Palau · Palau · Wall
Big Drop Off
Grey reef, whitetip and leopard sharks patrolling a wall into the deep
Photo: Matt Kieffer from London, United Kingdom · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Big Drop Off is a vertical wall that falls from near the surface to more than 285 m. It is a straightforward wall dive in moderate to no current, with sharks working the face and nothing but blue below.
Also known as Big Drop-Off, The Big Drop Off, Ngemelis Wall.
Where it is and how deep
7.1136° N, 134.2410° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Guides keep the group between 1 and 37 m (3–120 ft) on the face. The site is dived in one of two directions, chosen by the current, and works equally well either way. Grey reef and whitetip sharks patrol back and forth along the drop-off, and a solitary leopard shark sometimes joins them. Visibility runs 15–30 m (50–100 ft), depending on the direction of the tide.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows Palau: Boats run every month; November to April has the best conditions, and June to December is typhoon season.
Photos from Big Drop Off
Matt Kieffer from London, United Kingdom · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dive videos
The Big Drop Off, Palau · Nicolas Job (HEOS Marine) on YouTube
Sources
- Big Drop Off — Fish 'n Fins Palau
- Diving in Palau — Dive The World
- OpenStreetMap geocoding — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- One lionfish with long white-striped fin spines hovering over red and green encrusted reef rock. by Matt Kieffer from London, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- One orange anemonefish with a white stripe sheltering among pale green anemone tentacles. by Matt Kieffer from London, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Similar dives elsewhere
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Reef sharks at cleaning stations on a fan-coral wall