Viewed from the backseat of the tiny Cessna 206 at 1,400 feet, the Japanese airstrip built on Peleliu Island in the 1930s — and not significantly improved since — looked more like a goat path through the jungle. There are more than 700 species of coral, and ocean preservation group CEDAM named it one of the Seven Wonders of the Underwater World, comparable to the Blue Hole in Belize, the Galapagos and the Great Barrier Reef. Which is how I came to be exploring the country by air, land and, yes, sea, to seek out the island culture, to kayak a UNESCO site, to witness the scars of World War II, to intentionally cavort with jellyfish, as well as to find other diversions that don’t involve strapping on dive tanks or dodging sharks. Time, tides, wind and water ate away most of the exposed limestone, leaving the mushroom-shaped jungle-topped isles, some of which are home to Palau’s more than 70 marine lakes — the highest concentration anywhere on the planet, according to UNESCO. Around 2500 B.C.