Palau currents for 14 year old diver

[roundrockdiver]

Hello. This will be my first post although I have enjoyed the info for a few years now.

My son is 14 and will be going to Palau for 2 weeks in June 05. He has been certified for 2 years and has 20 dives in Cozumel. How does the current differ from Cozumel and Palau? Like I said, we will be diving in June if that makes a difference in the current. How strong is it and do you think a small 14 year old male,85 pounds, could handle it?

Secondly, we were going to stay at the Palau Pacific but I found out the boat ride can be up to 90 minutes away from the dive sites. Is there a comparable resort closer to the dive sites. Any that you would recommend for a family thats on the water with pool, dive shop, good food ect...?

Lastly, any dive sites and dive shops you could recommend would be greatly appreciated. Any shops that offer SASY?

Oh yea, one more thing.....Is Palau really that great of diving for the buck?

Thanks in advance and safe diving.

rrdiver

 

[donacheson]

Hello. This will be my first post although I have enjoyed the info for a few years now.

My son is 14 and will be going to Palau for 2 weeks in June 05. He has been certified for 2 years and has 20 dives in Cozumel. How does the current differ from Cozumel and Palau? Like I said, we will be diving in June if that makes a difference in the current. How strong is it and do you think a small 14 year old male,85 pounds, could handle it?

Secondly, we were going to stay at the Palau Pacific but I found out the boat ride can be up to 90 minutes away from the dive sites. Is there a comparable resort closer to the dive sites. Any that you would recommend for a family thats on the water with pool, dive shop, good food ect...?

Lastly, any dive sites and dive shops you could recommend would be greatly appreciated. Any shops that offer SASY?

Thanks in advance and safe diving.

rrdiver

If your son is a reasonably strong swimmer and can keep a cool head, I'd expect he could handle Palau. Unlike Cozumel, Palau is more than drift diving. Some sites, like Blue Corner, are best viewed while holding on to a rock or hooked in with a reef hook, and may take a bit of effort in the current to get into position.

I'll offer three "words" of advice: First, don't exhaust yourselves fighting a current; just go with it if it's got you panting and gasping for breath, ascend slowly, and deploy safety sausages on the surface. Second, equip everyone in your family with safety sausages, strobe lights, and air horns driven off your BC inflator hose. Third, don't clip a reef hook to your BC; hold on with your hand.

 

[marpacifica]

If you want creature comforts and proximity to the sea, you can't get any better than Palau Pacific Resort. There is a resort called the Storyboard on Peleliu Island, but do a search on that and you'll get some complaints (take with a grain of salt). All decent hotels with good food, lodging, entertainment, etc., are "downtown" or close by. If you want something closer to the southern divesites, your choice is the Storyboard or a liveaboard.

And, yes, Palau is a great place to dive. I didn't find much in terms of macro/muck-diving, but the pelagics and semi-pelagics (sharks, tuna, spanish mackerel, barracuda, jacks) are numerous and a sight to see while hooked to the reef at Blue Corner, New Drop-Off, or Peleliu Cut. "For the buck" is relative. Depends on what you consider cheap, standard, and expensive. In my view, diving there, per dive, costs as much as diving in Hawaii or some other popular resort frequented by Americans. The difference is getting there, which can be around $2000 from the US mainland. Getting a package will probably save you money.

Watch out for down currents during tide changes -- please run a search on down current because there are many on this board. If you get caught in one, you need to know what to do, especially in a blue water safety stop with 10000 feet of ocean below you. You need to watch your depth gauge at ALL times while ascending and descending, and frequently while cruising about the reef. Currents at Peleliu Island can be the strongest in Palau, so I wouldn't recommend that dive until your son got more experience in diving in currents. The DM/DI can guage your son's experience after a few dives with him.

I highly recommend Sam's Dive Tours, but I have dived with Fish 'n Fins and found them to be just as professional. There's also Neco Marine but I don't have any first-hand experience with them.

Good luck!

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

If you want creature comforts and proximity to the sea, you can't get any better than Palau Pacific Resort. There is a resort called the Storyboard on Peleliu Island, but do a search on that and you'll get some complaints (take with a grain of salt). All decent hotels with good food, lodging, entertainment, etc., are "downtown" or close by. If you want something closer to the southern divesites, your choice is the Storyboard or a liveaboard.

And, yes, Palau is a great place to dive. I didn't find much in terms of macro/muck-diving, but the pelagics and semi-pelagics (sharks, tuna, spanish mackerel, barracuda, jacks) are numerous and a sight to see while hooked to the reef at Blue Corner, New Drop-Off, or Peleliu Cut. "For the buck" is relative. Depends on what you consider cheap, standard, and expensive. In my view, diving there, per dive, costs as much as diving in Hawaii or some other popular resort frequented by Americans. The difference is getting there, which can be around $2000 from the US mainland. Getting a package will probably save you money.

