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Overview

While we were living in Hawaii, we managed to organize two trips to Micronesia using airline points. One, to Palau and Yap in 2003 and another to Palau, Kosrae and Pohnpei in 2004. Palau is its own country while Yap, Kosrae and Pohnpei are three of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia. Each island is different, fascinating, and very worth visiting. There's the fascinating Micronesia peoples and cultures, fantastic diving, the world-class ruins of Nan Madol on Pohnpei, and great endemic birds. Below are some notes from our trips.

Fish and Diving

The main reason tourists visit the region is for the spectacular diving. Gorgeous reefs, soft corals, huge diverse schools of fishes, large pelagic fishes and sharks, manta rays, wrecks, sheer walls dropping to profound depths, virgin reefs, and plenty of fast current dives. It's all here. The most heavily dived destinations are Palau for its walls and fishes and Truc for the wrecks. (We're not interested in wreck diving and did not visit Truc.) Yap is famous for manta rays but has beautiful reefs, too. Pohnpei is far less visited but has outstanding reefs, walls, and fish diversity. Kosrae is like an endless, pristine coral garden.

Fish diversity increases east to west in the Pacific. If you're planning a tour through the region and like to learn the fish, it's worth starting on the eastern side and heading west. Conspicuous and abundant reef fish families include butterflies, surgeonfishes, triggerfishes, gobbies, rabbitfishes, breams, fusiliers, anthias, wrasses and damselfishes. Specialties like soapfish, dartfish, wormfish, frogfish, and crocodilefish are also present, if not always easily seen. There's also a great variety of large and/or open water fish, such as barracudas and sharks.

True to the map, fish diversity increases progressively from from Kosrae - Pohnpei - Chuuk - Yap - Palau. Starting in Kosrae with 800-1,000 fish gives you a chance to learn some of the more common fish before heading towards greater diversity. Fishbase lists over 1,100 marine fish in the Federated States of Micronesia and over 1,300 in Palau. Visibility, of course, depends on the time of year and phase of the moon. People we know that have visited during the rainy season experienced poor visibility while, in our dry season visits, the visibility was very good.

Birds

Birding the Pacific is hard. Most of the native birds and seabird colonies are gone, under threat or hard to reach. Still, whatever birds are left are a real joy. Since islands in the Pacific are oceanic (never part of a continent) and often remote, they tend to have low bird diversity with a high degree of endemism. The land bird families found in the region are almost entirely South-East Asian and Australasian in origin. The birds currently found in Micronesia are a fragment of what was present 1,000 years ago as waves of extinctions have followed each wave of human settlement in the region. As you would expect, larger and less populous islands tend to be better for birds. The Big Island of Hawaii and Viti Levu in Fiji, for example, have far more forests and forest birds than smaller islands. Still, small islands can sometimes serve as a refuge when larger islands are overrun by feral animals. For example, the Rock Islands in Palau harbor many species not seen or not easily seen on the main island. If you are birding the region, be forewarned that the exact species lists vary. For example, the swiftlets, kingfishers, and white-eyes seem to be getting split into island-specific species. Avibase offers one checklist based on Sibley and Monroe, and Doug Pratt is working on another for the next edition of his field guide.

Palau

The main reason people visit Palau is for the diving. There are a variety of dive operators, a good range of hotels and resorts, and lots of restaurants and shops in Koror. On our two trips, we stayed at the West Plaza Desekel, one of five properties in this chain. The Desekel is in a relatively quiet location downtown, near restaurants, the post office, and internet cafes. Dive shops will typically pick you up in the morning and drop you off at night. The hotel is clean, reasonably priced (for Koror), and fairly unremarkable. If you're looking for something fancier, the Palau Pacific Resort has decent snorkeling and one of the best forest trails near Koror.

Diving

Palau is the most visited and most dived area we've seen in Micronesia. The fish are numerous and diverse, as are the dive sites. The extensive network of limestone islands support enormous coral gardens and sheer walls dropping hundreds of meters virtually straight down. There are several well-known dive operations based out of Koror. Nitrox is easily found and there is a hyperbaric decompression chamber on island. (Be sure to get/renew a membership in the Diver's Alert Network before visiting.) We went out Sam's Tours and Keith Santillano of Dive Palau and found both entirely professional.

It's worth mentioning that there's good snorkeling around Koror. Unlike the Rock Islands, the inshore waters are shallow and host an entirely different set of fish, including great fishes such as the Shrimpfish Aeoliscus strigatus, Pajama Cardinalfish Sphaeramia nematoptera, and various Razorfishes and yellow gobbies. In fact, the first place we ever saw the beautiful Mandarinfish Synchiropus spendidus was near dusk in less than a meter of water in a coral head on the beach next to the Riptide Beach Bar and Grill. The beach at the the Palau Pacific Resort has a shallow drop-off with plenty of coral and fish. However, the sandy bottom gets stirred up by tides and wave action, reducing visibility.

