Best Time of Year - Micronesia (Truk & Palau)?

[Tim Ingersoll]

I was just in yap and Palau got home sunday, I had sucky weather almost the whole 16 days. Just so you know in Yap you can only dive one side of the island pretty much at this time, except on exceptionally calm days..the reefs on the side I was diving were wrecked basically. Saw wonderful Mantas though. That was incredible. In Palau I did a liveaboard and we only went to half the dive sites on the intinerary due to rough weather. It rained almost every day and the wind blew and blew. Bad weather can be at any time but I heard February is best for Yap and Palau..

Trip report please!

 

[lil_chure]

I was just in yap and Palau got home sunday, I had sucky weather almost the whole 16 days. Just so you know in Yap you can only dive one side of the island pretty much at this time, except on exceptionally calm days..the reefs on the side I was diving were wrecked basically. Saw wonderful Mantas though. That was incredible. In Palau I did a liveaboard and we only went to half the dive sites on the intinerary due to rough weather. It rained almost every day and the wind blew and blew. Bad weather can be at any time but I heard February is best for Yap and Palau..

Sorry to hear you had bad weather.

I'm heading to Truk next month and I'm wondering whether a 3mil wetsuit is enough to stay warm for the week or whether I should get a hooded vest (either 1 or 3mm) for the night dives or later in the week to keep my core warm. What type of suit did you wear?

 

[Barracuda2]

Sorry to hear you had bad weather.

I'm heading to Truk next month and I'm wondering whether a 3mil wetsuit is enough to stay warm for the week or whether I should get a hooded vest (either 1 or 3mm) for the night dives or later in the week to keep my core warm. What type of suit did you wear?

I dove a skin in the a.m. and a 3 mil in the p.m. Very comfortable. You will not notice any thermocline either. I don't believe you'll need a hood of any kind. On our night dives, I wore my 3 mil with a shorty (sometimes just my skin with the shorty) over it because even though the water is warm, 85-87 degrees, you can still get chilled by the end of the day. Have a great trip; if you like wreck diving and history, diving Truk is like a religious experience. I stayed on the Thorfin; the guides were super and we were really able to do some great penetration because of their knowledge.

 

[mars2u]

Everyone that has suggested Feb. is absolutely correct. Went to Palau 2 years ago in May and were stuck in a typhoon...only dove a few sites...numerous times.
Went this last Feb. (as the locals had suggested during my first trip) and it was the best diving ever.
As far as cold...Barracuda is right. It really is going to depend if you're going to do alot of dives. I did 5 dives a day and wore a 2/3 full for the last couple of dives each day.