Question French Polynesia, Fiji or Palau?

[miaa]

Hello!
I would really appreciate your help on planning a special trip for May/Juni 2025.

We are two AOW divers with 55 logged dives.

Our last 2 trips:
Oct 2023 Nusa Penida, Tulamben, Pandangbai
Feb 2024 Hurghada
We have dove in Zanzibar, Marsa Alam, Aqaba and Curacao too.

Our next trips:
May 2024 Bonaire (our first time diving without DM)
Nov 2024 Rocky, Zabargad, St Johns (our first liveaboard)

We think we can finish this year with 80-100 dives.

We would love to go to french polynesia (rangiroa und/or fakarava) but I am afraid we still dont have enough experience. We are comfortable with relatively strong currents. But I have read that in Fakarava the current can be crazy strong. Is it comparable to that in Nusa Penida? How many dives are recommended?

Other options are Palau or Fiji (Somosomo Strait, Shark reef marine reserve). Again how many dives are recommended?

I'd love to see beautiful corals, sponges, endemic fishes and pelagic.

Thank you very much in advance!

 

[Shasta_man]

Perhaps do Palau or Fiji before you do FP. FP does have currents but also they tend to dive deep in their sites which uses your air quicker so being comfortable, and reasonably fit, would be a good thing.

Palau tends to be wall dives and ironically for your question, drift dives where you dive in the current but purposefully ride the current along so you don't worry about the current unless you try to stop prematurely. I'd suggest a liveaboard for that area because the ride for land based diving would be longer. Also, ironically, while it is a liveaboard, it tends to anchor in the prime area and use the boat as a hub to the sites in all directions, but it's then just a ten minute ride. Except for specific areas of Fiji, Palau will be the most sharky place of the two.

Fiji is also a great place to go. Somosomo Straight and Taveuni are good locations. I enjoyed the Nai'a liveaboard because it goes in more open ocean locations so conditions are a bit more sporty sometimes so you could get more experience but not so tough to dive. Plus Fiji people are fantastic.

I suggest it is not necessarily the number of dives that defines ability but the experience you get when doing them and whether you have the right attitude to learn from those experiences. Suggestion #1 is to listen to the dive guide, and generally follow the dive plan at least rather than entering the water and immediately going in the opposite direction and coming back with 100 lbs of air left. YMMV

 

[miaa]

Perhaps do Palau or Fiji before you do FP. FP does have currents but also they tend to dive deep in their sites which uses your air quicker so being comfortable, and reasonably fit, would be a good thing.

Palau tends to be wall dives and ironically for your question, drift dives where you dive in the current but purposefully ride the current along so you don't worry about the current unless you try to stop prematurely. I'd suggest a liveaboard for that area because the ride for land based diving would be longer. Also, ironically, while it is a liveaboard, it tends to anchor in the prime area and use the boat as a hub to the sites in all directions, but it's then just a ten minute ride. Except for specific areas of Fiji, Palau will be the most sharky place of the two.

Fiji is also a great place to go. Somosomo Straight and Taveuni are good locations. I enjoyed the Nai'a liveaboard because it goes in more open ocean locations so conditions are a bit more sporty sometimes so you could get more experience but not so tough to dive. Plus Fiji people are fantastic.

I suggest it is not necessarily the number of dives that defines ability but the experience you get when doing them and whether you have the right attitude to learn from those experiences. Suggestion #1 is to listen to the dive guide, and generally follow the dive plan at least rather than entering the water and immediately going in the opposite direction and coming back with 100 lbs of air left. YMMV

Thank you very much! This is very helpful! FP for later then. Now we only have to choose between Fiji and Palau

 

[runsongas]

palau if you want a very scuba focused vacation, fiji if you want something more relaxed and want to do some cultural stuff and other activities topside. fiji is also generally a bit cheaper currently.

 

[k4kafka]

Perhaps do Palau or Fiji before you do FP. FP does have currents but also they tend to dive deep in their sites which uses your air quicker so being comfortable, and reasonably fit, would be a good thing.

