Palau: A Few Reflections on Life in the Pacific

Saturday 17th October 2026

Well, what do you know, it’s time to wrap up our holiday to Palau 🙁

After a week in this little island paradise, we have got to know the place reasonably well.

I thought a blog post was a good opportunity to reflect on our visit and, more broadly, on the Pacific islands we’ve been fortunate enough to explore over the years.

We fly out tomorrow (Sunday) morning, so this will be my final post from this holiday.

The Pacific has a feel all of its own

Over the years, we’ve visited Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands and, of course, Australia and New Zealand. Dave has also visited Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Samoa. There are a few more on my wish list, including Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Guam, but who knows if we will ever get there!

They’re all different, of course, with their own histories, cultures, languages and relationships with the wider world. But there are some common threads that I think give many Pacific destinations their distinctive feel.

People are generally relaxed, friendly and kind. There’s often less sense of urgency than we’re accustomed to at home, and a conversation doesn’t necessarily need to be hurried along because someone has somewhere else to be.

I’ve also been struck by how little pushiness we’ve encountered. In some tourist destinations, you can feel that every interaction is an opportunity to extract a few more dollars from visitors (As Steve Day would say ‘scammy scam’). Here in Palau, we’ve generally found people extremely helpful and welcoming without being overly persistent. It makes travelling here a pleasure.

Of course, every place has its exceptions, but these little everyday interactions can tell you as much about a destination as its famous sights.

Crossing the road — and other cultural observations

One thing that always seems to require a little adjustment when travelling is crossing the road. You can’t simply assume that traffic will behave as it does at home, and it pays to pay attention, especially when they drive on the opposite side of the road from us!

Driving around Palau, we’ve noticed the relaxed approach to life extends to the roads. There’s a central turning lane in many places, and the general rhythm of driving feels different from the rush of a big Australian city. You still need to keep your wits about you, though — relaxed driving doesn’t mean you can wander across the road without looking!

Crossing the road is also an interesting point of difference. At zebra crossings cars always stop for you, even putting their hazard lights on so those behind understand what they are doing. Initially I thought this was a one off, but after crossing the road lots of times it seems this is the norm.

These are the sorts of little things I enjoy noticing when we travel. They’re not necessarily attractions you’ll find in a guidebook, but they help give you a feel for how a place works.

It’s not always about the food

Regular readers will know that food is a big part of how I experience a destination. I love discovering local ingredients, markets, restaurants and the dishes that tell a story about a place.

Despite my best efforts, I have to acknowledge that food isn’t necessarily the main reason to travel to the Pacific. Having said that, alongside some that were just okay, we did have two pretty good meals while we were here. Unexpectedly very good in fact.

The first was at a Chinese restaurant on the island of Malakal, which is joined to Koror Island by a small low-level bridge. Dave’s salt and pepper calamari was very good, but the star of the show was my chilli stir-fried local crab. As we walked in there were lots of tanks and buckets with fresh live seafood, including about a half dozen buckets with 4 or 5 mud crabs in each.

Our waiter asked if I’d like to come and chose one, but I decided to let her choose one for me. It was only $26 US a pound, and she chose a small one around 1.5 pounds for me (as requested, since Dave doesn’t eat crab), about 700g. We also ordered some sauteed garlic water spinach, which is one of the few vegetables grown here, and some boiled rice.

All of it was delicious, and of course super fresh. I struggled a bit getting all of the delicious crab meat out of the shell, but at least that slowed me down from gobbling it all up too quickly.

The other exceptional meal was at a newly opened restaurant right on the water near the aquarium. The Four Seasons M-Dock has both outdoor and indoor seating, we chose the latter, as even at 7pm, it was still too hot to be outside.

The décor was really beautifully done, giving it a bit of a colonial old-style feel, but with modern touches. The restaurant is owned by Four Seasons whose upmarket small cruise boat leaves from the dock right out the front. They definitely know how to do upmarket well – not only was the décor lovely, but the service and food were also top-notch.

We both started with cocktails (mocktail for DM) then shared an amazingly tender and flavoursome grilled squid with ink aioli. Dave then had a wood-fire margarita pizza and I had pasta with clams, prawns and fish. Its not unusual for me to select seafood pasta on any menu, so I’ve had quite a few over the years, but this one was right up there with the best of them. We ordered desert, not because we were hungry but because they sounded so good! Dave chose Calamansi Crema Catalana which he loved, and I had Tiramisu, which they poured a shot of espresso on at the table to serve. I’ve had a few tiramisus in my time too and I’d give this a 9/10 at least!

