Micronesia in 10 days... where to go?

[Christine Russel]

Got 10 days off work in Apr 2009 and want to fly out of Bangkok into Micronesia for diving.... but where to go... palau, guam, yup, chuuk or pohnpei..?

Any good suggestion how to make most out of just 10 days....

We were thinking of choosing 2-3 island, but how to get between the island without flying, are there regular boat connection or must one go live on-board? Trust we are out in the last minute for booking any liveonboards...

We were thinking of just booking our flight ticket into one of the islands and take it as we go from there... is that a wise decision or should we try to pre-book?

Anyone with some good advise are very welcome...

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

Hi there Christine -

With only 10 days I would choose one site, maybe two.

Note that flying between islands will take away 2 diving days: a travel day and a day prior to that of no (or 1-2 shallow morning) dives.

What do you like - wreaks or walls? I would rate Truk>>Palau>>>>the others.

I never get tired of the wreaks at Truk. Palau has fantastic walls and currents but gets a bit repetitive after a week. Yap has some nice manta sites (but so does Palau). Haven't dived Guam or Pohnpei but others rate them similar to Yap.

I would either do 10 days Truk (lots of mind-blowing wreaks, and some walls on the outer reef if you ask for them) or do Truk for 5-6 days and 2-3 days to do the key sites at Palau (Blue Corner, Blue Holes, Peleiu Express, Devil Ray City, etc).

Note that topside Truk is very ordinary: bring a good book. Palau is quite civilised and the islands are very scenic.

I would certainly pre-book your flights: they tend to fill up very fast. The airline, continental pacific, is very, very ordinary.

BTW: Most liveaboards are based on only one island: I'm not aware of any intra-island live aboards (though there may be some? ). Most are all booked up way ahead: for instance the Odyssey at Truk is booked out till mid 2010/2011... You may get some good standby rates if you approach individual live aboard managers about filling in for cancellations.

Cheers,
Rohan.

 

[deepstops]

I'd vote for Truk. The wrecks are reefs so you're really getting both.
While Odyssey is booked mostly by dive shops, Odyssey will tell what shop has the boat for which week and you can through the shop that has it booked.
Thorfinn is also a good option and I've heard nothing but good stuff about her since she was rebuilt last year.
And there's always land-based diving out of Blue Lagoon or the Truk Stop hotels.

 

[ncchuck]

The island are very far apart with no transportation other than airlines between them. You'll be wise to book travel in advance but I doubt you'd have any problems with hotels and diving on any of destinations. Liveaboards are not necessary at Truk Lagoon as the dive shops visit the same sites as the liveaboards. If you like wreck diving, you can't beat this destination. I've not been to Palau but I'd from everything I've read on this board, I'd select it first or second.

 

[Travelnsj]

I have done Palau, Yap and Truk in about 14 days years ago....I had numerous no dive days, sitting in airports, major jet lag.....and if I remember I got a couple of days of diving in each spot.

Take if from somebody who has been there and done that.....Go to Palau ONLY!

 

[Damselfish]

We did 9 nights in Palau (7 on a liveaboard plus a couple before) and 5 in Yap and that worked out fine. I would not do 3 islands in 10 days and 2 is iffy, but least you are not starting from as many time zones away as many of us!. If doing multiple islands, don't start with an assumption of exactly how many days on each island. Look at the flight schedules first, which may not be daily, and see what makes sense. Good chance you will have at least one flight arriving and/or leaving some lovely time like 3am, if that's the case you will want to plan things so you can checkout as late as possible or have someplace to do or go.

 

[HBO MD]

I agree ; head to Palau and go to Fish n Fins.
Speak with Charito and say "Max" sent you Their number is 680 488 2637.
Seriously, while I was there a number of folks popped in out of the blue and were incorporated into the boat diving. I'm not sure how busy their liveaboards are though at present, but Charito will tell you.
You won't regret it.
Great staff, cool shop and cater to whatever you need.
Enjoy!

 

[HBO MD]

PS.
My avatar photo is from my last visit...what more can I say?

 

[KONADREAMER50]

TRUK WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!! I lived married and dived micronesia for 26 yr's. Truk offers wreck and reef dives great for shallow or deep dives air or mixed gasses. So with only ten day's I really recomed Truk . All that said palau's almost too beautiful for words,but it's all walls or reef. And after 2 or 3 days how much alike walls start to look even in Palau , and Yaps manta rays are incredible to share a dive with. But yaps water visibility is always a question. Oh well. I stand by my first statement Truk gives you a much better chance of great dive's that make the fly time worth it! Where ever you decide to dive in micronesia you will already be one of the (lucky ones ) diving micronesia!!
GOOD DIVING! KONADREAMER50

 

[evilclown]

thanks to all for the info. i was thinking fiji, but now palau. not a big wreck fan.