Ocean Hunter III Palau vs Tropic Dancer Palau

[hogge]

Hi,

getting closer to a final decision. I have been looking into the Ocean Hunter III Palau and Tropic Dancer Palau.
What are the experience of divers on these boats?
Anyone been on both?
What are the pro/con?

Is it worth going on a 10 day or even 7 + 7 day back to back?

Regards
Hogge

 

[Geoff52]

Had a horror 10 day trip on Ocean Hunter I, so I would never go on any Ocean Hunter boat again. The crew were incredibly lazy and ran the boat primarily for their own benefit. Never seen anything like it on my previous liveaboard trips.
Would never go on a 10 day trip in Palau unless you can get a guarantee of diving for at least 3-4 days around Peleliu and Anguar. Otherwise, like me when we left Peleliu after 5 dives, you dive most of the popular sites closer to Palau, 3 or more times, and with up to 13 day boats at the same time. Counted 35 different divers on our third dive at German Channel. Around Peleliu dived by ourselves and saw some good stuff.

Geoff

 

[champ]

I was on the Ocean Hunter I back in 2002 and thought it was one of the best Liveaboards because of the small size. We had 5 divers on the trip (the boat would only hold 6 divers). The crew was very attentive at that time and let the divers pick where they wanted to dive and for how long. Peleliu had some great dives but I would not say that they were necessarily better than the sites closer to Koror. Peleliu has one site with ripping current similar to Blue Corner that was awesome and it is fun to see the old WWII stuff on the island. The chef catered to everyone's needs including one person who need a complete separate glutton free vegan meal.

I was on a similar boat to the Tropic Dancer (same general boat design) when the boat was in Tahiti and again in Fiji. It was a very spacious design - had more room than just about any other boat I have been on. It is a catamaran design that is great in flat water (not so good in rough water but you should be fine in Palau).

You should be fine on either boat. All things being equal, I would pick the Ocean Hunter 3. It has fewer divers than the Tropic Dancer (although more than the Ocean Hunter I) ... some dive sites like Blue Corner may get crowded with the Tropic Dancer even though they will try to stagger the zodiacs a bit.

 

[altaskier]

I had an excellent trip on the Ocean Hunter I in 2009. The crew was great, as was the boat. With only 6 guests and somewhat close quarters (unless you're in the master suite), I suppose you are a bit at the mercy of who else is on the boat. Now that my wife is joining me on diving, we are thinking of when (not if) we'll go to Palau and it will likely be on the Ocean Hunter III.

 

[Acetechnology]

I just retuned from a seven day trip on Ocean Hunter III in Palau and I am ready to do it again. This is more like a super yacht. The service is superb, food outstanding, the crew is fun and highly experienced. Every single site has something to offer and we were blessed with seeing mantas feeding at night, big and small creatures, wrecks, caves, coral reefs, drift and reef hook dives, it has it all. Every diver on board gave it the highest rating and experienced divers said they saw more in one day here than on any of their other 300 dives. My buddy said he was offered a 10 day with another operator for less money than this 7 day liveaboard but he was very pleased he went with Ocean Hunter III and I know you will be too! Say hi to Eddy for me from Darlene.