Jetsettersblog

Palau is highlighting its Live Aboard options for divers.

The Palau Aggressor II is an 18-passenger, 106-foot aluminum catamaran. Sunday-to-Sunday charters explore such dive sites as the Blue Corner, Ulong Channel, Blue Holes, and many more.

Charters include a visit to remote Peleliu Island as well. Diving, accommodations, meals, snacks, soft beverages, beer, wine and service from a professional crew are included. The boat may be hired for private charters, film production support and marine research.

For more information, call 800-348-2628, email palau@aggressor.com

or visit www.aggressor.com

The Ocean Hunter I is a 60-foot motorsailer Liveaboard, exclusively designed to accommodate only six divers.

It has been in Palau for 18 years and just underwent an upgrade. Each of the cabins are now fitted with private A/C units, toilets and showers.

A fixture on this exclusive yacht is the crew, led by Capt. Troy Ngiraikelau, who has gone on over 8,000 dives in Palau, and Chef Roy with over 9,000 gourmet meals under his belt.

Ocean Hunter I has an average of 55 percent repeat guests, a sum that very few (if at all) liveaboards achieve.

Those that charter this liveaboard will enjoy unlimited diving on board, diving from the main boat and being able to get close to the dive sites as well as professional underwater photography services, gourmet health food and a rich scientific marine library.

For more information, call 680-488-2637, email info@oceanhunter.com  or visit www.oceanhunter.com. For general destination information, visit www.visit-palau.com

Palau is featuring a number of scuba packages from two of its most prominent tour operators. Sam’s Tours Palau offers three specially priced all-inclusive packages. Each of the packages includes seven nights’ accommodations, including taxes and service charges; airport transfers; five days of two-tank diving; Jellyfish Lake snorkel after a two-tank dive day; third dive at Chandelier Cave; hotel transfers; lunch and refreshments each dive day; guide, tanks and weights; free Nitrox up to 36 percent (with proof of certification); unlimited diving at Sam’s Macro Wall; and a Sam’s Tours water bottle. The package is valid through Dec. 31.

For more information, call 680-488-1062, email reservations@samstours.com  or visit www.samstours.com.

Fish ‘n Fins Palau offers specially priced all-inclusive hotel packages. Included in each of the hotel packages are transfers; Shuffle Service from the hotel to the dive shop; breakfast and lunch on diving days; tanks and weights; free Nitrox to 32 percent; and surface interval snorkeling between the Rock Islands. The prices are valid through Sept. 30. Fish ‘n Fins is also offering a 15 percent discount on scuba diving/liveaboard trips through Sept. 30 aboard Ocean Hunter I. Ocean Hunter I’s shallow draft enables her to navigate close to reefs and drop-offs. Gourmet health food, 7 to 14 days flexible itinerary and unlimited diving will makes this dive vacation in Palau a lifetime experience.

The 160-room Palau Pacific Resort’s seven-night/five-day (10 dives) package is priced from $1,475. The newest resort in Palau, the Palau Royal Resort’s seven-night/five-day (10 dives) package is priced from $1,225. The Sea Passion Hotel’s dive rates start at $1,150 per person double. The Palau Plantation Resort is offering a seven-night/five-day (10 dives) package from $1,050 per person double. For more information, visit www.visit-palau.com

EVA Air will introduce direct passenger flights between Taipei, Taiwan and the United States territory of Guam on June 18, 2011.

Starting with two flights a week, the airline will serve its new Mariana Islands route using Airbus 330-200s.

EVA is working with travel agents to create tour packages for both independent travelers and groups. Designed for everything from dive trips to wedding parties, a variety of products are planned so that visitors can enjoy the island’s beauty to the fullest.

For more information, visit

www.evaair.com

The Star Alliance has introduced the Micronesia Airpass. Passengers an purchase up to 10 flights on the Continental Airlines and United network across Micronesia, all in a single ticket at an attractive price.

Travel on the Micronesia Airpass can commence from any Star Alliance destination in Japan, as well as from Cairns, Guam, Hong Kong, Manila, Nadi, Palau or Saipan and is available only in conjunction with an international Star Alliance flight into any of these destinations.

Micronesia consists of more than 2,000 islands scattered across the North Pacific and is an ideal location for many types of water sports, such as scuba diving, surfing, kayaking or fishing.

