ewaiea
Contributor
Well my third liveaboard trip is in the books. I have forever wanted to be able to say I dove two places so I could compare/contrast the two - Palau and Papua New Guinea. They're not terribly far apart geographically but the type of diving you do in each spot and the stuff you see truly is WAY different. I have already given previous trip reports about PNG so I won't rehash history - I'll stick to Palau.
I just got off a buddy week on Tropic Dancer, Palau. The Palau Aggressor II was having a buddy week as well - they had about 12 divers, we only had 6. Both boats can fit 18 divers - so we had ALOT of space this week. We also all got along really well on the Tropic Dancer - there seemed to be a very nice group of people on the Aggressor but one of their divers was glomming onto me at the hotel and was one of those "know it all" divers, REALLY heavy drinker (he spent the first night on the Tropic Dancer by mistake because as he admitted he finished a whole bottle of Jack D. and was too tipsy).....I'm thankful we had the group we did - I wouldn't have felt comfortable in the water with that guy. Anyways, that's beside the point.
The TD had a crew of 7 - most of the crew criss cross back and forth on the PAII and the TD. The boats are each franchise boats owned by the same franchisee who owns the Kona Aggressor II - so many of the crew are transplants from the Kona Aggressor - the trip had a "Kona Aggressor" feel to it - maybe because this was a 7 day liveaboard - the only other trip I did was Star Dancer (PNG) and that was 10 nights.
Food was amazing - Manny the chef was a culinary genious and the criminal mastermind behind my probable weight gain - exact tonnage put on is classified at this time ;-) I'm definitely considering dietary requests next time for a lower calorie diet. The trick is to not have so much each day otherwise it zaps my energy levels and I go into a food coma 5 times a day
Either way - the food was a highlight in and of itself.
I got my PADI Wreck Diver certification onboard - we dove the wrecks all the first day - 4 dives. Drew (the 1st mate this week and dive guide) was my instructor - he did a fabulous job. I asked to be challenged beyond my usual comfort zone - so we practiced skills that are not all required in the PADI Wreck class. For example, taking off the tank/BC and swimming down an overhead passage way - nothing super tight but I thought it was a great skill to practice and I felt like he had a very watchful eye. Lots of work with the wreck reel inside and outside of the wreck, alot of swimming through passage ways, etc.....I feel much more comfortable doing penetrations now. I'm not a die-hard wreck diver, but it's a type of specialty training I've always wanted to do and was probably the most challenging specialty I've done yet.
All the rest of the days were down south diving German Channel, various dive sites around Ngemelis Island (to include Big Drop Off, New Drop Off, Blue Corner, Blue Holes, and many more) and Pelelieu Island. They'd had 3 weeks of solid rain and heavy winds, so they were mentioning how lucky we were to make it to Pelelieu Island AND have sunshine with clear skies, and no wind. We all felt very lucky. We did catch Palau on a funny lunar cycle - somewhere around a 1/2 moon. The tides and currents were therefore hard to predict. Our first dive at Blue Corner did require a hook in - it started out reasonably calm and picked up as the dive went along. All other hook in dives which usually have high current didn't end up requiring reef hooks once we were in the water. We were prepared and mentally ready for it - but the currents never really materialized. This might have clouded up visibility on the reefs just a bit and maybe we probably didn't see quite as many sharks as others in trips past - but it's Palau - how can you complain. We still had great vis for the most part and plenty of sharks were spotted.
Outgoing tides usually bring the cloudier vis, incoming tides bring the clearer open ocean water and better vis. That was the case on the reefs and the wrecks. The wrecks were the only site (since they're near town) where most had vis down around 20ft - but don't get me wrong, the wrecks were AWESOME. Helmet Wreck and the Iro Maru my favorites.
As far as comparing/contrasting PNG, Palau is more of a "wide angle"/"big stuff"/"higher energy"/"more challenging type of diving" destination. PNG is calmer easier diving with the emphasis being more on critters. Palau has great critters don't get me wrong, but PNG has alot more. There's great muck diving in PNG, but not really in Palau - at least it's not hit hard by most people in Palau.
For me (and I'm splitting hairs by saying this), though Palau has been on the to-do list far longer than PNG, having done both I do prefer PNG over Palau, but again, it's kind of an "apples and oranges" kind of thing. I love wreck diving, high energy drift dives, sharks galore, various types of dive sites, and all the things that make Palau special in my heart. But PNG has the reef sites that are much less explored (you won't see day boats versus in Palau they're at most of the popular sites every day) and PNG also has muck sites that are awesome. In Palau, there probably is some awesome muck diving sites in and around the rock islands, but most dive guides don't prefer to go to those sites as they're most interested in the big stuff. It's every divers preference. If you had a chance to do a day of diving the lagoon environments in the Rock Islands before boarding the liveaboard do it. I did a Rock Island tour with Sam's Tours - which was where we snorkeled/free dived 5 or 6 different sites. It gave me a great look at some of the dive sites I wouldn't see on the Tropic Dancer.
Fun fact, we had two other divers on this trip from Hawaii (which is where I live) and we've actually met in the past at a dive shop locally here - what are the odds? And a scubaboard member was also on there and it's someone I've exchanged messages with on a few occasions - small world!
Take care all - and I'd highly recommend the Tropic Dancer and/or the Palau Aggressor II. There virtually the same boat - the main difference is that it appears that skiff of the Palau Aggressor could more comfortably handle a full compliment of 18 divers a bit more than the TD's skiff.....but again - they do it each all the time so I'm splitting hairs again. Safety is a big thing on these boats, they really try and keep you hydrated, and safety stops of longer duration are encouraged. Nitrox worked great the whole trip too.
