Hawaii/Ni'ihau vs Palau?

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Of the places mentioned thus far, I've been to Palau, Hawaii (Big Island, Maui, Oahu, Kauai), and the Maldives.

Firstly, I'd cross the Maldives off your list. If you're spending the time and money to fly literally half way around the world to see a bunch of islands (and what's in the water around them), limiting yourself to one island doesn't really make sense IMO. It's really best to do a liveaboard here, which will allow you to see multiple islands/atolls in one trip, and will cost the same (if not less) than staying and diving on one of the resort islands. One of the couples on my liveaboard stayed at an island for a bit afterwards, and said the diving there was ludicrously priced (I wanna say somewhere around $300 for two tanks?) since there's only one dive center on the island. If you were looking for a beautiful island to chill on while doing a bit of diving, it'd be different.

Palau is amazing, and I think sounds ideal for your situation (schools of fish, big stuff, great viz, and nice warm water to boot). I've seen some people who've done a liveaboard there complaining about how land based diving there requires long boat rides to the dive sites, but I really enjoyed those rides. Zipping by lush tropical islands and amazingly blue water on a sunny day with the wind blowing through your hair, passing by the occasional turtle or flying fish? Yeah, that sounds like a horrible time :D. That said, getting to sites before the crowds and getting in another dive or two per day can be a nice upside if that fits your needs - but I digress. Some possible downsides to Palau though are that it is a slightly more... adventurous/rough-around-the-edges/not-uber-developed locale. I don't mean to say it's unsafe at all, but if you're looking for a Westin and/or McD's, this ain't it. Granted, it's been a few years since I've been, but I doubt it's drastically changed.

As for Hawaii, outside of the manta dive on the Big Island, I've actually liked diving on Maui the best - although specifically the short trip from Maui to dive at Lana'i. On land, there's plenty to do/eat (great food), but aside from the manta dive, it's really more of a place you go diving while there, not a place you go specifically for diving.

If you're looking to combine Hawaii and Palau into one trip, remember to take a close look how flights work out. The "usual" route from the mainland was LAX to HNL to Guam to Palau, and at least previously, it was priced unfavorably to fly and stay in Hawaii then fly to Palau. When I was researching, it would've cost more to fly from HNL to Palau (via Guam) than it costs to fly from SFO to Palau (via HNL and Guam).
 
I have not been to Palau ( going next year) but have been to Fiji, and am going again in July. The air to Fiji is a bargain, about $1000 from LAX.
I would guess Fiji might have the best bang for the buck for world class diving.

I also LOVE diving in Maui, always neat stuff see and we always seem to have some big things swim in. I wanted to stop in Maui when returning
from Fiji, but it was very expensive to do. I will just have to stay longer in Fiji......life is good:D

Russ
 
I vote option 3. Combine Palau for diving and Hawaii for topside. Palau is often rated in the top 3 diving destinations in the world.

If one of those other locations is Sipadan then you can put it in the top 2 locations, not 3.

If there's ever a question of going somewhere else and going to Palau, I'll take Palau. It's a very very special place :)
 
Of the places mentioned thus far, I've been to Palau, Hawaii (Big Island, Maui, Oahu, Kauai), and the Maldives.

Firstly, I'd cross the Maldives off your list. If you're spending the time and money to fly literally half way around the world to see a bunch of islands (and what's in the water around them), limiting yourself to one island doesn't really make sense IMO. It's really best to do a liveaboard here, which will allow you to see multiple islands/atolls in one trip, and will cost the same (if not less) than staying and diving on one of the resort islands. One of the couples on my liveaboard stayed at an island for a bit afterwards, and said the diving there was ludicrously priced (I wanna say somewhere around $300 for two tanks?) since there's only one dive center on the island. If you were looking for a beautiful island to chill on while doing a bit of diving, it'd be different.