Star Alliance member carriers Continental Airlines and United offer the most comprehensive airline network in Micronesia.

In addition to Guam, customers can choose to travel to: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia; Kwajalein Atoll and Majuro in the Marshall Islands; Rota and Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands as well as Palau.

For more information, visit www.staralliance.com

Known to many as the location for the bloodiest battles of World War II, war buffs will appreciate Peleliu’s plethora of historical and commemorative elements.

Available year-round, Palau’s World War II/Peleliu Excursion is an integral part of Palau’s history, rounding out the varied interests and attractions found within the destination’s natural habitats.

Peleliu Island was the scene of one of the Pacific’s bloodiest battles when U.S. Marines made an amphibious assault on the beaches of Peleliu in 1944 to liberate the island from Japanese forces.

Peleliu was heavily fortified with massive concrete bunkers and over 300 man-made and reinforced natural caves used to shelter the Japanese forces during massive naval bombardments prior to the assault.

Remnants of Japanese headquarters buildings, incredible cave systems, gun emplacements, tanks, planes and weapons can still be seen today.

Sam’s Tours works closely with Peleliu Adventures, a small locally owned tour company based in Peleliu that offers professionally guided tours to battles sites, tanks, shrines, historical monuments and the Peleliu WWII Museum.

For more information, call Sam’s Tours at 680-488-1062 or email reservations@samstours.com  or call Fish ‘n Fins at 680-488-2637 or email info@fishnfins.com

Additionally, for those planning ahead, Fish ‘N Fins will hold their Wrexpedition from June 4 to 11, to dive and explore Palau’s historic World War II “Forgotten Fleet” of Japanese ships and planes which were sunk by U.S. forces during Operation Desecrate One in March 1944.

The program includes guest speakers, historians, slide shows, movies and historical presentations.

For more information, contact call Fish ‘N Fins at 680-488-2637 or email info@fishnfins.com

Local operator Neco Marine Tours also offers a scenic boat ride to the island of Peleliu and a guided tour around the island, which can be combined with diving there.

Guests will visit the World War II battlefields; see the old tanks, gun emplacements, bunkers, communication centers, the Japanese HQ and airplane wrecks; as well as a stop at Peleliu’s War Memorial Museum, where WWII artifacts are on display.

There’s also an opportunity to spend time at the memorials to both American and Japanese soldiers lost during the war.

For more information, call 680-488- 1755,

email info@necomarine.com  

or visit www.necomarine.com/landtours.html  

or www.visit-palau.com

Palau is taking strides to preserve its natural resources, including sharks, whales, jelly fish, dolphins, agriculture, aquaculture and coral reefs. Eco-friendly practices are indigenous to the local culture and traditions and are now becoming a springboard for the island nation as several Palauan entities are enhancing their practices.

Palau’s former president, Tommy E. Remengesau, a key supporter of Shark Sanctuary, signed into law on Sept. 5, 2003, some of the world toughest shark protection legislation with heavy penalty of up to $250,000 per incident for violation. The ground-breaking legislation remains the law in Palau today, despite recent efforts to overturn. In January 2004, Palau received international recognition from Shark Project as a recipient of their first Shark Guardian of the year for passage of such tough shark protection law.

On Sept. 25, 2009, President Johnson Toribiong, during his address to the United Nation General Assembly, officially declared Palau’s Exclusive Economic Zone as the world’s first officially recognized shark sanctuary. Since implementing this program, many other destinations have followed suit, including the Maldives, United States and Guam.

Palau has also declared all the waters within its Exclusive Economic Zone to be a marine mammal sanctuary for the protection of whales, dolphins and dugongs. Palau Minister of Natural Resources Environment and Tourism Harry R. Fritz announced the new 600,000-square-kilometer (231,660-square-mile) area last year. “From ancient times to today, we have conserved our biodiversity through the tools of ‘bul’ or moratoria, and protection of critical areas,” said Fritz. “Biodiversity has always been integral to the Palauan culture. Our traditional identity, values, legends and practices are intimately linked to our surroundings and to our relationships with living creatures. Conservation of biodiversity is ingrained in our daily approach to life and inherent in the meaning of our words.”

