Palau: Sam's tour or Neco Marine

[darook]

I returned last week from Palau staying at Palau Royal Resort after we got the boot from Sea Passion for being American. This was resolved a few months ago and worked to our favor as PRR is much nicer from what I could see. Those with reservations at resorts that get acquired by mainland Chinese owners are likely to encounter the same issue. There is major tension between Palau and the Chinese that are trying to buy them out of the country right now. The Princess Jeannie that sits at anchor and abandoned just out of Koror is testament to the issues at hand.

In regards to the dive ops I was with Fish 'N Fins and was happy with them though if I am lucky enough to go again and stay at PRR I would do Sam's or Neco for the convenient location to the hotel. The Drop Off at Neco was our haunt while there for dinner and drinks. Good food that is reasonable. In town the Thai restaurant and the Italian place owned by F'NF were very good and reasonable.

 

[garycrano]

After reading Dorooks post about the chinese takeover I have decided Palau is not for me and I am now looking at alternatives.

 

[scjoe]

Palau had a huge uptick in Chinese visitors this February, but I wouldn't write off Palau based on one Internet post that is short on details. It is a great dive destination and the locals are great people. The government is already looking into cutting the number of flights from China in half. It does not want to become dependent on one source of visitors. I ran into people from all over the world when I was there.

 

[drbill]

I certainly wouldn't write off Palau because of that. It only hurts the Palauans whose economy is being affected by the Chinese. Yes, there is tension between the locals and the Chinese who buy out properties and only house their own nationals. The good thing is that almost all of the Chinese who visit are non-divers and only snorkel. Yes, you may have a number of boats at a given site, but many of them are full of snorkelers who won't really affect your dives at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and would love to return, probably at a different time of year (say Nov or Dec) for more mantas. The period around Chinese New Year is not a good time to go as there are many tourists at that time and often hotels are booked solid. But give it a try... the diving is fantastic and if you go with a good operator like Palau Dive Adventures or Sam's (I don't know much about Necco or Fish N Fins) you should be fine.

After reading Dorooks post about the chinese takeover I have decided Palau is not for me and I am now looking at alternatives.

 

[mikeycanuk]

Last I heard it was the white finned Japanese divers wrecking the reef?


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[darook]

I wouldn't write it off either and I was the one that posted it. I would go back to dive there again in a heartbeat and happily stat at PRR and dive with F'nF. I think Neco and Sams would be great too. Neco is building their own hotel right now which would make for a nice all in one operation once it is done. I think all of the main operators will do a good job for you. If you are a small group then going with someone that runs smaller boats may be more fun as they will likely be more flexible to your desires. We had a whole boat full of 14 so we could decide where we would go. If there are 15 boats at Blue Corner you may want to go to New Dropoff which is just or good or better in my opinion.

Go to Palau, it is the most unique place I have been from a topside beauty perspective and the diving is sublime. Ulong Channel near a full or new moon will give you an amazing thrill ride.