I have a chance to dive Palau, but I am concerned about long term travel restrictions

[Hoag]

A dive shop that I have gone on several trips with in the past is organizing a trip to Palau for March 2022. The preliminary notes look like it is going to be an amazing trip. Accommodation will be in a high end resort near Koror, and the diving will be organized by Sam's Dive Tours.

The catch is that it is all based on Palau opening up significantly for tourism. Right now, it is a textbook case of "you can't get there from here" (Ontario, Canada). It looks as though virtually all flights in and out of Koror have been suspended until further notice.

Has anybody heard if this shut down is expected to last long term, or are the restrictions expected to relax in the next 6 months or so?

Any info (with a link to an accompanying website) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Outbound]

I have nothing to add in terms of information, but I really want to do a Palau liveaboard trip next year and have been putting plans on hold until the pandemic is over or under much better control globally and travel to Koror is back to some semblance of normalcy. Seems too iffy for me at the moment. Given how this pandemic has been unfolding thus far, I'm working under the assumption that the global situation won't be normal by spring of next year. Maybe by the autumn.

Will your trip be fully refundable if it doesn't go? Of will you lose a deposit? If it's no-risk, then I suppose you could plan for it and if the whole thing goes belly up it's not a big deal.

 

[peeweediver]

Hoag:

You might want to move this question to the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island section. Our LDS is watching Palau as well. I think their plan to go this November won't happen, so it'll be rescheduled for Nov 2022, which is what we're signed up for. Palau is at 85% vaccination rate for 12 and over...amazing. You can check the Palau Health Ministry site (palauhealth.org) for updates on everything Covid, and it has the latest entry restrictions on that site. I think United is flying to Koror from Guam once a week and a travel bubble with Taiwan has begun. Two things need to happen: Increased flights from Guam (United) and the relaxation of the 5 day Restriction of Movement requirement. Nothing has been written regarding upcoming changes, but your LDS and Sam's Dive Tours may have some insight into planned relaxation. Hope you get to go.

Rob

 

[tc]

Palau Ministry of Health is on Facebook, follow them if you want the latest info.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The only way I would gamble on an expensive Asia-Pacific trip six or more months out is with cancel-for-any-reason insurance. In the last six months, Europe, for example, opened up to US visitors and is now closing again. My thinking is this sort of see-saw can happen anywhere. If you're lucky, and if you feel it's safe, you'll hit a window of opportunity.

 

[Hoag]

Request to the Mods: @peeweediver suggested that this thread might be better in the "Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island section". Could you please move it there?

Thank you.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Request to the Mods: @peeweediver suggested that this thread might be better in the "Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island section". Could you please move it there?

Thank you.

Done. For future reference, one could use the Report button for such requests.

 

[Hoag]

Done. For future reference, one could use the Report button for such requests.

Thank you, and I apologize for putting it in the wrong forum.

 

[Dan]

My group is working on a back-to-back trip to Palau & Philippines in end of December, 2021. I’m considering the Palau Aggressor (PA). I was on PA2, 3 years ago. It was pretty good trip.

Trip Report - December 24-31, 2017 Palau Trip Report

Currently there is a $1000 off for PA liveaboards
Specials and Unique Adventures | Aggressor Adventures™

 

[chiggins]

I am am booked for a Palau live-aboard in 6 weeks; the specials were enticing. I booked about 3 weeks ago but already had 3 flight schedule changes and have discussed the situation with the operator. What they are currently recommending is to arrive on the same day the boat departs. In a normal world, no one in their right mind would ever recommend this, but I'm comfortable because the Guam to Palau flight is only once a week and its the only commercial airline available from North America. Since the operator is recommending, maybe requiring, that specific arrival, most or all of the other divers for the boat will be coming on that flight so I'm not concerned about being left behind.
The operator did say that the boat's itinerary had been modified to facilitate the required testing on day 5 and will be making a stop for that purpose before resuming the trip. I did see several of the other dive and liveaboard operators on the list of certified businesses. Pandemic Safety Certification - Pristine Paradise Palau
Once the trip is complete, I will stay for another 5 days of land based diving. Unless the flight schedule gets reduced again to once a week and then I will have to decide if I stay on land for a full week, or leave on Sunday after the liveboard.
As for the flights to get to Palau, I am required to make connections in Chicago (44 mins), Honolulu (85 mins), and Guam (was 5 hours, now almost 30). When my connection time in Chicago dropped to 44 mins, I decided to improve my odds of getting there by starting out a day earlier, spending 30 hours in Guam (HNL-GUM is once a day) rather than miss one of the other connections to a once a week flight.
I hope that in a little over 2 months, I'll be post a trip report when I return. But until then, it certainly appears possible to get to Palau with some patience. The Philippines however is showing no signs of reopening to tourism any time soon. This is where I have rebooked and rebooked and rebooked since November 2019. My initial cancellation was due to a typhoon, and I have trip credits that I plan to use when the country reopens. Entry requirements are restrictive and the mandatory quarantine has made the trip impossible. I'd be cautious with making plans to the Philippines since the national and local governments seem to be unpredictable and erratic with travel restrictions and health measures. I agree that trip insurance with "cancel for any reason" coverage is a smart investment at the moment for traveling anywhere besides Mexico and the Caribbean given the fluidity of international travel at the moment.