To complement these efforts, the Palau Conservation Society (PCS) has been a leader in conservation of Palau’s environment. Dedicated to the protection of biodiversity, Palau’s natural resources and to local communities that use those resources, PCS supports the establishment and management of conservation areas, the development of sustainable resource use policies and an increase of environmental awareness. For more information, visit www.palau-pcs.org.

The Palau-Taiwan Agrotourism Project is promoting both agriculture and tourism in Palau. The Palau-Taiwan Agrotourism Farm, located in Nekken, Aimeliik State, is now open. This site is not only an educational facility but also serves to demonstrate how local plants are grown, harvested and processed and cultivates 21 species of tropical fruits, such as soursop, breadfruit, jackfruit, carambola, mangosteen, jujube, rambutan, wax apple, pili nut, lanzones, noni, pitaya, giant grandadilla and tree cucumber, as well as such common fruits as pineapple, papaya, guava, lemon and sour orange. Processed fruit and vegetable products are also available and include taro wine and noni juice. For more information, email s.p.lin@icdf.org.tw.

Adjacent to a tropical forest, the farm leads to a nature trail with beautifully colored birds, some of which are endemic to the Palauan islands, including the biib, Palau’s national bird. For more information, call 680-544-1616. In addition to the aforementioned government initiatives, Palau is also home to some of nature’s most spectacular wonders of the world, namely the plethora and variety of coral, which is featured at the Coral Reef Center, Jellyfish Lake, Micronesian Shark Foundation’s Shark Week, the (new) River Boat Jungle Cruise, and Dolphins Pacific.

The Palau Aquarium is the interpretive division of Palau International Coral Reef Center, a non-profit organization which opened 10 years ago and has become one of the best land-based attractions for tourists and locals alike. It offers first-hand experiences to inspire understanding and respect of Palau’s natural marine ecosystems. For more information, visit www.picrc.org.

Jellyfish Lake is home to two types of jellyfish — the golden jellyfish known as mastigias and the moon jellyfish known as aurelia. The lake is an enclosed body of water where, over the course of millennia, resident jellyfish have a mild, almost unnoticeable sting because they do not have to fight off predators, allowing adventurers a rare opportunity to swim among the unique water creatures. In order to access this unique adventure, visitors will need to enlist the transport of a local tour guide at one of the tour shops operating in Palau. The Rock Island and Jellyfish Lake entry permit is $35 per person in addition to the tour package. It is recommended that visitors’ sign up for the full-day excursion, which includes snorkeling, lunch in the Rock Islands and a trip to nature’s spa, the Milky Way. For more information, visit www.visit-palau.com.

Shark enthusiasts are invited to enjoy a shark-themed week full of adrenalin-packed activities as the Micronesian Shark Foundation (MSF) holds its eighth annual shark week at Palau’s Fish ‘n Fins dive shop from March 19 to 26. One of Palau’s newest attractions is the River Boat Jungle Cruise. Located in Ngchesar State, the Jungle River Boat Cruise is one of Palau’s eco-friendly tours, providing visitors with the ideal opportunity to relax and enjoy the island’s natural attributes firsthand. Dolphins Pacific is the world’s largest marine mammal interaction, educational and research facility. “Dolphin Bay,” located on the northern side of Ngeruktabel Island in Palau, is situated in a 200-million-gallon saltwater lagoon. For more information, visit www.dolphinspacific.com.

Located in the westernmost corner of Micronesia, Palau is an archipelago of more than 586 islands with about 20,000 inhabitants. Consistently ranked as one of the world’s best dive destinations, Palau is the ultimate paradise for the adventurous traveler, boasting some of the most spectacular water features and beaches as well as the world-famous Rock Islands and Jellyfish Lake. With more than 1,400 species of fish and 500 species of coral, some have called Palau the “Eighth Natural Wonder of the World,” while others have identified Palau as “One of the Seven Underwater Wonders of the World.” For more information about Palau, visit www.visit-palau.com

Continental Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of United
Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL), has introduced a new application for iPhone, iPad and iPod
touch users that gives travelers easy access to their travel information. With the free, full-
featured app, Continental customers can book reservations – - including reward travel — check-
in for flights, have one-touch access to mobile boarding passes and flight status details, and
manage their OnePass frequent flyer accounts.

