Palau from end of August till mid-September

[Liberty01]

Hi,
I know that end of August till mid-September is not the best time for Palau both for weather and wildlife.
But how much do the conditions affect the diving? Is it still spectacular? Or better wait another year to go in March?
Best regards,
Liberty

 

[rongoodman]

I was there in mid-September a few years back and it was great. A typhoon passing to the north of Guam did impact us somewhat but we still did 39 dives in 9 days aboard the Aggressor boat. I think the swells kept us from getting down to Peleliu.

 

[Nic2750]

It's still spectacular, and slightly less crowded at the popular tourist sites. Fewer mantas, though.

 

[cozcharlie]

Generally agree with what others said. The risk (other than a direct typhoon hit ) is that typhoons in the general neighborhood disrupt the prevailing wind pattern causing the best sites to be undiveable . I’ve been there in September before and it’s been awesome (though fewer mantas as noted ), but last year I was there in late October and the best sites were unavailable for around 6 days out of 10 or something to that effect (you can find a trip report I wrote at the time somewhere) . That said , I have been in Micronesia for typhoons in December and February so the risk is almost never zero . Bottom line is that is this if a once in a lifetime trip for you it is possible to get slightly lower odds of bad weather in another season . If this is just one trip of many I wouldn’t hesitate to go to Palau that time of year (though trip insurance might make sense if a last minute cancellation will be a giant blow to your annual budget ).