Galapagos or Palau for first week of June 2017?

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greenbeans

Registered
Messages
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Location
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
# of dives
100 - 199
Hello all,

I am currently trying to plan a great escape or end of May / beginning of June 2017. We had a baby 8 months ago and live in the desert, so we haven't had a chance to go diving since April 2015 (Bonaire). We have the chance next year to take advantage of grandparent babysitters for about 10 days, between May 26 and June 11... so not a lot of flexibility in timing. We have been diving in New Zealand (while living there for 7 years), Tonga and Niue in the South Pacific, Komodo on a liveaboard, Bali, Bonaire, Dominica, Spain. My husband has about 60 dives under his belt while I have more like 120.

We want to tick a bucket list item off for this trip, and the current contenders are Galapagos and Palau. It looks like the Nortada is available for the Galapagos in our dates, and for Palau I was looking at Ocean Hunter I. Any feedback on those boats? Or more in general, on liveaboards in Palau vs Galapagos? Talk to me a bit about experience level needed, best things you can see, flying to either from the USA (closest major hub to us would be in Texas), which might be more urgent to see (in terms of loss of biodiversity from climate change / human interference)... etc etc.

I'm not sure if we'll have a chance to do another dive trip before this big one, so to refresh our skills we might need to tack 1 day on the front of this trip. I'm fairly confident that I don't really need it, but my husband definitely wants a little water time before a liveaboard experience.

Also, I love underwater photography and am considering upgrading my Sony RX100 setup for this trip... happy with mucky macro as much as with big ticket wide angle stuff. We are not adrenaline junkies.

Galapagos is my dream trip, but if it would be better at a different time of year or with more dives under the belt in the next 5 or so years, than that would sway me towards Palau....

THANKS for your input!!
 
Hi greenbeans,
Lots of questions in your post.

First re. time of year. I spent 3 weeks diving Palau in the summer of 2008 and was told summer is not the best time of year to dive there. North American winter is. In the summer the water is warmer so the sharks are deeper. The signature sites are supposed to be more crowded in the winter, but given the diving I saw, I would make that trade off for better diving/denser wildlife.

Prime whale shark season in the Galapagos is later than Jun (late summer to early fall). However I suspect Jun diving would be very good. Chances of whale sharks would just be lower than a few months later. I usually recommend people dive Galapagos in whale shark season since you see everything plus the whale sharks. I've done 5 Galapagos liveaboards with 3 multi-week extensions covering land-based diving in Santa Cruz, San Cristobal and Isabela, but I have not dove the Nortada. In my experience with 3 other Galapagos liveaboards, the cruise director impacted the diving quality far more than the boat. Someone like DivetheGalapagos would be able to give you the low down on who is crewing the Nortada at the time you are booking, and the quality of their permanent dive staff if they have any (Galapagos cruise directors and DMs freelance and usually work on multiple boats).

Of your two destinations I far prefer Galapagos. Topside Palau is stunning and culturally it's very interesting, but I would not put the diving I experienced there in the top 25% of the world. It's not as rich in coral or fish or critters as Indonesia, nor as sharky as Galapagos and Cocos. The sharks are nowhere near as dense or diverse (species wise) as in the Galapagos. Palau has warmer and clearer water - the diving is definitely easier than in the Galapagos. Both have currents. In Galapagos you are generally clinging to big rocks but there are some drifts especially at the end of dives (including blue water drifts). In Palau you typically use reef hooks to stay in place, but drift at the start or end of the dive. I would put both ecosystems about equally at risk. Palau has already experienced a lot of shark finning in the past (but is now an MPA for sharks) and is likely more vulnerable to ocean warming coral-wise. In the Galapagos poaching and finning are constants, as is pressure from rapid development and tourism, but the diving is still excellent.

Diving difficulty: I find there's no necessary correlation between number of dives completed and expertise underwater, so it's really hard to know whether you or your husband would find Galapagos diving too advanced. You've dove Komodo by liveaboard, so hopefully you have some experience with stronger currents. Definitely I would do a minimum of one day land-based diving before your cruise to brush up your skills and get used to local conditions. You could also easily arrange this in Palau as well. You should be comfortable with negative entries and drift diving in both locations, and with colder, low vis diving for the Galapagos. I would recommend Nitrox training in advance of either trip to make the most of your dives.

One other consideration might be how much total time you have. You will lose days flying to both locations and if you don't think you'll be able to return for Galapagos for a few years or ever, you might want to wait until you have more time than "10 days" to visit Galapagos. While the liveaboards do a few land visits, there's a lot you won't see or experience if you only do a liveaboard. The land-based diving is not at the same level, with the possible exception of Kicker Rock, but it is interesting, and if you love diving, you may enjoy it. Definitely I recommend you add more topside tours to see more of the stunning topography and wildlife. Some folks book a naturalist cruise or you can do land-based tours from Santa Cruz or Isabela (the two most popular bases).

For flights, for Galapagos you fly through Guayaquil or Quito. I prefer Guayaquil for more accessible (and safer) walking around, but you can do either. Usually you must overnight in one of these two cities each way due to the schedule of domestic flights to the Galapagos.

Palau you can access through Manila, used to be Guam (you'll have to check on that) and some Asian hubs.

