Palau in June?

[Griffins]

We're looking at booking a trip to Palau (possibly with a few days in Yap) in early June of '14. It looks like it's low season and while I can see rainfall totals are up a bit from Mar/April it doesn't look horrendous. Is this a bad time to go, and will it effect diving/vis? Thanks in advance.

 

[Adventure-Ocean]

I lived 40 years on Guam. Weather there is hard to predict and very spontaneous. Every year different. June normally is a good month. April, May, and June usually sees the trade winds going down and hot, still weather starting. It may rain more but the storm season will not have quite started yet. It gets riskier further into summer and fall. It's a great trip. Good luck.

 

[guamrider]

One of the best kept secrets out here is that the summer months of June to late Aug are really good as far as surface conditions are concerned AND it's low season. Translation of this is that other than an occasional and totally unpredictable tropical storm, the trade winds are gone, the seas are flat, and the BEST part is that most of the dive sites are uncrowded. As I've said ion other posts, plan your trip around the high tides out here. Particularly Yap. More info is here.

Even if there is a tropical storm, the chances of it booing near Yap and Palau are remote as they are outside of the "normal" storm tracks. of course, now that I've said this..........

 

[matdiver]

Hi Griffins,
I think your choice of dive operator and point in the lunar cycle will be more important than your choice of a particular month. Each time I go to Palau I plan my trip to coincide with the full or new moon, as the currents seem to be stronger and the big fish life even more plentiful (this was the advice I got from the Ocean Hunter III divemaster). A good operator, especially one of the established liveaboards, will know how to interpret the tide data and, e.g., drop you in at German Channel at just the right time of day, and not when it's most convenient in terms of sailing time from Koror. If you're going in June 2014, the full moon is on 13 June: Palau Moon Phase Calendar
If it really rains a lot then I guess that will lower the vis. at the sites closest to land due to run-off. Let's not forget that diving in Palau is always pretty good!
Matthew

 

[Worldwide Dive and Sail]

Good advice there from matdiver

Also to note would be the wind rather than rainfall. Monsoon winds coming from the West can affect the dive boats' ability to reach key sites such as Ulong where large congregations of bumphead parrotfish spawn. The reef system is very shallow with only certain access points for the dive boats to pass through. If there are strong surface swells then it is not safe for the boats & picking up divers can be very difficult.

June should be a safe time to visit but the monsoon seasons vary from year to year. Though we agree there is never a "bad" time to dive Palau!

 

[pnyxtr]

It just occurred to me that I should check for this. And it seems I couldn't have planned it better if I tried.
It's an unexpected jackpot, seems like. I'll be there 20-28th of July, and full moon is on the 22nd.

 

[ballast]

Thanks Griffins for starting this thread. I'm headed off to Palau in a few weeks (18-28 June). Staying at PPR and diving with Fish-n-fins. Can't wait. I usually go everywhere in the off season and I've yet to have dives disrupted by bad weather. While I might miss the big peak season events, the benefits of uncrowded boats and dive sites more than makes up for it.

 

[pword]

While I might miss the big peak season events, the benefits of uncrowded boats and dive sites more than makes up for it.

Yes and according to the Palau visitors authority June is one of the lower month for visitor days. Hope that trend continues. We're heading there next month as well!!