Survivor: Palau · Season 10
In the Arena
Every challenge Survivor: Palau staged — who took immunity, who won reward, week by week.
25 challenges ran this season — 15 with immunity on the line and 11 for reward.
- Episode1
- Immunity
Race to Shore
The newly marooned castaways must jump off their boat, swim across the sea, and reach the drop-off beach where two individual Immunity Necklaces (one for each gender) are waiting. The first male and first female to wear the necklaces would win immunity.
Won by Ian
- Immunity + Reward
Supply Dump
Tribes must traverse an obstacle course involving a jungle race, a cargo net crawl, and a tire run. The tribe members would then arrive at a supply dump, where they would gather valuable supplies. The tribes would choose which items they want to race with. The next obstacle was a ten-foot wall that the contestants would need to get themselves and their supplies over. They would then wade through a waist-deep swamp before dropping the supplies on beach mats. The final leg would be an outrigger race on the water to retrieve their tribe flag. The first tribe to cross the finish line with their tribe flag would win. The tribes have to keep in mind that whatever items they pick at the supply dump are the only items they will obtain if they win the challenge.
Reward: The items that the winning tribe picked at the supply dump, as well as the right to choose between staying at their original camp or moving to a new camp.
Koror wins
- Episode2
- Reward
The Gauntlet
One at a time, each tribe member has to traverse a rope swing, three rolling barrels, a balance beam, a 'wobbly bridge', and two-rope hand-over-hand bridge to retrieve a pennant, followed by returning to the starting line. Meanwhile, two members of each tribe use swinging bags to try and knock their opponents into the water as they cross the three middle obstacles. First to ten wins.
Reward: Fishing gear.
Ulong wins
- Immunity
Heads Up
The two tribes must swim to a pontoon, dive down ten feet to a rope threaded through a barrel, and pull on it to drag a foot locker fifty feet until it is next to the barrel. They will then open it to release eight mess kits, take them back to a solving station on shore, and place them in the right order to spell the Morse code (which was given with Tree Mail for teams to memorize) for IMMUNITY. The first tribe to do so wins.
Koror wins
- Episode3
- Reward
By Any Means Necessary
In two-on-two match-ups, each tribe will swim out to retrieve an inner tube that Jeff launches from the seafloor and take it to their tribe's platform, while dealing with players from the opposing tribe. First player to touch the life ring and their tribe's pontoon wins a point. First tribe to three points wins.
Reward: A sewing kit
Ulong wins
- Immunity
Hot Pursuit
Tethered together in opposite sides of an oval course, the two tribes will wade around while carrying a twenty-pound backpack each. Players can drop out of the challenge at will, but they must give their pack to someone before unclipping themselves from the rope. The first tribe to catch the opponent and touch one of their members wins.
Koror wins
- Episode4
- Reward
Build a Better Bathroom
The format: Better Homes and Island Living
One player chooses six items from a barge loaded with Home Depot tools, and the tribe uses them, provided additional tools and materials and whatever else they can get their hands on to build a bathroom containing a toilet and a shower/wash area. The next morning, the head of the show's construction crew will visit the tribes and judge their bathrooms. The tribe with the best bathroom wins.
Reward: The Survivor production team would build a lavish shelter for the winning tribe.
Koror wins
- Immunity
Using large padded bags, each tribe member has to get their opponent off of a platform and into the surrounding water to earn a point. Contestants must have two hands on the bag at all times and no feet. There will be a series of one-on-one same-sex match-ups. First tribe to six points wins.
Koror wins
- Episode5
- Reward
Sea Salvage
One at a time, one member of each tribe sits on a small pontoon while the rest of the tribe uses a rope and pulley to haul them to above an underwater shipwreck, diving down to grab one of 14 submerged sake bottles, surfacing, and traveling back to the tribe platform. The first tribe to retrieve six sake bottles wins. Double Elimination: Regardless of the outcome, both tribes will face Tribal Council.
Reward: Beef stew and root beer to be enjoyed while watching the other tribe's Tribal Council.Added Stipulation: The winners of this challenge will have the power to grant one member from the losing tribe immunity through voting (although they were not told this until just before the losing tribe was ready to vote).
Koror wins
- Episode6
- Reward
Shooting Gallery
Taking turns, one player at a time (alternating tribes) uses a replica WWII cannon gun to shoot color-coded tiles. First tribe to break all eight of their tiles wins.
Reward: A trip to Jellyfish Lake, where the tribe would get to swim with sting-free jellyfish, as well as feast on Pringles and Mai Tai.
Ulong wins
- Immunity
Build It up, Break It Down
Prior to the challenge, each tribe must seal the opposing tribe's flag in a footlocker and use provided rope to try and make the footlocker as impenetrable as possible. At the challenge, they have to retrieve three bundles of floating lumber, then use the lumber and more rope to make it even more impenetrable. After 20 minutes, each tribe switches to the pile containing their flag and footlocker, grab it as quickly as possible, and raise the flag up a flagpole. First tribe to raise their flag wins.
Koror wins
- Episode7
- Reward
S.O.S.
