Bucket List Trip Recommendation

[Centrals]

Just posted. I have not dived Palau yet myself even though I have a direct flight of 5 hours. Was meant to dive there in 2020 but covid came along lol

Trip Report Post in thread 'Palau Black Pearl liveaboard'

Jul 28, 2025

Pity only 3 dives a day I would expect at least 4. What were your dive times?

Each dive was planned for one hour and surface intervals three. Some divers had to short their dives because of air consumption- and changed to 15 liter tanks because of this. I think that most of the dives were an hour, give or take a few minutes

We were familiar with the guide (and I consider wife and me experienced divers) so we usually jump first and surface last, dive duration not really a constraint factor, although we never exaggerate not wanting all the group to wait for us too much in rough...

• Jai Bar

LOL.
You do not have any experience on diving in Palau!!!
I had done both land based and LoB and preferred the latter because the sites are far from Koror.

@NitroxNemo
In SE Asia, Raja Ampat is one of the best(there is no such thing as the best in my book).
Have a memorable one for both of you.

 

[greatwhite1]

LOL.
You do not have any experience on diving in Palau!!!
I had done both land based and LoB and preferred the latter because the sites are far from Koror.

@NitroxNemo
In SE Asia, Raja Ampat is one of the best(there is no such thing as the best in my book).
Have a memorable one for both of you.

Hi, in Raja did you do a liveaboard or day diving. I'm looking at day diving there, any recommendations? North/Central or South Raja? Dive centres and accommodation please?

 

[grassgreen]

Have you considered the cenotes around Tulum Mexico ?

 

[Bookworm11]

You could dive Raja if you didn't do a LOB. I went to Raja and did both a LOB for 8 nights (the Velocean) and 10 nights at Waiweo on a land resort (Dive into Raja Ampat.) I can tell you my diving at the land resort was far superior than my LOB diving. I saw 4 times as many mantas and 4 times longer mantas with my land resort. I saw way more cool macro stuff, and I ssaw my only wooblygong shark. I snorkeled at night with a bamboo shark, and had the most amazing octopus encounter ever-8 minutes just me and the DM and I was about 1 foot away the entire time. The dive shop there was amazing. I was given my own DM, and I never saw but once any group bigger than 3 people with a DM. And this was about 1/4 the cost of the LOB. The resort was nothing fancy, but it was air conditioned, the bed was comfortable, the resort was on the beach, and the food was good. You could go there and then go on to another land resort, or a LOB if you wished.

 

[Bookworm11]

I have done cenotes, and I love them. But you need to love caves. If you aren't a big cave lover, then you aren't going to want to love doing just cenotes for a week or two. If you did that, perhaps come at teh right time so you could see bull sharks or whale sharks in Cancun, and go dive in Cozumel as well.