last minute trip to palau

[ctheworld]

Hi,
I am a flight attendant(soon to be ex-flight attendant) I will soon lose my flight benefits. I am thinkin of a last minute trip to Palau. I have available April 1-12th. I have never been. Flights will cost me under 300. And I have done some research on live aboards and just boat dives. Any recommendations. I will be alone and want to keep the trips costs down. Thanks. Allison

 

[kevink]

Allison,

First off see if you book directly with any of the liveaboards if they have any last minute space available bunks. If you don't mind, or even can share a cabin with someone, that would be dead cheap. Don't even think about paying list price. They like to fill space if at all possible on a last minute basis. If someone has one of the boats chartered for the week, and they have bunks available, it may be even cheaper still. That would require more digging though.

For land based look at the West Plaza hotels (Malakal would be a good location). Not a five star resort, but a clean comfortable room. There are cheaper places, but unless you would sleep just about anywhere, I would stick with no less than West Plaza. Another thought is to call Air Micronesia (continental), if possible, and see if anyone will put you up on an air crew rate. When last I was there the Palasia in town held over the aircrews for the night.

Land based the diving starts at 8am and ends about 3pm so there is not much time to lounge around the pool. The only resort with its own beach is PPR, and the per night right rate rivals a Manhattan hotel.

I have a group of eight people on island from 25 March - 4 April. We are diving with Keith Santillano www.palaudive.com. He has about 15 years experience in Palau and runs a great show. Our last day of diving will be the 2nd.