Birding

Many of the seabirds are easily seen on any dive trip but the endemic forest birds are harder to see. The more common species are visible in most any forest, but forests on Palau are hard to get into. One good spot is the nature trail at the Palau Pacific Resort. Even if you're not staying there, a cab can take you out relatively inexpensively. The tip (dump) is good for herons and shorebirds. Evidentially, seeing the Micronesian Scrubfowl Megapodius laperouse requires a special trip to the rock islands and we never managed it. Honestly, the fish in Palau are so spectacular it's hard to do anything but think about getting back under water. All the same, we managed to see the following birds around town, at the PPR, on a trip to the Jellyfish Lake, or from a dive boat:White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus, Little Pied Cormorant Phalacrocoracidae melanoleucos, Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia, Eastern Reef Egret Egretta sacra, Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax, Nankeen Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus, Lesser Golden Plover Pluvialis domenica, Bridled Tern Sterna anaethetus, Brown (Common) Noddy Anous stolidus, Black Noddy Anous minutus, Common Fairy Tern Gygis alba, Palau Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus pelewensis, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita, Uniform (Island/Gray) Swiftlet Aerodramus vanikorensis—which now may be Micronesian Swiftlet Aerodramus inquieta Aerodramus, Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica, Palau Fantail Rhipidura lepida, Mangrove Flycatcher Myiagra erythrops, Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava, Micronesian Starling Aplonis opaca, Micronesian Honeyeater Myzomela rubratra, Caroline Islands White-eye Zosterops semperi, Dusky White-eye Zosterops finschii, and Chestnut Mannikin (Black-headed Munia) Lonchura malacca.

Yap

Yap is famous for stone money and manta rays. The stone money, traditional meeting houses, and ancient stone footpaths are beautiful and interesting. Of all of the readily accessible islands in Micronesia, Yap retains the most traditional culture. Its a beautiful island and well wroth a visit. We've included a few pictures of Yap above and below water in a small set of snapshots.

If you're interested in diving, the best known group is Yap Divers (http://www.mantaray.com/) based out of the Manta Ray Bay Hotel. Note that the http://www.yapdiver.com/ Web site is run by a Trader's Ridge Resort, up the hill from the ocean. We did a couple of dives with Yap Divers in hopes of seeing the reef and some manta rays. Yap Divers has a reputation with being pretty single minded about diving for manta rays. Sure enough, all of the dives were manta dives. These involve going to the bottom of channel on the turning tide and waiting for the mantas. They're quite large and absolutely stunning. We only had a few days on Yap but if you're there for some time on a dive package, Yap Divers does go to a variety of sites. Alternatively, we've only heard a good things about a smaller shop named Beyond the Reef (http://www.diveyap.com/).

The stone paths, forests, and birds around Yap are lovely. It's well worth taking some time to explore the island from land. Every part of the island belongs to someone, therefore permissions is needed to use paths or visit. This isn't hard to do and, if you use a local guide, you won't even notice the process. Without making any unusual efforts, we managed to see a good range of birds: Yellow BitternLxobrychus sinensis, Intermediate EgretArdea intermedia, Eastern Reef EgretEgretta sacra, Cattle EgretArdea ibis, Red JunglefowlGallus gallus, Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres, Great Crested TernSterna bergii, Brown (Common) NoddyAnous stolidus, Black NoddyAnous minutus, Common Fairy TernGygis alba, White-throated Ground-DoveGallicolumba xanthonura, Yap MonarchMonarcha godeffroyi, Rufous FantailRhipidura rufifrons, Micronesian StarlingAplonis opaca, Micronesian HoneyeaterMyzomela rubratra, Plain White-eyeZosterops hypolais, Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus, and Nutmeg Mannikin (Scaly-breasted Munia)Lonchura punctulata.

Pohnpei

Diving

Pohnpei has reefs, underwater scenery and fish to rival Palau. Yet, it's very little visited. During our visit, we stayed at the Pohnpei Village resort in 2003. The host family is nice, the food is fine, and the environment is stunning. However, the accommodation a bit basic for the price and they run the most dangerous dive operation we've encountered anywhere. They rented obviously faulty gear, the dive master didn't follow the briefing or consider depth, and an assistant dive master told a less experienced friend "don't worry if you run out of air, you can just use some of mine." Really shocking. Also, the dive masters stood on the coral routinely. In 2005 we ran into a dive master who was touring the Pacific while in Fiji who told us she had gotten sick from bad air at the Village. So, our experience was not a one-off and it sounds like the situation is not improving. Do not dive with these people. There are a lot of other places to dive in Micronesia with world-class organizations.

Nan Madol

Nan Madol is worth a trip to Pohnpei on its own. Although not as widely known, Nan Madol is arguably more impressive and harder to explain that sites like Easter Island/Rapa Nui (trip report | photos). We went on a well-run day trip from the Village that included a snorkel and a stop at a lovely waterfall. Consisting of 92 artificial islets, Nan Madol was a vast city in its day. Today, you can visit a part of the site that's been cleared and opened to tourists. It's fairly remarkable that people using wood and stone tools and no draft animals were able to erect this enormous site. Our snapshots from Pohnpei include some images of Nan Madol. of The Wikipedia page on the site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nan_Madol) includes links to several sites with more information, photographs and diagrams.