I did Palau land-based because I had lots of time and could chose my dive days to focus solely on top tier sites. So I can't help you on the Ocean Hunter but I am sure there will be reviews of both liveaboards you are looking at online (if not here than on other sites).

Galapagos wildlife:
-
intimate encounters with enormous schools of hammerheads, individual hammerheads, huge Galapagos sharks, blacktip sharks, silky sharks, porpoises, dolphins, massive whale sharks including pregnant females
- schools of rays (mustard rays, eagle rays); mantas
- sea lions and Galapagos fur seals (fur seals by special arrangement)
- Galapagos penguins (limited locations)
- endemic Galapagos fish and a few critters
- large and mating turtles
- large tuna (if you are lucky)
- enormous schools of fish, including rivers of creoles
- Mola mola, feeding marine iguanas and Galapagos horn sharks can also been seen if your liveaboard visits specific sites.
- Incredible topside wildlife encounters are also often very intimate: sea lions including juveniles, iguanas, tortoises, flightless cormorants, frigates, red and blue footed boobies including chicks, Darwin's finches, etc.
 
Thank you so so much for your super useful and detailed reply! Of course it now makes me question everything all over again... I wish we had more time!! Maybe I need to throw another destination into the mix, since it seems like it's really not a great time of year to go to Palau? I had a feeling we just weren't getting enough time for the Galapagos... as an evolutionary biologist by training, experiencing the islands topside is also so very important to me... It's probably the place I most want to visit in the world.

Completely torn on what to do. Not a good time for Raja Ampat or Maldives either, and not sure about Cocos... maybe I should be considering Hawaii / Fiji / Belize...
 
Peak Cocos hammerhead season is summer (rainy season) but I would recommend a 10 day liveaboard over the 7 day option. Also you need to check to avoid any El Nino conditions (again warmer water = deeper, less viewable sharks). If you could squeeze out an extra day or two of babysitting it might work? Same experience considerations as Galapagos (but had less current and more surge IME).

I was going to suggest more Indonesia (Alor/East of Flores, Lembeh/Bangka) but 10 days total would still not be a huge amount of time after you subtract flight time.

I've done Kona HI (liveaboard, land based and shore diving) and Fiji (land-based). Of the 3 I would likely start with Fiji. HI has some interesting endemics and unique dives (black water, night manta) but the coral is not special.
 
The Fiji Nai'a has gotten rave reviews for years - that would be a good boat to check. There was a recent hurricane so some itineraries may have changed but they may be back to normal by next summer. I had a horrible 10 day LOB on an Indonesian Siren with the owner on board so I tend to avoid that fleet (name any significant aspect of liveaboard operation from food to fills to tenders hitting divers to air conditioning to charging stations to dive site choice to emergency land contacts and it was effed up). Siren has also sunk/burnt a few too many liveaboards, for my comfort though I know someone who had a good experience on one of their boats.
 
Hi greenbeans!

First off, let me say that either Palau or the Galapagos sound like a good fit for you, but also let me give you some more information on each.

Liveaboard diving in the Galapagos is perfect for divers with more than 50 dive sites. It’s also convenient for you that several land-based operators are easily accessible for a few dives before your liveaboard. We usually recommend that divers visit the Galapagos between December and May for the best conditions. During these months, you’re likely to see lots of sharks, including schooling hammerhead sharks.

In the Galapagos, the Nortada offers some of the best bang for your buck. The small nature of the boat leads to personalized service. You can check out some reviews from other divers on our page about the MY Nortada.

Turning to Palau, you’ll also have a fantastic vacation by liveaboard in this tropical paradise. Again, divers must have experience for Palau, and many operators ask for proof of 30 - 50 dives and the ability to use a reef hook. The best time to go falls between October and April, which means your holiday falls at a great time. In addition, you’re likely to see turtles, manta rays and reef sharks. Dive sites in Palau are action-packed and colorful, but slightly less unique than in the Galapagos.

Furthermore, the Ocean Hunter I is a beautiful and intimate boat. With space for 6 divers and a crew of 3, you’ll get to know everyone on board. Many claim that this boat has the most knowledgable guides in Palau. Either way, the small size of the vessel means that you can access even the most difficultly placed dive sites.

Both locations face environmental pressures. But the marine environments of the Galapagos are extremely protected, meaning the degradation here is a bit slower than average. This means that Palau is probably more of a “visit it now” destination. On the other hand, this year’s La Nina weather pattern is predicted to bring huge numbers of pelagic species to the Galapagos. If the prediction holds true, early 2017 may be one of the best diving seasons ever in these Ecuadorian islands.

Finally, both of your destinations are going to involve several flights (probably at least 2 but more likely 3), making both equally difficult to reach.

If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask. In the meantime, happy diving!
 
Greenbeans,
As you could see after cephalopo2 post, another time will be better to dive Palau and you will need some more experience before diving the Galapagos. So, Fiji could be a great plan B!
June is probably the best time to dive in Fiji – the water temperatures are 23C/74F which bring much more underwater life, especially sharks, hammerhead sharks, mantas and humpback whales (you will be more likely to listen to them underwater than seeing them). Expect to see brightly coloured hard and soft corals everywhere (orange, purple, pink, red, white and green), schools of jacks, barracudas and red snappers. As well as nudibranch, leaf fish, ghost pipefish and pygmy seahorses.

If you want to learn more about the diving in this destination, have a look to the Fiji Siren trip blogs.
 
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