Watch out for down currents during tide changes -- please run a search on down current because there are many on this board. If you get caught in one, you need to know what to do, especially in a blue water safety stop with 10000 feet of ocean below you. You need to watch your depth gauge at ALL times while ascending and descending, and frequently while cruising about the reef. Currents at Peleliu Island can be the strongest in Palau, so I wouldn't recommend that dive until your son got more experience in diving in currents. The DM/DI can guage your son's experience after a few dives with him.

I highly recommend Sam's Dive Tours, but I have dived with Fish 'n Fins and found them to be just as professional. There's also Neco Marine but I don't have any first-hand experience with them.

Good luck!

Great post. Thanks from someone also planning a Palau trip.

 

[marpacifica]

Tim and others, feel free to PM me if you need more detailed info about Palau. I've been there a few times and am returning in November to try a liveaboard.

 

[Mike Veitch]

I worked in Palau for 3 years on a liveaboard. During that time we must have had 10-15 kids around 12-15 years of age. Never a problem. Good thing with kids is they are in good shape. I never really worried about them having to swim in to the current. We certainly had to watch them closely (always put a DM with them) due to maybe going a little fast or sometimes having a bit of up and down buoyancy problems. However, they learn real quick at that age and by the end of the week, 20+ dives, they have it all down pat.
I was usually more worried about very overweight older people than kids. They are the ones who get in trouble when there is a little current to kick into, kids love having to kick...
All the hotels are in town except a couple of isolated ones in Peleliu and Carp island that i wouldn't recommend for a family.
I would recommend Sams Tours for you, lots of different activities offered there. They also do hotel packages with some of the cheaper hotels like West Plaza.
www.samstours.com

 

[taiwandiver]

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Hello. This will be my first post although I have enjoyed the info for a few years now.

My son is 14 and will be going to Palau for 2 weeks in June 05. He has been certified for 2 years and has 20 dives in Cozumel. How does the current differ from Cozumel and Palau? Like I said, we will be diving in June if that makes a difference in the current. How strong is it and do you think a small 14 year old male,85 pounds, could handle it?

Secondly, we were going to stay at the Palau Pacific but I found out the boat ride can be up to 90 minutes away from the dive sites. Is there a comparable resort closer to the dive sites. Any that you would recommend for a family thats on the water with pool, dive shop, good food ect...?

Lastly, any dive sites and dive shops you could recommend would be greatly appreciated. Any shops that offer SASY?

Oh yea, one more thing.....Is Palau really that great of diving for the buck?

Thanks in advance and safe diving.

rrdiver

Just wanted to let you know that my son was certified there last year and my husband and I took a refresher course.
We live in Taiwan so it is only a 4 hour flight to Palau. We went with a smaller dive shop Dive Palau which was great. The owner is Keith Santinelo and has lived there for 14 years. He was a cpa and left the corporate world to become a diver.

The dives we went on after he was certified were all considered beginner except for Blue Corner. They were all drift dives. The current was a little strong but not to bad. My son always was buddied up with Keith and then my husband and I were buddies. He always stayed with the keith and did whatever he said. Because sometimes teenagers want to do their own thing and in diving that can be trouble.

I noticed you were going in June. Sometimes you can run into bad weather around that time of the year although they dive 365 days a year, it might be something to consider. The dive sites were about a 45 minute boat ride throught the rock islands so it was beautiful and we never noticed that they were overly long.

Also there is not to much to do there except dive, kayak and jellyfish lake. There is not much tourist things to do like Thailand or Bali, but the diving is great.

I hope this helps you!

 

[blue corner bunny]

We went with a smaller dive shop Dive Palau which was great. The owner is Keith Santinelo and has lived there for 14 years. He was a cpa and left the corporate world to become a diver

Keith is now with Sam's and he is the best! Is is extremely patient, almost fatherly with novice divers. Your son will be in good hands with him. Sam's is also very good at accomodating specific DI/DM requests; I was in Palau for about a month last year and specifically asked to be on Keith's boat every time- I don't think the guy ever takes a day off!

Have a great time...Once you dive Palau, everything else pales in comparison!

 

[pkrupela]

For land-based diving, Palau is great... Although it's been loved to death in my opinion - too many divers kicking the hell out of the reef. The current can rip there - in places like Pelileu and Blue Corner - just make sure you're prepared for that. Your son seems a bit on the small side, but if you're experienced and keep him close, you should be fine. You're right - the boat rides are long, but unless you do a liveaboard, you'll have to just deal with them. It's a pretty ride out though. I dove with Fish N' Fins in the 80's and they were great - the pioneers of diving in Palau. The Palau Pacific is a great hotel, and the closest good place to the reefs.

 

[tx.lakerats]

DO us a favor and post AFTER you get back from your trip so that we can know how he does... I am planning a trip for 06 and would love to know how he does!

Have fun and be safe