tropicalfan
Registered
Thanks to all the earlier posts to my questions pre trip.
This was the best trip ever!!
We left Seattle Sat am and got into Palau around 8:30pm Sunday. We were promptly greeted by the Aggressor II staff.
After getting to the boat there was a very complete briefing about the facility.
One of the things I loved most was the safety consciousness of the crew; if anyone didn't have a dive alert, safety sausage they were given one to use for the week...one of each buddy pair had a GPS beacon attached to their BCD. We were also assigned reef hooks and knives if we didn't have them.
By the first am the crew of 7 knew all of the guests names.
Everyone was diving nitrox so that meant 4-5 6o minute dives daily!
Day 1 included 2 dives at German Channel/Turtle Cove, Ngedebus Corner, Big Drop Off.
Highlights included seeing my first cuddlefish (laying eggs!) Lion fish many different types of Nudibrach. There were unbelievable numbers of fish and the color of the corals was spectacular!
Scotty kept ample and delicious food coming..
A typical day would start with continental breakfast at 6:30am with the first dive at 7:00.
Then back to the boat for second breakfast; eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, cereal, pancakes.
Off to dive # 2 at 10:00. There were always great and very specific dive briefings with pictures.
Now time for lunch which might include choices of clam chowder, cesear salad, ham and cheese sandwhiches, jambalaya....
Dive #3 would start around 2:00pm
Lita, our lovely steward would meet us coming off the skiff and treat us to fresh cookies or brownies.
Dive # 4 would start around 4:30.
Back now for dinner which might include prime rib, chicken oscar, ahi and a fabulous dessert.
Dive # 5 would usually be around 7:30.
The motto onboard was ""Eat, Sleep, Dive". The crew certainly lived up to this.
My first "reef hook in" was the 7:00am dive on day # 2 at the Blue Corner. The crew was fabulous in their briefing and were right on hand to make sure everyone got hooked in without problems. What a trip to fly above a point and watch the sharks (white tip, black tip, grey) and baracuda come in! This was a great dive! We also did New drop Off, Fern's Wall, BlueCorner and a repeat dive in the late afternoon at Blue Corner again.
On the morning of my 50th birthday we were off to Peleleu Express. Wow, wow, wow! We started the dive in the North Pacific Ocean and ened up in the Philipine Sea. The visibility was astounding. This is definitely up their as one of the top dives of all time! The current wasn't too strong that am-Capt Mike said that he had done the same drift we had done in 7 minutes (it took us a 40 minute drift).
Also an astounding dive that day was Barracks Point. The viz there must have been 150 ft! And I saw my first Giant Clam. The corals were gorgeous.
Thanks to Captain Mike, second Captain Dan, Amanda, Hector, Ike, Scotty and Lita for making this a terrific trip.
All in all this was probably my favorite dive trip ever! I would go back to Palau and especially to The Palau Aggressor II-in a heartbeat and I encourage everyone to go!
This was the best trip ever!!
We left Seattle Sat am and got into Palau around 8:30pm Sunday. We were promptly greeted by the Aggressor II staff.
After getting to the boat there was a very complete briefing about the facility.
One of the things I loved most was the safety consciousness of the crew; if anyone didn't have a dive alert, safety sausage they were given one to use for the week...one of each buddy pair had a GPS beacon attached to their BCD. We were also assigned reef hooks and knives if we didn't have them.
By the first am the crew of 7 knew all of the guests names.
Everyone was diving nitrox so that meant 4-5 6o minute dives daily!
Day 1 included 2 dives at German Channel/Turtle Cove, Ngedebus Corner, Big Drop Off.
Highlights included seeing my first cuddlefish (laying eggs!) Lion fish many different types of Nudibrach. There were unbelievable numbers of fish and the color of the corals was spectacular!
Scotty kept ample and delicious food coming..
A typical day would start with continental breakfast at 6:30am with the first dive at 7:00.
Then back to the boat for second breakfast; eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, cereal, pancakes.
Off to dive # 2 at 10:00. There were always great and very specific dive briefings with pictures.
Now time for lunch which might include choices of clam chowder, cesear salad, ham and cheese sandwhiches, jambalaya....
Dive #3 would start around 2:00pm
Lita, our lovely steward would meet us coming off the skiff and treat us to fresh cookies or brownies.
Dive # 4 would start around 4:30.
Back now for dinner which might include prime rib, chicken oscar, ahi and a fabulous dessert.
Dive # 5 would usually be around 7:30.
The motto onboard was ""Eat, Sleep, Dive". The crew certainly lived up to this.
My first "reef hook in" was the 7:00am dive on day # 2 at the Blue Corner. The crew was fabulous in their briefing and were right on hand to make sure everyone got hooked in without problems. What a trip to fly above a point and watch the sharks (white tip, black tip, grey) and baracuda come in! This was a great dive! We also did New drop Off, Fern's Wall, BlueCorner and a repeat dive in the late afternoon at Blue Corner again.
On the morning of my 50th birthday we were off to Peleleu Express. Wow, wow, wow! We started the dive in the North Pacific Ocean and ened up in the Philipine Sea. The visibility was astounding. This is definitely up their as one of the top dives of all time! The current wasn't too strong that am-Capt Mike said that he had done the same drift we had done in 7 minutes (it took us a 40 minute drift).
Also an astounding dive that day was Barracks Point. The viz there must have been 150 ft! And I saw my first Giant Clam. The corals were gorgeous.
Thanks to Captain Mike, second Captain Dan, Amanda, Hector, Ike, Scotty and Lita for making this a terrific trip.
All in all this was probably my favorite dive trip ever! I would go back to Palau and especially to The Palau Aggressor II-in a heartbeat and I encourage everyone to go!