Late December Diving Destination: Palau, Solomon, Philippines?

[runsongas]

I like to actually see the wildlife, not just squint at a blob of shadows in the predawn murk

 

[Damselfish]

Travel to/within the Phillipines can be time consuming and a pain sometimes, but still might be easier and cheaper than Indonesia. Of course it depends on your destination(s) within the country. I think Philippines is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t yet.

It’s been quite awhile for us but the Ocean Hunter 3 was a very good operation when we did it. We stayed in one of those upper deck master cabins, it was huge for a LOB cabin and definitely the way to go if you can get one. (Unless they changed something they cooled the kitchen by refrigerating the adjacent lounge, so take something warm to hang out in!)

 

[tynanpatrick]

Got back from Palau on the Rock Island aggressor a few weeks ago. It was a fantastic trip. Staff was great, the boat was good, the Diving was the best I've ever seen.

 

[Dan]

snapper spawning ain't worth it. you have to wake up at an ungodly hour to get ready and on the boat because its like a 6am dive, its dim AF so unless you are shooting full frame you can't get enough light for good pics/video, and the whole claim it brings in big sharks is pretty BS.

Totally worth it for me. Check out my trip report, Trip Report - December 24-31, 2017 Palau Trip Report and this video by Brad Erisman

 

[Doc Harry]

I haven't been to the Solomons or the PI, but we did a cruise on the Palau Siren over New Years last year. Palau incredibly clean. There's a lot of current, and a lot of our dives involved hooking-in at the top of current-swept walls and watching the big stuff.

We had a lot of warm rain.

I dove in tech shorts and a rash guard.

The historical tour of Peleliu was fantastic. We went into caves on Bloody Nose Ridge.

I made three videos of our trip. We started the wreck dive by swimming through a large hole in the bow from a torpedo blast.

 

[lermontov]

made three videos of our trip. We started the wreck dive by swimming through a large hole in the bow from a torpedo blast.

did you read beldrigds trip report of the IJN Sata?- the upside down tanker

 

[Doc Harry]

did you read beldrigds trip report of the IJN Sata?- the upside down tanker

I just read it, and had a good laugh.

I never understood why wreck divers are so adamantly opposed to running a guideline when they penetrate.

 

[kagejumper]

I was in Palau (Black Pearl) earlier this year, Cebu Philipines in 2019 (Infiniti). Can't comment on Solomon.

Both are great- it depends on what you want to see. The sharks and mantas in Palau were amazing, and constant. Also STUNNING wrecks and caverns. Much more variety of dive sites and critters in Philipines, with so so much color and new things (cuttle fish, big sea horses, weird crabs, coral coral coral, etc).

Palau: I would 100% recommend land based over Black Pearl, especially since you are a "we". I did both- we did the EXACT same dive sites. As long as you book ahead, it's easy to do 3 dives/ day from land, which is basically what you'll get on the BP. I lucked out with great DMs on all my dives. There were three DMs on the BP- two were great, one was bored/ disinterested. The great ones were leaving the next month, excited to get as far from the BP as possible. Koror is not super exciting, but there's good food, some nice hikes, and fun day trips. Feels like a lost Hawaiian island.

I would not rec the BP. At least one of the BP dinghies was always busted, so we were always late to the popular sites, several times having to settle for 2nd choice (isn't the point of a liveaboard that you get there early?!). Our dinghy captain said this was pretty typical- parent company not taking repairs seriously. Definitely double check your gear and tanks every time. We had Nitrox divers given air, or gear set up on empty tanks, or gear at the wrong end of the dinghy- we're experienced divers, we all checked and it was always discovered before anyone got in the water, but then everything is held up while they move things around (which on the smaller dinghy was a nightmare).
I do a lot of liveaboards, and this was a wonderful trip in many ways. It's a real shame that the dive side chaos was so hard to escape.

 

[DivingChipmunk]

I was in Palau (Black Pearl) earlier this year, Cebu Philipines in 2019 (Infiniti). Can't comment on Solomon.

Both are great- it depends on what you want to see. The sharks and mantas in Palau were amazing, and constant. Also STUNNING wrecks and caverns. Much more variety of dive sites and critters in Philipines, with so so much color and new things (cuttle fish, big sea horses, weird crabs, coral coral coral, etc).

Palau: I would 100% recommend land based over Black Pearl, especially since you are a "we". I did both- we did the EXACT same dive sites. As long as you book ahead, it's easy to do 3 dives/ day from land, which is basically what you'll get on the BP. I lucked out with great DMs on all my dives. There were three DMs on the BP- two were great, one was bored/ disinterested. The great ones were leaving the next month, excited to get as far from the BP as possible. Koror is not super exciting, but there's good food, some nice hikes, and fun day trips. Feels like a lost Hawaiian island.

I would not rec the BP. At least one of the BP dinghies was always busted, so we were always late to the popular sites, several times having to settle for 2nd choice (isn't the point of a liveaboard that you get there early?!). Our dinghy captain said this was pretty typical- parent company not taking repairs seriously. Definitely double check your gear and tanks every time. We had Nitrox divers given air, or gear set up on empty tanks, or gear at the wrong end of the dinghy- we're experienced divers, we all checked and it was always discovered before anyone got in the water, but then everything is held up while they move things around (which on the smaller dinghy was a nightmare).
I do a lot of liveaboards, and this was a wonderful trip in many ways. It's a real shame that the dive side chaos was so hard to escape.

Thanks for your response @kagejumper. What land based dive op did you use in Palau? Is the boat ride very long?

 

[Centrals]

Boat ride is very very long, some of the operators just skip Peleliu because of the distance.
300HP speed boat with so many divers and tanks guarantee a bumpy ride no matter what the surface condition is.
First trip was with Sams(land based) and the subsequent trip was on LoB. Difference is day and night.

First to arrive at Blue corner otherwise you probably see bubbles/back side of fellow divers than shark.