New direct flight just made this paradise easily accessible

For the first time in its 53-year history, Nauru Airlines has launched direct flights from Australia to Palau, making this Pacific paradise, which most Australians can’t find on a map, accessible by a six-hour flight from Brisbane.

With more than 300 islands, aqua lagoons, a pristine reef system, overwater bungalows (there are five at the Palau Pacific Resort), glamping tents, resorts, boutique hotels and super yachts, it has been touted as a Maldives right on our doorstep.

You can now reach Palau in six hours on a non-stop flight from Brisbane.Credit: iStock

But like most high-end accommodation in that Indian Ocean location, food and drinks are expensive, particularly at resorts, with one charging $100 a bottle for an Australian chardonnay which retails for $10 back home, and another serving up a tuna sandwich for $30. A sting heightened by the fact that the accepted currency in Palau is US dollars.

The good news for visitors in this destination – 650 kilometres north-east of Papua New Guinea – is that you can feast on the likes of fresh fish and Japanese fare for relatively reasonable prices outside the resorts. Even better, along with no traffic lights, there are no franchises, lending a certain charm to this Micronesian mystery.

Palau Visitors Authority managing director Kadoi Ruluked says Palau received 41,227 visitors in 2023, of whom 1172 were Australians. Australian tourists rank sixth after China, Taiwan and the United States, but surprisingly Australians are among the top spenders.

Diving and snorkelling are among the island nation’s major attractions.

Currently, Palau is home to 16 resorts, 21 hotels, 142 restaurants and eight live-aboard boats. More accommodation is planned, Ruluked says, with construction of an Indigo Hotel – part of IHG – set for completion by year’s end.

Four Seasons, which already has the luxury yacht Four Seasons Explorer Palau in its waters, also has plans to build a new resort.

Ruluked believes Australians will be drawn to Palau due to its proximity, direct flights and experiences such as diving and conservation.

“You cruise out to the Rock Islands and it is so clean. You come into the city and it is clean. Other cities are not as pristine as Palau,” he says of his country, which asks visitors on arrival to sign a world-first pledge – stamped in your passport – to protect the environment.

Ruluked concedes Palau can be expensive for Australians due to the exchange rate with the US dollar, but expects the addition of more tourism experiences in the future to drive expenses down.

While diving has put Palau on the map, other experiences, such as snorkelling and community-based tourism, are on the horizon, according to Ruluked.

On arrival, visitors are required to pledge to protect the environment.

Nauru Airlines’ introductory two-for-one fares cost $1199 return, with flights leaving Brisbane on Tuesday nights and returning from Palau the following week on a Wednesday night.

Nauru Airlines spokesman James Blake says if they filled one flight per week on their Boeing 737 aircraft, they’d deliver the desired 6000 Australians a year to the island nation. If successful, the airline plans to add more direct flights from Australia to Palau.

But is Palau the new Maldives or something else entirely?

With its plethora of emerald islands, it’s a little like the Whitsundays with a dash of Thailand, a sprinkle of the Philippines and a hint of Indonesia, making it more like an emerging destination in its own right. Just don’t expect to pay Bali prices.

The writer travelled as a guest of Nauru Airlines. See nauruair.com