Palau is amazing, and I think sounds ideal for your situation (schools of fish, big stuff, great viz, and nice warm water to boot). I've seen some people who've done a liveaboard there complaining about how land based diving there requires long boat rides to the dive sites, but I really enjoyed those rides. Zipping by lush tropical islands and amazingly blue water on a sunny day with the wind blowing through your hair, passing by the occasional turtle or flying fish? Yeah, that sounds like a horrible time :D. That said, getting to sites before the crowds and getting in another dive or two per day can be a nice upside if that fits your needs - but I digress. Some possible downsides to Palau though are that it is a slightly more... adventurous/rough-around-the-edges/not-uber-developed locale. I don't mean to say it's unsafe at all, but if you're looking for a Westin and/or McD's, this ain't it. Granted, it's been a few years since I've been, but I doubt it's drastically changed.

As for Hawaii, outside of the manta dive on the Big Island, I've actually liked diving on Maui the best - although specifically the short trip from Maui to dive at Lana'i. On land, there's plenty to do/eat (great food), but aside from the manta dive, it's really more of a place you go diving while there, not a place you go specifically for diving.

If you're looking to combine Hawaii and Palau into one trip, remember to take a close look how flights work out. The "usual" route from the mainland was LAX to HNL to Guam to Palau, and at least previously, it was priced unfavorably to fly and stay in Hawaii then fly to Palau. When I was researching, it would've cost more to fly from HNL to Palau (via Guam) than it costs to fly from SFO to Palau (via HNL and Guam).

Thanks, regarding flights, it's $2,100 to fly from eastern Canada to ROR regardless of what airline or layover. If I pick a multiple destination flight that has a one or two week layover in hawaii, the price changes to $2,200. So at least from my neck of the woods stopping in hawaii is essentially free as far as the flight is concerned :)
 
Palau is stunning! Some of the best diving on the planet no question about it, and more accessible than the best of the rest. You need to be ready for looong days. Leave your hotel at 730-830, back at 230-330, which may be tough with an infant. Also, and this is key, you need to go between December and May. I like March, April and May for lighter crowds, viz, weather, although the Mantas are around in and around February. I also like diving Palau around the full moon and the new moon for more current, which means more life! Don't go to Palau June through November. You may get lucky on the fringes, but once the winds change direction, you will be locked out of the legendary dive sites and will be stuck with very ordinary diving. For weeks at a time. After traveling all that way and spending all of that cash! And if you go to Palau, check out Neco Marine for diving. Best facilities and best boats in Palau. No question about it. I lived there a couple of years and I know this to be absolute fact. It is a PADI 5-Star. If not Neco, Sam's is great and very cool, if a bit uncomfortable on the small, crowded, side-facing boats--long rides!
 
Aloha, when are you thinking to go to Kauai and Kona? We will be in Kauai, May 29-7 and Kona, June 7-14. I'm doing 3 boat dives and 2shore dives in Princeville w Fanthom 5divers and and 2 w Kona Diving Company for manta and long range to dive 2 wrecks (beechflight plane and the naked lady sailboat, max depth 100th)and 2 w Blue Wilderness Adventures at Kohala Coast. I'm currently taking my stress and rescue class this week and navigation in May. I already have my AWD from Bali in Dec. I hope to reach 100 dives next year, from Nassau, Grand Bahamas, or Playa Del Carmen. My husband only wants to dive once a week so dive resorts is a waste for us and plus we usually bring our twins(12yrs old) so land base works for us. For you divers in Hawaii, I hope we can get together for couple shore diving since my buddy like to hang out ..need a dive buddy. I can't keep paying full price for shore diving.
 
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I would frankly go to Palau. we have dove Palau, Hawaii, and the Carbbean and Palau is excellent. we always stayed at the Palau Pacific resort. right now, i would rank Palau as the #1 place we have dove, followed by #2, Wakatobi, Indonesia. I would frankly dive Kona or Maui/Lanai before Kauai.
 
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