Palau

Is Palau safe to visit?

Yes. Palau has a US Level 1 advisory, reissued on 6 January 2026, and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary describes crime as low, with theft of unattended items the most likely problem. Visitors are far more likely to be hurt on a dive, on the road at night or in a typhoon than by another person. We score Palau 64, below the Federated States of Micronesia at 71, and the reason is mostly arithmetic.

Why the numbers look worse than the streets

Palau has about 17,700 people. At that size, one killing adds almost six to the homicide rateHomicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary per 100,000. UNODC recorded 16.9 homicides per 100,000 in 2015 and 11.2 in 2018, which means about three cases and two cases. Averaged, that is about 14, the 8–20 band in our rubric, so violent crime scores 55. Nothing in the US or UK advice points to violence aimed at tourists, and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says confrontational crime is unlikely, but we score on the rates and say plainly how fragile they are.

Road deaths work the same way. WHO's modelled estimate for 2021 is 22.2 per 100,000, roughly four deaths a year, which puts Palau in the 15–25 band and gives road safety 42. The World Bank series, built on deaths reported to WHO, last has a figure for 2013: 4.8 per 100,000, or one death. We score on the WHO 2021 estimate, as for every country, but the true figure is uncertain. Our confidence is low.

Roads and drink-driving

Palau's network is small, about 125 km of road of which only 36 km is paved, mostly on Koror and Babeldaob. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says main roads are in reasonable condition but inland roads can be narrow and damaged by summer floods. Overtaking is illegal, yet drivers overtake anyway, and drink-driving is a common cause of crashes, especially at night and at weekends. Roads outside Koror are unlit, with people and animals on them. A UK photocard licence is valid for 30 days.

Diving, the sea and wartime bombs

Most visitors come for the reefs, the jellyfish-filled marine lakes and the Rock Islands, and this is where most of the risk sits. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says there are more than 60 vertical drop-offs, some suitable only for experienced divers, and that dive school standards are not always as high as in the UK. Before you book, check the operator's credentials, that oxygen is on the boat, and how it would get you to Palau's only recompression chamber, at Belau National Hospital in Koror, less than two hours from most dive sites. Take local advice before jumping from high rocks.

Peleliu was a battlefield from September to November 1944, and unexploded bombs and weapons remain there and on Angaur. The risk is highest in caves and off the main trails. Do not touch metal objects; photograph them and report them.

Palau also bans reef-toxic sunscreen. Bring one based on zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

Typhoons, drought and health care

Palau sits at the southern edge of the western Pacific typhoon belt, so storms are less frequent than further north, but they do hit. Typhoon Bopha in December 2012 affected 1,250 people on Babeldaob, Peleliu and Angaur and caused US$15–20 million in damage; Haiyan in 2013 hit Kayangel and Babeldaob a year later, according to a disaster handbook published in August 2026. The same handbook names El Niño droughts, which threaten water supplies, as the other main hazard. Rain peaks from July to August, and downpours can wash out roads.

Health risks are modest. There is no malaria, though dengue returned in July 2025 after more than a decade, and CDC recommends hepatitis A and typhoid vaccines. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary calls care adequate for routine needs: Belau National Hospital in Koror can operate and treat diving injuries, and private clinics expect cash. Anything beyond that may need evacuation abroad, so buy insurance that covers it and your dives.

How to stay safe

• Pay attention at card readers and use ATMs inside banks; the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary reports more card fraud.
• Do not drive at night outside Koror, and be careful on weekend evenings.
• Choose a dive operator that carries oxygen and dive within your certification.
• Stick to marked trails on Peleliu and Angaur.
• Call 911 in an emergency.

How we scored it

Conflict (92) and petty crime (80) are the strongest factors. Road safety (42) and violent crime (55) are the weakest, both because rates from a population of 17,700 swing on two or three deaths a year; we use the WHO 2021 road estimate and a two-year homicide average. Natural hazards (65) and health (62) reflect typhoons, drought and limited hospital care. Confidence is low.