“The Continental Airlines App is another example of Continental’s commitment to technology and
innovation that makes travel more convenient for our customers,” said Jared Miller, Continental’s
managing director of selfservice and emerging technology. “This app provides time-saving, full-
featured access to the information that our customers need on the go, as well as other useful
tools for travelers such as interactive airport smart maps and flight updates sent directly to their
iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.”

The new app also includes a feed of Continental’s latest postings on Twitter. Continental will soon
expand the accessibility of the application to the Android platform,
and is exploring other smartphone options.

The Continental Airlines app is available from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at
www.itunes.com/appstore/.
About Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:
UAL). Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than
2,400 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 142 domestic and 131
international destinations. Continental is a member of Star Alliance, which overall offers more
than 21,200 daily flights to 1,172 airports in 181 countries through its 28 member airlines.
Continental has hubs serving Cleveland, Guam, Houston and New York/Newark Liberty, and
together with its regional partners, carries approximately 63 million passengers per year.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. became the holding company for both United and Continental
upon close of the merger transaction. The two airlines will operate separately as they begin to
integrate key customer services, marketing activities and airport processes. For more company
information, go to continental.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.

Continental Airlines is the only carrier offering daily nonstop service from Hong Kong, Beijing and
Shanghai to New York. Continental is also the largest carrier in New York and offers connections
to over 150 destinations throughout the Americas. The routes are serviced with B777-200
aircraft with spacious cabins and individual entertainment in every seat. Continental Airlines is
also the only carrier offers direct service from Hong Kong to Guam. For reservations, please
contact Continental Reservations (852) 3198 5777.

Tumon, Guam – Flight changes announced on Friday by Continental Airlines will enhance its current schedule between Guam and Yap, increasing the number of seats available between the two destinations.

The revised schedule entails one weekly flight operating Guam-Yap-Palau and Palau-Yap-Guam, as well as a new dedicated flight from Guam-Yap-Guam.

According to a press release by Continental, service between Yap and Palau will be maintained once per week in conjunction with Palau’s live-aboard boat schedules.

“When airlines add flights that better connect the islands of Micronesia, we’re always hopeful that will bring more visitors to our region, or allow local residents to explore their neighboring islands,” said PATA Micronesia Chapter Chairman Darin De Leon.

“New flights with added seat capacity are always a plus for the region of Micronesia.”

, contact Darin De Leon at

ddeleon.pva@visit-palau.com

 or at plaguana@visitguam.org

New Pacific Flier Airline Gives Neighboring Island Residents, Visitors a Low-Cost Option to Guam
Tumon, Guam – The arrival of the new Pacific Flier airline at A.B. Won Pat International Airport will give residents and visitors of Palau, the Philippines, and Australia’s Gold Coast another low-cost option to come to Guam, according to Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB).

From January to May 2010, 1,988 visitors total have arrived on Guam from the three destinations.

With easier access and a low-cost airline option for potential travelers, GVB expects that number to increase.

“It’s always a good sign to see more carriers at the airport,” said GVB Acting General Manager Ernie A. Galito.

“We anticipate the increased seat capacity for those visitors from Palau, the Philippines, and Australia, as well as the low cost, will help give more travelers a chance and desire to experience Guam.”

Currently, round-trip tickets on Palau-based Pacific Flier range from $199 to $899, depending on the destination and booking date.

The airline will be utilizing one Airbus aircraft for flights.

The breathtaking art of the South Pacific is as close as Long Beach, at the new Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum (PieAM), which opened June 12 in Long Beach, near the Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA).

Like entering an island village, the museum features a traditionally peaked building and lush sculpture garden with native South Pacific plants.

A mural (by Long Beach native Art Mortimer) recreates a traditional Men’s House from the Island of Yap on the building’s exterior; while inside sculptures, textiles, paintings, wooden tools, jewelry and carvings from across the Pacific showcase the arts of the Marshall, Samoa, Guam, Fiji and Tongan islands.

Nationalities represented include Micronesian, Hawaiian, Ni-Vanuatu, Maori, Polynesian, Melanesian, Palauan, and the I-Kiribati.

Permanent and rotating exhibits as well as continually commissioned new works will be enhanced with traditional dance performances, interactive cultural demonstrations and learning programs.

PieAM was created by the late Dr. Robert Gumbiner, who died in January 2009, and includes his personal collection of Pacific Island ethnic art.

PieAM also is available for small-sized meetings and banquets.

www.pieam.org