Give these guys a try - as many have stated before - you won't be disappointed.
I just got off a buddy week on Tropic Dancer, Palau. The Palau Aggressor II was having a buddy week as well - they had about 12 divers, we only had 6. Both boats can fit 18 divers - so we had ALOT of space this week. We also all got along really well on the Tropic Dancer - there seemed to be a very nice group of people on the Aggressor but one of their divers was glomming onto me at the hotel and was one of those "know it all" divers, REALLY heavy drinker (he spent the first night on the Tropic Dancer by mistake because as he admitted he finished a whole bottle of Jack D. and was too tipsy).....I'm thankful we had the group we did - I wouldn't have felt comfortable in the water with that guy. Anyways, that's beside the point.
The TD had a crew of 7 - most of the crew criss cross back and forth on the PAII and the TD. The boats are each franchise boats owned by the same franchisee who owns the Kona Aggressor II - so many of the crew are transplants from the Kona Aggressor - the trip had a "Kona Aggressor" feel to it - maybe because this was a 7 day liveaboard - the only other trip I did was Star Dancer (PNG) and that was 10 nights.
Food was amazing - Manny the chef was a culinary genious and the criminal mastermind behind my probable weight gain - exact tonnage put on is classified at this time ;-) I'm definitely considering dietary requests next time for a lower calorie diet. The trick is to not have so much each day otherwise it zaps my energy levels and I go into a food coma 5 times a day
Either way - the food was a highlight in and of itself.I got my PADI Wreck Diver certification onboard - we dove the wrecks all the first day - 4 dives. Drew (the 1st mate this week and dive guide) was my instructor - he did a fabulous job. I asked to be challenged beyond my usual comfort zone - so we practiced skills that are not all required in the PADI Wreck class. For example, taking off the tank/BC and swimming down an overhead passage way - nothing super tight but I thought it was a great skill to practice and I felt like he had a very watchful eye. Lots of work with the wreck reel inside and outside of the wreck, alot of swimming through passage ways, etc.....I feel much more comfortable doing penetrations now. I'm not a die-hard wreck diver, but it's a type of specialty training I've always wanted to do and was probably the most challenging specialty I've done yet.
All the rest of the days were down south diving German Channel, various dive sites around Ngemelis Island (to include Big Drop Off, New Drop Off, Blue Corner, Blue Holes, and many more) and Pelelieu Island. They'd had 3 weeks of solid rain and heavy winds, so they were mentioning how lucky we were to make it to Pelelieu Island AND have sunshine with clear skies, and no wind. We all felt very lucky. We did catch Palau on a funny lunar cycle - somewhere around a 1/2 moon. The tides and currents were therefore hard to predict. Our first dive at Blue Corner did require a hook in - it started out reasonably calm and picked up as the dive went along. All other hook in dives which usually have high current didn't end up requiring reef hooks once we were in the water. We were prepared and mentally ready for it - but the currents never really materialized. This might have clouded up visibility on the reefs just a bit and maybe we probably didn't see quite as many sharks as others in trips past - but it's Palau - how can you complain. We still had great vis for the most part and plenty of sharks were spotted.
Outgoing tides usually bring the cloudier vis, incoming tides bring the clearer open ocean water and better vis. That was the case on the reefs and the wrecks. The wrecks were the only site (since they're near town) where most had vis down around 20ft - but don't get me wrong, the wrecks were AWESOME. Helmet Wreck and the Iro Maru my favorites.
As far as comparing/contrasting PNG, Palau is more of a "wide angle"/"big stuff"/"higher energy"/"more challenging type of diving" destination. PNG is calmer easier diving with the emphasis being more on critters. Palau has great critters don't get me wrong, but PNG has alot more. There's great muck diving in PNG, but not really in Palau - at least it's not hit hard by most people in Palau.
For me (and I'm splitting hairs by saying this), though Palau has been on the to-do list far longer than PNG, having done both I do prefer PNG over Palau, but again, it's kind of an "apples and oranges" kind of thing. I love wreck diving, high energy drift dives, sharks galore, various types of dive sites, and all the things that make Palau special in my heart. But PNG has the reef sites that are much less explored (you won't see day boats versus in Palau they're at most of the popular sites every day) and PNG also has muck sites that are awesome. In Palau, there probably is some awesome muck diving sites in and around the rock islands, but most dive guides don't prefer to go to those sites as they're most interested in the big stuff. It's every divers preference. If you had a chance to do a day of diving the lagoon environments in the Rock Islands before boarding the liveaboard do it. I did a Rock Island tour with Sam's Tours - which was where we snorkeled/free dived 5 or 6 different sites. It gave me a great look at some of the dive sites I wouldn't see on the Tropic Dancer.
Fun fact, we had two other divers on this trip from Hawaii (which is where I live) and we've actually met in the past at a dive shop locally here - what are the odds? And a scubaboard member was also on there and it's someone I've exchanged messages with on a few occasions - small world!
Take care all - and I'd highly recommend the Tropic Dancer and/or the Palau Aggressor II. There virtually the same boat - the main difference is that it appears that skiff of the Palau Aggressor could more comfortably handle a full compliment of 18 divers a bit more than the TD's skiff.....but again - they do it each all the time so I'm splitting hairs again. Safety is a big thing on these boats, they really try and keep you hydrated, and safety stops of longer duration are encouraged. Nitrox worked great the whole trip too.
Give these guys a try - as many have stated before - you won't be disappointed.
