large beautiful black manta graced
us with its presence. They truly are incredible creatures and I couldn’t
believe the size they get to. The one we saw spent around 30 minutes constantly
circling the cleaning station while cleaner wrasse fish gave the Manta a good
old cleaning. At one point one of my divers ran low on air, I quickly switched
him to my alternate air source so the group could stay there longer. The Manta
noticed the small commotion and came in for a closer look. It stopped about 1-2
metres away from us with one very large eye looking straight at us. I’m sure it
was wondering what the hell we were up to. After a long inquisitive look it
resumed circling the cleaning station.
Other typical sights you can see at German Channel are large
schools of Jacks, various sharks and a huge variety of colourful small reef
fish. Also if you time the incoming tide you can end your dive by rocketing up
towards the channel, just make sure you use your safety sausage to surface to
alert any passing boats to your location.
Again, all pictures have been re-appropriated from a Google image search. If you own them and would like recognition or removal please let me know.
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| An aerial view of the channel |
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| The ride through the channel at low tide |
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