Chandelier Cave
Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.
Chandelier is a flooded cave system beneath a Rock Island where divers surface, one chamber at a time, into air pockets hung with stalactites — evidence the cave formed dry, when ice-age seas sat far lower. Guides lead through four chambers, masks off if you like in the last, headlamps playing over formations that drip just above the waterline. The dive is shallow and short, but it is an honest overhead environment: silt lifts easily and the exit is a doorway, not a surface. Outside, the rubble slope by the entrance hides mandarinfish — many divers spend longer there than in the cave.
The moment you come for: Surfacing among stalactites; torchlight in the final chamber; mandarinfish hunting in the entrance rubble at dusk.
Topography: Limestone cave with silt floor and a series of air-filled chambers
Entry: Minutes from Koror's marinas; entry through a dark doorway at the base of a Rock Island.
Know before you splash
Hazards: Overhead environment with fine silt; surface only where the guide surfaces; carry a light and a backup.
Conservation: Do not touch the formations — skin oils and knocks end their growth permanently.
Who you'll meet
Common Reef (Day) Octopus
Mandarinfish
Nudibranchs
For photographers
Wide angle: ★★★★☆ · Macro: ★★★★☆ — editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting