Palau or the Red Sea

[Mattbesh]

I am trying to think of a trip for the next four years, and I am thinking of going to Palau. I have heard it is spectacular. I have also heard the Red Sea is good but I am scared by the regional difficulties. Where should I go? Or if you have another suggestion then what is it?

 

[Doc]

Palau and the Red Sea?

Truly worlds apart, in many ways, not the least of which is the character of diving (and what you're likely to see).

What attracts you to these places? That might help readers here formulate an answer.

 

[Oldbear]

I have also been researching both of these places and plan on doing both within the next few years also.

Last year, I made plans for an entire Egypt vacation, including Red Sea Diving. My daughter and I had planned to meet up in Dubai, spend a few days there with friends and seeing the sights, fly to Egypt, see Cairo and the Pyramids, take a Nile River Cruise and end Egypt with some Red Sea Diving, followed up with a few final days in Dubai, from where she would return to the States and I would return to Iraq. We put a lot of deposits down and even paid in full for the cruise. This was supposed to happen at the end of February and the beginning of March 2010 .

Then the Egyptian Revolution happened:ar15:... and the US was trying to get its citizens out, not let more into Egypt. In just a matter of a few weeks, I had to retrieve deposits and seek refunds (which most were happy to accommodate under the circumstances with the only exception of a very well know and prominent British diving operation in Sharm el Sheik…for them I had to cancel my Visa deposit) and then find and plan for a new destination in between our Dubai stops.

We settled on Thailand...and loved it. We did three days in Bangkok and also did a Tiger Temple and Elephant Training excursion up north...Charismatic Mega Fauna are always a big hit with my daughter. after Bangkok, we then flew down to Phuket and took a 7-Day Liveaboard on the Junk in the Similan Islands...wow, what a fantastic trip. I even went back to Thailand with my brother six month later and did more diving.:dance3:

While I am not promoting Thailand over the Red Sea or Palau, I am encouraging you to have a last minute back up plan in place. Unforeseen things happen, and with the level of planning that you will need to do logistically for either of these trips, I strongly encourage you to just be prepared for a sudden change at the last minute.:crying2:

On the subject of the Red Sea or Palau…I would pick the Red Sea right now. That region has been hit hard by the sudden drop off of tourists (Revolutions tend to have a negative affect on tourists); there are some great deals to be found. And with so fewer divers now, I think it will have a positive effect on the reef systems there. I was going to the Sharm when my work ends this month, but instead enrolled in a great place to do my DM training in Honduras. Why does it seem there always have to be a trade off…Red Sea or Palau, Sharm or Utila…

Good luck on which ever trip you decide upon and enjoy...:bounce4::bounce2:

~Michael~

 

[Kevrumbo]

Easiest oversea trip is Palau; you're coming from Houston which is a major Continental/United hub so flights out to Palau with stopovers in Honolulu & Guam should be seamless and convenient to schedule. Palau uses US dollars for currency. The only times of the year not to visit Palau are on major Japanese and/or US Holidays (dive sites such as Blue Corner become very crowded!).