While the food is not always the highlight, in many of these island nations, the real drawcards are the extraordinary natural beauty, the ocean, the marine life, the history and the opportunity to experience a way of life that can feel very different from our own.

Palau certainly delivers on that front. The scenery is spectacular, the water is incredible, and the history — particularly on Peleliu — provides a sobering reminder that these beautiful islands have also witnessed some terrible events.

Food still matters, of course. It’s just that sometimes the experience is about appreciating what a place has to offer rather than planning the next great meal. (I know, it’s a shocking admission from me!)

Food security — a bigger issue than you might think

One thing that has stayed with me across our travels in the Pacific is the challenge of food security.

Many island nations have relatively small populations, limited agricultural land, high transport costs and a heavy reliance on imported food (90% is imported!). Fresh produce is expensive, supply chains can be vulnerable to disruption, and severe weather and climate change add further pressure.

At the same time, these islands often have rich traditions of growing and eating local foods — from taro, cassava and breadfruit to coconuts, bananas, tropical vegetables and locally caught fish.

The challenge is finding the balance between traditional food systems and the convenience and availability of imported products. It’s not simply a matter of growing more food; land, labour, infrastructure, changing diets and the economics of importing all play a part.

Given my interest in food, sustainability and minimising waste, it’s something I find particularly interesting. Food security can sound like an abstract policy issue, but it has a very real impact on people’s everyday lives here in Palau, and across other similar countries.

It’s also a reminder that the challenges facing smaller Pacific nations are often quite different from those we experience in Australia.

A change of hotel

Our final few days in Palau have included a change of accommodation.

Our original hotel’s pool was closed by the health authorities (!!!), and there were also rather too many steep stone steps between our room and the rest of the property. After a few days, we decided that perhaps a change was in order.

We’ve now moved to the Palasia Hotel, which has turned out to be a lovely surprise — and is actually cheaper!

When we mentioned that it was our 35th wedding anniversary, we were given a room on the top floor. The view across the bay is gorgeous, the staff are super friendly, and there are two good swimming pools that are, importantly, open.

There doesn’t seem to be many guests staying at the moment, so it feels rather peaceful.

Breakfast is included, too. The hotel has Taiwanese connections, and the buffet reflects that influence, with a few dishes that might be a little different from the usual bacon-and-eggs offering. I always enjoy seeing how different food cultures come together when you travel, although to be honest many things on the buffet I didn’t actually try. After getting very unwell (hospitalised in fact) in Vietnam last year, I am naturally a little cautious.

We’ve also discovered a very good newly built large supermarket. Dave managed to find some excellent banana bread, which made him happy. I bought a couple of tubs of yoghurt that turned out to be off, which made me considerably less happy. You win some, you lose some!

Apart from that minor dairy disappointment, the supermarket was impressive, with a good range of products. It was another reminder of the effort involved in keeping shelves stocked on an island in the middle of the Pacific.

We’ve also managed to keep on top of the washing, which is no small achievement when you’re travelling with relatively small suitcases. (we each have less than 10kg luggage). We’ve had two loads done here at US$7 a load — not bad for being able to hand over the dirty clothes and have them come back clean and folded. It’s one of those little travel luxuries that makes life easier, particularly when you’re trying to squeeze everything back into a suitcase!

Until the next adventure

We’ve learned a lot during our time in Palau — about its natural environment, its history, its people and the realities of life in a small island nation.

The visit to Peleliu was a particular highlight, although not exactly a cheerful one. It’s difficult to reconcile the beauty of the place with the terrible fighting that took place there, and it’s a reminder of how important it is to understand the history behind the destinations we visit.

We’ve enjoyed exploring, meeting people, trying local food and simply getting a feel for somewhere new. That’s one of the great pleasures of travel: you come home with more than photographs. You come home with a few new perspectives, a better understanding of the world and, hopefully, some good stories.

Now it’s time to head home, unpack, put the washing away (at least the clean stuff!) and get back into everyday life, for a short while anyway. (p.s. – Having our final dinner tonight back at M-dock!)

Will and Emma are due home from their honeymoon mid-week. It sounds like they are having a fabulous time – including ticking Pyramids in Egypt off their list. I can’t wait to see them, hear all about their holiday and reminisce about the wedding – that now, incredibly, is two weeks ago!