Strong currents in Palau

[chris1801]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum and just finding my way around, so apologies if my question has been asked before...

I am looking for some advice in regards to the level of experience required to dive Palau. Wherever I have looked for information, it mentions very strong currents at most dive sites which seems to require advanced diving experience.
I have done 100 dives so far (PADI Advanced Open Water Diver) but am not too experienced with diving in strong currents.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

 

[2Narced]

While not every dive in Palau is in strong current, it was most certainly the most current-filled destination I've ever been to.

I went there with a couple hundred dives and AOW certification, and had gotten fairly comfortable in the water up until then. Palau did kind of shock me back into the realization that you can get into trouble pretty quickly, if you don't pay attention to your surroundings. Some Palau current diving is done using reef hooks, so once you get hooked in at a good spot, it's pretty much just looking around and taking in the marine life that blows past you. At places like Blue Corner, that was a great experience.

Did encounter one dive, at Peleliu, in which the current was just plain frightening. It took the divemasters by surprise that day too, so our experience might not have been the norm, but it's a good idea to keep in mind that the currents can be intense. That dive started with a pretty severe down draft, and then we hooked in on a plateau at about 50 feet. The current was so strong, reef hooks were breaking loose, and a slight turn of your head caused at least a partially flooded mask each time. Another diver describe the hooked-in part of the dive as "being in a state of controlled panic," and I think that pretty much summed it up. I was more than ready to head for the surface when the divemaster gave the signal to unhook, but you don't want to unhook prematurely on a dive like that, or you could get quite separated from your group and your boat pretty quickly.

Hope that helps, and doesn't scare you off of visiting Palau. It's a fabulous destination, and a stop on Yap would be a well-advised addition.

Happy Trip Planning.

 

[Travelnsj]

I have been to Palau 8 times and have about 150+ dives. I use Palaudive.com....Keith took me as a rather new diver who had never been in currents and made me love it and what 2Narced says can happen. If you are with a good guide or use Keith, they should give you a detailed briefing and what to expect regarding the current on the dive and keep an eye on you. I have been on the Blue Corner with no current...and it is just as great of a dive. There are also many other sites with little or no current. Palau has always been my #1 spot to go...until I went to Raja Ampat last month but that is a real pain to get to.....Palau is great....GO!

Regarding Yap...only if you get the flight that drops you off and then you can catch the flight to Palau...otherwise....The diving is OK....unless you are one of the lucky ones to see the 30+ Mantas...not many people do.

If you need any other info...ask away.

 

[BSOD]

I was there last month, basically after getting my OW certification (i.e. I only had 4-5 dives under my belt), and had a blast. Maybe it depends on the time of year/month/etc, but out of my 5 days of diving there, only one dive was in a fairly strong current (and that was on my third time at the Blue Corner). Granted, I didn't visit the Peleliu Express site - which apparently had a really strong current when another boat went there - but in the dozen or so other dives I had, the current wasn't that big an issue.

You may want to mention it to your guide/dive op that you're not too experienced with strong currents, as they may take that in to account when choosing sites, and/or can keep an extra eye on you.

As always though, if you feel uncomfortable doing a dive, don't hesitate to cancel it. Safety first.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/australia-new-zealand-pacific-islands/121805-headed-palau.html

Note that this review is from 2005, however, things don't change that fast in the ocean around the islands.

If you look at the button bar at the top of the page, beneath where it says "Welcome, Chris1801" the 4th button from the right is 'Search'. Click that one, then click on 'Advanced Search'.

The keywords I entered were 'Travel dive Palau', then click OK.

You'll get multiple pages of archive threads. Not all will be of interest (or even relevant) but many will.

Also, try 'Travel hotels Palau', or 'Liveaboards Palau', 'Operators Palau' etc. - the point is there are many threads containing reviews that you may want to spend time perusing. IN the aggregate you will get a better picture of what many ScubaBoarders thought about their trips to Palau. It may give you a better overall image of where Palau diving falls against the 'strong currents' spectrum.

Any one person's opinion is pretty subjective. But ten or twenty people's trip reports may provide a more well-rounded image.

Hope this helps.

Welcome to the Board!

Doc

 

[chris1801]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your feedback. This is very useful and definitely tells me that I do need to do some more research before I book anything. Still not convinced whether Palau is probably one step too far for someone like me who only gets to dive once or twice a year and therefore lacks some practice.
Will also check out the archive threads.

Thanks a lot.

 

[robint]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your feedback. This is very useful and definitely tells me that I do need to do some more research before I book anything. Still not convinced whether Palau is probably one step too far for someone like me who only gets to dive once or twice a year and therefore lacks some practice.
Will also check out the archive threads.

Thanks a lot.

My personal opinion is that if you aren't comfortable with all your skills yet, then you should wait to do Palau. Yes, you can do it as a beginner but you won't have near as much fun as you will later. Some of the best dives we have ever done were in Palau and very intense and Advanced level.
One guy diving with us has been diving for 20+ years, only in Caribbean with little current. He really didn't enjoy Palau that much as he said it was waaaaay too much for him. He loved seeing the sharks and mantas, but complained constantly about the drift dives being too hard and too deep.

robin

 

[BSOD]

FWIW, here's a pic from Blue Corner on one of the calmer days






and here's one on the day we had a stronger current (note the bubbles - divers are more or less stationary)

 

[2Narced]

...but never got the camera raised to my eye on that one. It was pretty much just hanging there forgotten on that dive.

 

[Damselfish]

I was there with a group that booked the Aggressor, the least experienced diver had around 100 dives, most people had a lot more. The newest divers were fine, but possibly the trip organizer would have discouraged someone from going if he knew they didn't have their act together. It was actually pretty tame when we were there (compared to everything I've heard) but trouble is you just don't know. You could possibly go there land based and limit yourself to only to certain easier dives but it seems like a long way to fly to do that.

It's not all about just experience in current, but about having all your skills in order and being very comfortable in the water. If you are dealing with a really intense current, you don't want to be dealing with sorting out other things at the same time if you can help it. That's how bad stuff happens.

So yes you can go, get the right DMs and dives, luck out on conditions, and it might all be just fine and it will be great for you. Or at this point it might limit you from doing the dives people go there for, or you might not be comfortable on many dives, and wish you had waited longer before you went there. Hard to predict really.