Location: Palau, Federated States of Micronesia

Published: Sport Diver Magazine

Deep in the heart of Nikko Bay in Palau’s Rock Islands, there’s writing on the wall. Moments earlier, I’d left my kayak in a cove and ascended a ladder up a sheer limestone face to find this haunting place, an ammunition shed built by the Japanese during World War II. “You’re looking at words echoing out of the past,” says biologist Ron Leidich, the founder of Planet Blue Sea Kayak Tours and my guide during a seven-night kayaking, diving and camping expedition through the Rock Islands.