Drift diving Ulong Channel or Ngerumekaol Pass is a dive site never to forget with sharks, fantastic corals and a great canyon.

Name Dive Site:	Ulong Channel, Ngerumekaol Pass
Depth:	9-49ft (3-15m)
Inserted/Added by:	lars, © Author: Lars Hemel
Rated:	Rated 4.9, 13 votes
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Best dive-season / How to get there: Located on the west side of Ulong Island at about 30 to 50 minutes from Koror. April to July is the time that groupers spawn, and incoming tide is generally best to see sharks.

One of the best adrenaline high dive sites in Palau is Ulong Channel and Reef, sometimes misspelled as Ulung Channel and also known as Ngerumekaol Pass. It is a narrow 20-50 meter wide channel, running from west to east for as long as 1km and splitting part of a huge gorgeous plateau in two. As you expect with such a great underwater canyon, the currents are often strong. It is not uncommon that the direction of the current changes halfway your dive; in which case you should head back in the same direction. Before drifting through the channel you will be hooked into the reef where you can enjoy watching the action at the mouth of the channel.

The channel's entrance is often guarded by a huge group of grey reef sharks especially on an incoming tide, patrolling the channel in their search of food. Sightings of napoleon wrasse and even manta rays are not uncommon. While navigating through the channel you will see steep walls on both sides, carpeted in all sorts of hard and soft corals. The sandy bottom of the pass itself is where you can find all sorts of sand dwellers such as stingrays. There are also huge patches of plate coral (lettuce coral) referred to as fish condominiums surrounded in glass-eyes, squirrel fish and soldier fish. Pay attention to titan trigger fish as they can become quite aggressive especially when they have laid their eggs.

Most diving tours take you on a wonderful picnic on Ulong Island where you can enjoy its white beach but also see petroglyphs, painted by ancient Palauans on the high cliffs above. All in all, it is one of the best dives in Palau making for a great one day excursion.

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