Finished a wonderful Palau liveaboard on the Black Pearl (BP)
Getting to Koror was looonnnngggg but after three flights we got there a day before boarding the boat and could rest a little bit.
Palau is nice, green and clean, and Palauans are really nice.
The boat is really nice, modern, large and spacious, rooms with excellent showers. Food also as good as one can expect.
We started with a warm welcone and boat/safety briefings. They have a fire supress system, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers everywhere, a fire blanket and fire escape hood for each guest- first time that I've seen any of these (a hood and small oxygen tank with regulator, for 15 minutes). Oxygen kits in each dingy and on main boat. Then there was an actual fire drill, followed by a tour to show where all the exits are, the locations of fire extinguishers and so on.
The two Aluminum dingys with 2x250 HP motors act almost like the Maldives' donis (although they are by far smaller and without compressor)- the gear stays there and they have an extension line to fill the tanks from a Nitrox membrane compressor on the main boat, so the dingys are the actual dive deck itself. The wetsuits one can take to the BP's aft deck, and if it rains they hang them inside some large storage room.
Considering we were not in peak season (supposedly the rainy season) the dives themselves were great. Bumphead Parrotfish spawning, schools of hundreds of them, Trevalies, Sharks (mainly gray reefand white tips), Turtles, Leafy scorpion fish, Circular Batfish, schools of Snappers, Barracudas, an occasional Napoleon Wrasse. And a few Mantas. Healty and abundant coral reefs.
We dove what I assume Palau's popular repertoire of dive sites:
Day 1
Sandbar (Parrotfish spawning)
Siaes Tunnel
Ulong Channel
Day2
Sandbar
Siaes Corner
Ulong Channel
Day3
Blue Corner
New Drop off
German Channel
German Channel (evening/night)
Dayrl4
Peleliu I
Peleliu II
German Channel
Day5
Blue Corner
Blue Holes
Blue Corner
Day6
Iro Wreck
Chandelier cave
We enjoyed each and every dive, all of them with abundance of sharks (mostly gray and white tip reef sharks), large schools of Snappers, Trevalies, Humphead Parrotfishes, Batfish, occasional Wahoo (or what I call "Barratuna", lots of barracudas and of course some magestic Manta Rays. And turtles. Lots of them, one dive about a dozen or more in a long line. Napoleon wrasses? That too.
Definitely will try to return on peak season, and time it for Red Snapper spawning (new moon).
The pros of being off season are that we were practically alone in each dive site, a group of 11 divers so anything but crowded. By luck, we had blue skies and calm sea every day, no rain or winds. Currents were excellent, though, bringing all the good stuff. The cons are probably less visibility and not as many big animals.
Bottom line, Black Pearl was great, the boat itself, organization, food, crew, everything. They were attentive to the guest's requests on repeating some dives like Blue Corner and German Channel.
Not sure if important for everyone, but they do charge extra for alcoholic and soft drinks. They serve one passable coffee from a machine at breakfast- beyond that it's extra charge too. The "regular" free coffee really sucks. This is the only negative thing I could find.
The BP offers only 3 dives per day, and a single night dive during the whole week. Nitrox for all included. Other Liveaboards (such as Aggressor, Sea Hunter etc.) seem to offer 4-5 daily dives. Personally, I am fine with three good dives and opt for longer surface intervals, so even when on Aggressor we skipped a dive almost every day. Could be nice if more opportunities for night dives were offered on BP, though.
We will be returning back to Palau, the diving and everything was great.
Getting to Koror was looonnnngggg but after three flights we got there a day before boarding the boat and could rest a little bit.
Palau is nice, green and clean, and Palauans are really nice.
The boat is really nice, modern, large and spacious, rooms with excellent showers. Food also as good as one can expect.
We started with a warm welcone and boat/safety briefings. They have a fire supress system, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers everywhere, a fire blanket and fire escape hood for each guest- first time that I've seen any of these (a hood and small oxygen tank with regulator, for 15 minutes). Oxygen kits in each dingy and on main boat. Then there was an actual fire drill, followed by a tour to show where all the exits are, the locations of fire extinguishers and so on.
The two Aluminum dingys with 2x250 HP motors act almost like the Maldives' donis (although they are by far smaller and without compressor)- the gear stays there and they have an extension line to fill the tanks from a Nitrox membrane compressor on the main boat, so the dingys are the actual dive deck itself. The wetsuits one can take to the BP's aft deck, and if it rains they hang them inside some large storage room.
Considering we were not in peak season (supposedly the rainy season) the dives themselves were great. Bumphead Parrotfish spawning, schools of hundreds of them, Trevalies, Sharks (mainly gray reefand white tips), Turtles, Leafy scorpion fish, Circular Batfish, schools of Snappers, Barracudas, an occasional Napoleon Wrasse. And a few Mantas. Healty and abundant coral reefs.
We dove what I assume Palau's popular repertoire of dive sites:
Day 1
Sandbar (Parrotfish spawning)
Siaes Tunnel
Ulong Channel
Day2
Sandbar
Siaes Corner
Ulong Channel
Day3
Blue Corner
New Drop off
German Channel
German Channel (evening/night)
Dayrl4
Peleliu I
Peleliu II
German Channel
Day5
Blue Corner
Blue Holes
Blue Corner
Day6
Iro Wreck
Chandelier cave
We enjoyed each and every dive, all of them with abundance of sharks (mostly gray and white tip reef sharks), large schools of Snappers, Trevalies, Humphead Parrotfishes, Batfish, occasional Wahoo (or what I call "Barratuna", lots of barracudas and of course some magestic Manta Rays. And turtles. Lots of them, one dive about a dozen or more in a long line. Napoleon wrasses? That too.
Definitely will try to return on peak season, and time it for Red Snapper spawning (new moon).
The pros of being off season are that we were practically alone in each dive site, a group of 11 divers so anything but crowded. By luck, we had blue skies and calm sea every day, no rain or winds. Currents were excellent, though, bringing all the good stuff. The cons are probably less visibility and not as many big animals.
Bottom line, Black Pearl was great, the boat itself, organization, food, crew, everything. They were attentive to the guest's requests on repeating some dives like Blue Corner and German Channel.
Not sure if important for everyone, but they do charge extra for alcoholic and soft drinks. They serve one passable coffee from a machine at breakfast- beyond that it's extra charge too. The "regular" free coffee really sucks. This is the only negative thing I could find.
The BP offers only 3 dives per day, and a single night dive during the whole week. Nitrox for all included. Other Liveaboards (such as Aggressor, Sea Hunter etc.) seem to offer 4-5 daily dives. Personally, I am fine with three good dives and opt for longer surface intervals, so even when on Aggressor we skipped a dive almost every day. Could be nice if more opportunities for night dives were offered on BP, though.
We will be returning back to Palau, the diving and everything was great.