Birding

The birds on Pohnpei are quite good and many are readily seen. A particular birding highlight for the region is the Pohnpei Lory Trichoglossus rubiginosus. This single-island endemic is easy to see on at the Pohnpei Village resort. They've got the attitude and behavior of Lorikeets but with a plum-burgundy color that pictures never seem to capture. Even if you don't stay at the Village, head up there for a meal or a drink and enjoy the fantastic views. We rented a car for a day and drove around the entire island, visited the national capital, and stopped whenever something looked interesting. The road was pretty bad in places making for one of the most grueling drives we've ever done. This drive did turn up some lucky birding finds, such as the ground dove. During our time on the island, we saw White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus, Brown Booby Sula leucogaster, Eastern Reef Egret Egretta sacra, Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus, Great Crested Tern Sterna bergii, Brown (Common) Noddy Anous stolidus, Black Noddy Anous minutus, Common Fairy Tern Gygis alba, Caroline Islands Ground-Dove Gallicolumba kubaryi, Crimson-crowned (Purple-capped) Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus porphyraceus, Pohnpei Lorikeet Trichoglossus rubiginosus, Uniform (Island/Gray) Swiftlet Aerodramus vanikorensis—which now may be Micronesian Swiftlet inquieta Aerodramus, Micronesian Kingfisher Todiramphus cinnamominus, Pohnpei Flycatcher Myiagra pluto, Pohnpei Fantail Rhipidura kubaryi, Micronesian Starling Aplonis opaca, Micronesian Honeyeater Myzomela rubratra, Grey White-eye Zosterops cinereus, and Hunstein's Mannikin (Mottled Munia) Lonchura hunsteini.

Kosrae

They say Kosrae only has one dive site, but it's 100 kilometers long. We've got a few underwater shots in a small photo gallery from Kosrae. While Kosrae lacks the big walls and currents of Palau, it's a wonderful place to dive. Some of the dive companies got together with the local communities and together built an array of nearly five dozen permanent mooring places. Local people and dive boats can tie up without throwing anchors, protecting the reef and reef fishes. Consequently, the corals here are in fantastic shape. We stayed at and went diving with Kosrae Village. Bruce Adams, one of the founders, runs a first-rate dive operation. The accommodation is a bit rustic but the diving is faultless. They have Nitrox and technical blends available.

The cabins at the Kosrae Village are surrounded by crabs which are a lot of fun to see. We did little more than dive and relax on Kosrae but did manage to see a handful of birds, including Eastern Reef Egret Egretta sacra, Lesser Golden Plover Pluvialis domenica, Black Noddy Anous minutus, Common Fairy Tern Gygis alba, Micronesian Starling Aplonis opaca, Micronesian Honeyeater Myzomela rubratra, and Grey White-eye Zosterops cinereus.

Books and Maps

For fish, get Micronesian Reef Fishes (1999) by Robert F. Myers. (Amazon US | UK) Myers' book does not always have the prettiest photographs, but it's got more useful field data than any other fish field guide we've seen. It also includes a staggering number of fish. This is our favorite single fish guide. Note that the hardcover edition includes more scientific details than the paperback. The paperback seems like more than enough for anyone but a working biologist. THe photographs in both editions are the same. It's also worth bringing Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific (2003) by Allen, Steene, Humann, and DeLoach for it's excellent photographs. (Amazon US | UK).

For invertebrates, Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific (1996) by Gosliner, Behrens, and Williams is excellent. (Amazon US | UK) Equally good is Tropical Pacific Invertebrates (1995) by Colin and Arneson. Apart from used copies, the sole source of this title is now the Coral Reef Research Foundation in Koror.

For birds, the only book needed is A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific (1987) by Pratt, Bruner and Berrett. (Amazon US | UK) Despite being an older title, this book is still the best overall guide to the birds of the region. In post cases, it's the only possible choice. Pratt's plates are the best currently in print and his species notes, range descriptions, and island-by-island checklists are exactly what a birder in the field wants. The only hard part about using this book in some locations is the vast area it covers. Finding the correct plates can be confusing, for example, because they try to group birds both systematically and geographically. Rumor has it, the revised edition of the book (still some years away from release) will be in two volumes to reduce the overall area of coverage for any one book. If visiting Palau, have a look for Field Guide to the Birds of Palau (1988) by John Engbring. This slim volume gives an interesting local perspective on the birds. The book can be hard to find outside of Palau but it was readily available and expensive on island the times we visited. Check at the museum gift shop for a good selection of books. Ibis Publishing publishes and distributes A Field Guide to the Birds of Yap Island (2003) by James F. Clements with illustrations by Dana Gardner. I've never seen this title and can't comment on its contents.

For travel guides, we used earlier editions of two Lonely Planet titles that have been consolidated into Lonely Planet South Pacific Micronesia (2006) by Geert Cole. (Amazon US | UK) The previous Micronesia and South Pacific were a big help throughout those areas of the Pacific without more specific guides.

The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection includes a variety of downloadable maps for the region.