The country of Palau in Micronesia has many thousands of islands, some quite big, some very small and others in between. These islands have at least 30 saltwater lakes on them. One of these islands, Eil Malk Island, located 30 minutes from the populated areas of Palau, has a saltwater lake, Jellyfish Lake, located in its interior at an elevation above sea level. What has occurred is that many millions of years ago the land was raised and the lake cut off from the sea. When this happened, jellyfish of the species Mastigias were isolated from the ocean and over the years since have lost the ability to sting (the identical species in Palau Lagoon give a bad sting!).

One jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake	Another jellyfish, I did not see that many

Once you get to the lake, you snorkel out into the middle of the lake and along the way you will find the jellyfish. They can be found in small numbers or in huge numbers that make your snorkelling seem like a jelly wrestling match. There are also some small fish and another species of jellyfish but otherwise, the lake is quite barren and dull.

I would not give up another dive for this experience, but if it is offered to your on the way back from the Blue Hole or Blue Corner, it is possibly worth the effort.

In summary, different but hardly outstanding.

NOTE: Photos scanned 2011 from slides taken in 1991 using Nikonos IV-A