Aimeliik
The thing that stops people in Aimeliik is the land itself — specifically, what people did to it. For roughly 1,300 years, beginning at least 2,400 years ago, communities here carved terraces into the volcanic hillsides of Babeldaob, reshaping entire ridgelines by hand. The largest of these earthworks in all of Palau sit in the village of Ngebedech, where the scale of the effort only becomes clear when you stand at the edge and look.
Aimeliik — traditionally called Ngerbuns — is one of Palau's 16 states, quiet enough that its tourism program runs on two staff members and a small budget. Near the state's bai, a traditional men's meetinghouse, you'll find Malsol's Tomb, said to mark where a warrior from a neighbouring state was stoned to death by the village women. The stories here are old and specific.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to mention the same things: go to the Ngebedech terraces early, before the heat settles in, and bring more water than you think you need. Stop into the Visitor Information Center first — the exhibit on archaeologist Jolie Liston's three-decade study of the earthworks gives the landscape a frame that makes everything you see afterward land differently.
Deals in Aimeliik
Book directly at the providerHow Aimeliik came to be
Aimeliik's recorded colonial history follows the arc common to much of Palau: Spanish governance until 1899, then sold to Germany, then passed to Japan after 1919, and finally under American administration after World War II. The state adopted its own constitution in 1982 and established its state government in 1983.
But the deeper history is written in the hillsides. The terracing of Aimeliik's volcanic landscape began at least 2,400 years ago and continued for over a millennium. Archaeologists have been studying these earthworks since the 1960s; Jolie Liston has spent more than three decades mapping them, and her team recently surveyed 2,400 acres using drones. Traditional leadership here centres on the title of Rengulbai — the high chief of the state — a role whose authority once extended across Aimeliik's largest region.
Who and what shaped it
People who shaped it
Landmark buildings
See Aimeliik in motion
Plan your visit
On the map
When to go
Aimeliik runs warm and humid year-round, with temperatures between 25°C and 30°C and humidity rarely dropping below 77%. There's no true dry season, but February through April sees fewer showers and is generally the most comfortable window for time outdoors.
Right now
Background & history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · specs from Wikidata (CC0) · weather from Open-Meteo · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · photos from Wikimedia Commons / Unsplash with per-image credit. No third-party reviews or social posts reproduced.