The format: Sos Signal
Tribes are told via Tree Mail that a plane will be flying over their camps. Utilizing anything around their camp, they must get the plane's attention. The tribe with the better signal (judging will be based on the creativity, yet still recognizable), according to the plane's pilot and drop master would win reward (with the plane returning to the winning team's camp, and will drop a wooden crate with the reward encased in it).
Reward: Fishing gear, wine, and military rations
Koror wins
- Immunity
Sea Stars
The format: Floating Puzzle
This challenge is a giant 16-square sliding puzzle with a caller guiding the other two participating members to move the floating pieces around. The tribe may switch callers if they want. First tribe to finish their puzzle wins immunity.
Koror wins
- Episode8
- Reward
Cool Hand Balut
The format: Buggin' Out
Alternating players, each tribe must eat one, two, three, and four balut in each of four rounds. They must finish to score a point. Most points after four rounds wins. In a tie, each tribe chooses their own representative for the tiebreaker, eating five balut.
Reward: 55 gallons of fresh drinking water contained in a portable shower head, toiletries
Koror wins
- Immunity
Under Current
The format: Swahili Scramble
One at a time, the tribe members have to swim to the closest of a line of five pontoons, pull themselves along a rope beneath it to a bag of puzzle pieces, unclip it, climb up, run along a balance beam back to the first pontoon, and swim back to shore. The two tribes must repeat the process four times, heading to the next farthest pontoon each time. Once all four bags have been collected, both members have to assemble the pieces to form a word-search grid. They must find listed words in the grid, take the letters used in more than one word, and rearrange them to form a mystery three-word phrase.
Koror wins
- Episode9
- Immunity
Perch
Each tribe member will stand on top of a wooden pillar in the water. At random points, Jeff will tempt the survivors down by bribing food items. Last person left standing wins Immunity.
Won by Tom
- Episode10
- Reward
Water Tower
In teams of four, the castaways must take six individually shaped pieces of scaffolding into the water one at a time and assemble them to make a climbable tower. The members must then retrieve a pennant and swim back to shore.
Reward: Feast at village with the local chief.
- Immunity
The castaways are inside the water under a set of bars. As the tide rises, it will become more difficult to breathe, and they must start actively fighting their fear of drowning. Last person left wins immunity.
Won by Tom
- Episode11
- Immunity
Kamikaze
Each contestant has five color coded tiles in a grid of 35 tiles. One at a time the contestants throw coconuts to try and break their tiles. The first person to break all of their tiles (or have them broken) wins immunity.
Won by Ian
- Episode12
- Reward
First Quencher Qanda
The format: Survivor Quiz Show
Castaways would answer questions about Palau and Micronesia. If they got a question right, they would get to pull a lever, dropping a contestant's torch into the water. After three pulls, that person's torches all would fall into the water and they would be out. Last person standing wins.
Reward: A cruise. After boarding the yacht the contestants found their loved ones on board.
Won by Gregg
- Immunity
Second Chance
The format: Survivor Pentathlon
This is an elimination challenge. First up, the final six must go up a tire ladder and traverse a net maze. The first five contestants to make their way to the end of the maze move on. After that comes a sliding puzzle (solvable in 46 moves). First four move on. After that, the remaining four must eat three balut. The first three to finish their balut move on. The final three must untie a box, grab the flag inside, and raise it up a flagpole. First two move on. The two finalists must break three colored tiles with a replica WWII cannon gun. The first person to accomplish that wins immunity.
Won by Ian
- Episode13
- Reward
Raft Rally
The five remaining castaways must paddle a traditional Palauan bamboo raft to one of five pontoons, untie a color-coded bag, and bring it back to a crate on the dock. Once all five bags have been retrieved, they have to use the distance markers and a provided guide pole to correctly mark the distance between Palau and five major world cities.
Reward: Chevrolet Corvette, overnight stay at mansion with barbecue feast (car)
Won by Ian
- Immunity
R.A.M.
The format: Box Your Mind
The castaways have to cross a disc walk, a group of floating pontoons, and a two-rope hand-over-hand traverse to reach a platform. They must memorize the positions of fifteen images in the grid (each player has a different grid), then return to the start and use matching tiles to recreate the grid. They need to return to the grid at the far end if any mistakes are made. First person to correctly align their images wins.
Won by Tom
- Episode14
- Immunity
Tower of Domination
Survivors must race along a tire crawl, then navigate through a series of vertical escape hatches to reach the top of a three-story tower. Once at the top of the tower, the Survivors must use grappling hooks to retrieve keys that unlock a hatch covering a flag, which they must raise. The first two players to finish would race down a flying fox into the ocean and retrieve a combination lock box containing another flag. After figuring out the box's combination, the Survivors must retrieve the flag and raise it. The first person to raise their final flag wins Immunity.
Won by Tom
- Immunity
The Survivors must each grab onto a navigational buoy and hang on while the buoy sways from side to side. The last player left hanging on would win.
Won by Tom
A record set here
11h 55m
the longest challenge ever held
Palau's final-three buoy endurance ran almost twelve hours into the night, until Ian stepped off the buoy in exchange for Tom taking him to the end — the longest anyone has ever competed.