Palau tends to be wall dives and ironically for your question, drift dives where you dive in the current but purposefully ride the current along so you don't worry about the current unless you try to stop prematurely. I'd suggest a liveaboard for that area because the ride for land based diving would be longer. Also, ironically, while it is a liveaboard, it tends to anchor in the prime area and use the boat as a hub to the sites in all directions, but it's then just a ten minute ride. Except for specific areas of Fiji, Palau will be the most sharky place of the two.

Fiji is also a great place to go. Somosomo Straight and Taveuni are good locations. I enjoyed the Nai'a liveaboard because it goes in more open ocean locations so conditions are a bit more sporty sometimes so you could get more experience but not so tough to dive. Plus Fiji people are fantastic.

I suggest it is not necessarily the number of dives that defines ability but the experience you get when doing them and whether you have the right attitude to learn from those experiences. Suggestion #1 is to listen to the dive guide, and generally follow the dive plan at least rather than entering the water and immediately going in the opposite direction and coming back with 100 lbs of air left. YMMV

A trip to Cozumel would help acclimate you for drift diving in current. Only strong current I encountered in Palau was Blue Corner where you simply hook onto a section of the outcrop and watch the action go by.

 

[Shasta_man]

I agree with Runsongas comment. As I dive liveaboards where similar quality is similar in cost across the globe, the problem I have with Palau now is the cost of the flight to get there, at least from the Western US. I can go all the way to Indonesia for much cheaper and there is so much to do above the surface. That's understandable because that's a more competitive route but difficult to justify Palau because there is little above surface to do, but I clarify by saying if you are interested in history, sites on Palau are amazing to see. Not too many places to see sites from the war in the Pacific, so I am disappointed it's not more cost effective.

 

[k4kafka]

I agree with Runsongas comment. As I dive liveaboards where similar quality is similar in cost across the globe, the problem I have with Palau now is the cost of the flight to get there, at least from the Western US. I can go all the way to Indonesia for much cheaper and there is so much to do above the surface. That's understandable because that's a more competitive route but difficult to justify Palau because there is little above surface to do, but I clarify by saying if you are interested in history, sites on Palau are amazing to see. Not too many places to see sites from the war in the Pacific, so I am disappointed it's not more cost effective.

You didn’t enjoy the “nightlife” in downtown Koror” ?

 

[Mrs. B]

Do you still visit the jail to buy storyboards?!
I’ve been five times but all from Hawaii a decade ago

When we book Palau, we specify the few dive sites we want (Big Drop Off, Blue Corner, etc) otherwise you can get stuck going to jellyfish lake a few times and I’m not interested in that.

 

[Shasta_man]

<<You didn’t enjoy the “nightlife” in downtown Koror” ?>> Not the cultural events I'm interested in.

Hmmm...I'd forgotten about the jail for the storyboards. I missed that too.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

French Polynesia has ripping currents and lots of sharks. Honestly I mean no offense, but when you say your May 24 trip will be your first dive w/o a dive, I’d say you actually haven’t actually made a “real dive” yet.

French Polynesia only allows 3 dives per day by law (unless they changed it recently, which I highly doubt). They also have other crazy dive laws, where you are only allowed to dive to a particular depth based on your certification level rather than dives logged or ability. And I don’t believe there are any liveaboards in FP (I dove it on the Tahiti Aggressor many years ago).

Palau and Fiji have fantastic liveaboards. Both have great diving (dove both recently). Palau probably has more variety with wrecks, walls, and healthy reefs. But Fiji currently has the most amazing coral and colors I’ve ever seen. I don’t know how long it can last, so I’d recommend seeing it while you can (I’m booked to return for my 3rd time - dove Palau twice and FP twice). Fiji has had an amazing coral regrowth in the last several years that will blow your mind. But it may only be accessible via liveaboards. I’d highly recommend the NAIA.

Palau is good, but some of the best dives are only accessible via liveaboard and can have wicked currents. The last time we went, our boat was the only one at Blue Corner because the conditions were “rough.” The crew knew we were excellent/seasoned divers so had no issues with taking us there, no other boats went there until things calmed down. The corals in Palau are not up to par with the current state of Fiji, but they are still pretty good. It’s just that Fiji is spectacular (for reference, I’ve been on > 40 liveaboards throughout the world).

But the real answer is… all three! It just a matter of what order you do them in!