Palau Dive Centres

[MissDoo]

I know there's a similar thread already but it doesn't really concentrate on the issues I'm asking. so I was hoping I could get some help from here. Between Sam's and Fish n Fins, who would you recommend? The distance to the hotel is not an issue as they both offer pick up service anyway, so my question is, are the facilities better in one than the other? I know Sams has a bar and restaurant where you can hang around, do Fish and Fins have a similar thing? What about the gear storage facilities? Are they both equal as each other? Is one place friendlier than the other? More organised? Fish n Fins are cheaper than Sam's so I don't know which way to go. Any advice will be very helpful.
Thanks

---------- Post added November 18th, 2012 at 05:34 PM ----------

Anyone at all?

 

[farsidefan1]

I have done Palau with the Aggressor and Sam's and only observed Fish and Fins boats. The Fish and Fins boats are a bit different in that they have bench seats facing foreward whereas Sam's are the more usual sitting around the outside of the boat facing inward. I loved staying at the Sea Passion and walking to Sam's when I wanted to stretch my legs a bit. I ate several meals at Sam's and enjoyed the comraderie of the other divers as well as reasonabley priced food. Sam's has a house reef that is quite nice and you can see the mandarin fish doing their dance in the evening and you get unlimited air. The gear storage at Sam's is easy. You put your gear in a locker room in one of the boxes and using the hangars. I had no issues with the setup.You do have to shlup your gear from he locker room to the boat but it is a very short hop, maybe 30 feet to the docks. If you choose Sam's I would suggest you pay for the 3 dives a day in advance. They usually run only one boat that does 3 dives and if you have not paid in advance you may not be on it. They list the boats by name on white boards and the names of the divers "assigned to it". Then you just take your gear to the boat. They are very good about refunding any unused dive expenses. It got a bit nasty one day so I passed on a that day and they didn't blink about refunding all the money. That got my attention. Very good people to work with. As to Fish and fins, I just don't know. I have heard nothing but good reports about them. I think you win either way and even if you dive with fish and fins you can eat at Sam's.

 

[MissDoo]

Thanks farsidefan1. That was very a very helpful description. It sounds like Sam's are good fun.

 

[altaskier]

I dove on the Ocean Hunter I liveaboard with Fish n Fins, and had a great experience. They also have a bar at their dock for telling lies after the dives.

 

[jake11]

I can not speak for Fish n fins but we did dive with Sams for 2 weeks and had a fantastic time. Great diving and great boats! The shore diving was awesome and you can see the mandarin fish even in the daylight! Have a great trip!

 

[Damselfish]

We were on the Aggressor and didn't dive with Sam's, but we did do a day trip kayaking in the rock islands with them which was great. And spent some time hanging around there. Seemed like a good bunch.

 

[Scoober]

Sam's is quite good. FNF is solid as well, although sort of a weird vibe around the shop, which is located near the dump. Oi...sometimes not so ver nice, depending on season, wind, etc. Hands down the best choice in the end is Neco Marine. Best facilities and best boats. Not even a close call on either score. In fact, Neco pretty much inveted the Palau-style dive boat. Palauan owner (very smart cat and a great guy). PADI 5-Star. Funny, but Neco doesn't receive as much attention as Sam's or FNF, but it is truly a great op, and I have dealt with a helluva lot of dive ops. They also have a great bar at the shop for some apres. Located near Sam's, but much cleaner.

 

[docbonezz]

I dove with Sam's a few years back and for the most part they were great. A few saftey concerns I had though. When I was there they had just finished shooting one of the "Survivor" series shows. The people that had filmed the show were getting certified and were new divers. One of the new divers RAN OUT OF AIR on more than one dive. The dive leader continued the dive with her breathing off of his octo. He should have taken her to the surface and ended her dive. This happened on at least three dives. They also took the same new divers on some very high current dives to Pelilu. When the current blew them off the reef, they redropped them back on the same dive. Hopefully they have improved their saftey practicess.

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Between Fish n Fins and Sams, I would recommend neither. I always book with Palau Dive Adventures. Small groups, personal service. I work with Chris in Los Angeles and his partner in Palau and they have always provided my dives the best service. They also have a contract with Palau Pacific Resort and Sea Passion and get us good room rates.