With less than 500 residents, Melekeok is the world's smallest national capital by population. Stuck on the east coast of Babeldaob, the largest island, Melekeok is a rare surfing site in the dive site-dominated Palau. The Japanese-funded Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge is Palau's Golden Gate Bridge that connects Melekeok State to its predecessor, the former capital, Koror. The neoclassical Presidential Office or "Palauan White House" is the state's most famous landmark, built at the heart of a tropical forest. Outside the Presidential Office or Capitol, cars and taxis run through concrete roads lined with coconut trees, which are just beside the deep blue North Beach, where surfers challenge the waves braking on the reef between the ocean and a shallow lagoon. Surfing and body boarding in Malekeok is a all-year-round activity due to the country's tropical climate. Luckily, it is outside the Pacific's typhoon zone.
Melekeok's Lake Ngardok is the largest natural body of fresh water in Mirconesia. The lake and its surrounding marshes form a breeding sanctuary for the country's endangered saltwater crocodiles, which are smaller compared to their Pacific counterparts. Near the lake is a natural reserve cradling an array of wildlife unique to Palau such as the Palau Fruit Dove, Palau Fantail, Micronesian Imperial Pigeon, Pacific Black Ducks, and Palau Flycatcher.
In Ngeremlengui, a beautiful waterfall beguiles tourists and locals for a cold escape from the Pacific heat. Archaeological highlights include Ngerchelong's Stone Faces, ancient stone monoliths, and mysterious terraced hillsides found in different places around Melekeok and Babeldoab.
Guest houses or cottages are Melekeok's usual way of housing its guests. The traditional bai, or coco palm halls, is where men in colorful woven clothes meet to tell stories about Palau's legends and history, which are also carved in their handicrafts like dilukai or sculptured figurines and etchings and purses woven from pandana leaves and palm. After the meetings, the locals indulge in common Palauan fare like taro leaf soup and beef steamed in titiml leaves. Fish, lobsters, and even fruit bats, are also turned into dishes and soups using coco milk as the base.
