Day 1: Traveling to Palau

And so our adventure began this Wednesday, September 30th, with a full day of travel. Might I strongly suggest that if you have a morning flight out of LAX that you drive up the night before and choose from one of the many hotels that has a park.sleep.fly program. These hotels offer you long term parking with regular shuttle service to the nearby airport with an overnight stay. This wonderful convenience truly saves on the hassle and stress levels of getting to your international flight on time. Remember, the airlines suggest you be to the airport 3 hours prior to your flight so that you have plenty of time to check your baggage and go through security. Keep your passport and ticket handy until you are through security or you will find yourself continually digging them out.


So our flight to Palau was a full day’s journey, but as Mike & Vicki Musto of Cardonna Dive Travel like to say, it was just a hop, skip and a jump. Our first leg of the journey was from LA to Honolulu where we had a short layover and met up with the rest of our group. Then we were off on a bigger plane to Guam and it was there that we rendezvoused with our hosts, Mike & Vicki. From there it was a short jump to Yap. When we boarded our final plane, we were given our customs forms to fill out prior to our landing so that you save time upon your arrival. During our short layover in Yap, we were informed that the plane was to go through a routine security check. Normally one side of the plane is asked to disembark with their carry-on luggage while the remaining passengers gather their carry-ons and move to the other side of the plane while airport personnel inspect the seat area for contraband. Then the passengers return to their original seats while the other side is inspected before the remaining passengers can reboard. This time since our flight was so light, we all stayed onboard and just shuffled from side to side. After the inspection, we were off for a brief flight to our final destination of Palau. Upon arrival, we proceeded to Immigration where they checked our passport information and then we went to baggage claims. After that, it was through Customs, where they reviewed the form we had filled out on the plane, asked a few questions and welcomed us to Palau.

Just past Customs we were greeted by Burt and many other friendly staff members of NECO Marine who welcomed us with shell and flower leis and scooped up our baggage to put on the buses that would drive us to Palau Pacific Resort. We arrived at the resort around 10pm, and thanks to the crossing of a few time zones and the International Date Line, it was now the evening of Thursday, October 1st (which, by the way, is Palau’s Independence Day). After a short check-in process, we were escorted to our beautiful rooms where lovely flowers were placed on our beds, robes and slippers were waiting for us, and a delightful plate of cookies awaited our consumption. A quick unpacking and it was time for some delicious sleep in a nice, comfortable bed. GOOD NIGHT!