Visitors often treat the Pledge and the fee as one thing. They are not. One is a promise with no price attached. The other is a tax set by Palau's national congress, the Olbiil Era Kelulau, with every dollar assigned by law. A third set of rules, on sunscreen, is enforced by Customs at the bag check.
What is the Palau Pledge?
It is a short promise addressed to Palau's children. The University of Colorado Law Review quotes it in full. It opens "Children of Palau, I take this pledge, as your guest, to preserve and protect your beautiful and unique island home" and closes "The only footprints I shall leave are those that will wash away."
Palau's Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and the airport operator both say all visitors must sign the Pledge, which is stamped into their passports. You sign at immigration in the international airport at Ngerusar, Airai State, on the main island of Babeldaob, a 20 to 30 minute drive from Koror. Nothing about the Pledge happens in Koror or at the capital, Ngerulmud.
The Pledge has no fine attached. We looked for a statute that makes its wording binding and did not find one. The 2018 Responsible Tourism Education Act mentions the Pledge only in the President's signing letter. What the Act does require is that incoming aircraft and vessels help notify passengers of Palau's environmental and cultural policies, and that tour operators offer reusable alternatives to disposable plastic cups, bottles and straws.
How does the USD 100 environmental fee work?
The fee comes from RPPL No. 10-02, the 2017 law that renamed an earlier "Environmental Impact Fee". The law text says every passenger aged 13 or older pays USD 100 for each international departure, but not more than once in any 30-day period. It is collected through the price of airline tickets, under rules set by the Minister of Finance.
The Palau Visitors Authority's public notice set the switch date: tickets issued on or after 1 January 2018 include the USD 100. The same law repealed the old departure tax once the new fee took effect, so there is no separate charge to pay in cash at the airport on a current ticket.
The law exempts:
- Palauan citizens and their spouses
- Pilots and crew of commercial aircraft
- Diplomats with a diplomatic passport
- Holders of a valid Palau work visa
- Transit passengers
Where the USD 100 goes
The split is written into RPPL No. 10-02 itself.
| Share | Recipient |
|---|---|
| USD 30 | Green Fee for Palau's Protected Areas Network |
| USD 25 | Airport operations and maintenance |
| USD 22.50 | National Treasury |
| USD 12.50 | State governments (70% in equal shares, 30% by population) |
| USD 10 | Fisheries Protection Trust Fund |
The Green Fee flows to the PAN Fund, a nonprofit trustee created by Palau law that opened in March 2012 and funds the management of the protected sites that join the network. According to RPPL No. 10-02, the USD 100 charge itself began life as the Environmental Impact Fee created by the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Act. The Palau National Marine Sanctuary has closed 80% of the country's exclusive economic zone to fishing and other extraction since 1 January 2020. The Pew Charitable Trusts reported in March 2026 that Palau expected the levy to raise about USD 7 million in fiscal 2025.
What a family pays
Two adults travelling with children of 14 and 10: the law makes three of them liable, so USD 300. The 10-year-old is under the age threshold. The notices we read did not say how airlines price the fee on a child's ticket, so check the tax breakdown on your booking.
A diver flying Palau to Guam and back within three weeks departs internationally twice. Under the 30-day rule the fee is due once. Because airlines collect it automatically, the second ticket may still carry it. We could not read an official refund procedure, so ask the airline and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection before you fly.
What sunscreen can you bring to Palau?
Only sunscreen whose active ingredients are zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide. The Office of the President announced in March 2020 that new regulations went further than the 2018 Act's original list of ten banned chemicals, ruling out every active ingredient and preservative known or suspected to harm reefs. The ban on sale took effect on 1 January 2020.
The 2020 regulations ban whole chemical families, including benzophenones such as oxybenzone, cinnamates, salicylates and PABA derivatives. Preservatives such as parabens, triclosan and phenoxyethanol are banned too. Customs confiscates reef-toxic sunscreen found at the entry inspection. The regulations allow Customs to set up a way of returning it on departure but do not require one, so do not count on getting your bottle back. Fines of up to USD 100 per unit, capped at USD 5,000 or USD 10,000 per case, are aimed at sellers, distributors and importers.
Permits the fee does not cover
The environmental fee is a national charge and does not buy entry to any site. The Rock Islands, where most dive and snorkel trips go, need their own permits. The Palau Visitors Authority lists a Rock Islands permit at USD 50 for five days and a Jellyfish Lake permit at USD 100 that includes the Rock Islands. Your tour operator usually arranges these, but confirm whether they are in the quote. Our Jellyfish Lake guide covers whether the lake is open.
Before you fly, check three things: your ticket's tax lines show the USD 100 fee once, your Entry Form QR code is saved on your phone, and every sunscreen in your bag passes the ingredient test above.