I was in Palau from 18-28 May and left with great memories of the diving and the wonderfully warm people!
Spent a week on a liveaboard, Ocean Hunter I (Fish'n'Fins), which I highly recommend. The crew was small, just Troy the captain, Richard the dive guide (instructor) and Roy who did everything else, including cook the most amazing meals. Truly an outstanding operation and the food the best I have had on a LOB and the best in Palau!
Day 1 (Saturday)
- all flights arrive in the middle of the night. Ours was made worse by an hours delay leaving Manila so we got in around 3 am. FnF waiting and whisked us to our hotel. Picked up at 10:30 next morning to board the boat. Able to stop for groceries before that for the boat (sodas). As it was pouring down, Troy decided to set sail for the outer reef to do our checkout dive so it was late afternoon when we got to it. Most of the diving takes place south of Koror and we spent most of our time in the Ngemelis region. Peleliu was damaged in typhoon Bopha so we were not able to dive the famous sites there. Until the situation is repaired (which, in the case of corals, is gonna be a while), it may be worth it to skip that area, in which case advise your dive operator you don't want a Peleliu permit to save some money. Our checkout dive was German Channel where there are two cleaning stations at 14 and 25 m respectively. As it was raining and late afternoon, we had the place to ourselves and we saw a manta right over the cleaning station, two white tipped reef sharks, a leopard shark and a turtle. Best checkout dive. EVER.
Day 2
- average of 4 dives a day. We did New Drop Off, which was our first experience with a reef hook. Very thrilling experience, current was crazy (including up and down). Troy and Richard alternate the guiding which is a good way to keep the crew healthy and less tired. They don't use the hooks and if any of us drifted off they need to be in top shape to fin against the current to grab us. Oh yes, the sharks were everywhere - white tips, black tips, grey reef sharks. So close you can see the yellows of their eyes.
Days 3-6
- we did all the major sites of Ngemelis: Blue Corner, Blue Hole, Virgin Blue Hole, German Channel again (our absolute favourite in the area, we did it 4 times in total and every single time there were mantas, and so close one almost whipped me with its fin!), Peleliu: Turtle Cove, Barnums Wall, before moving to the Ulong area where we dived Ulong Channel, Shark City. We then did our side trip to Jellyfish Lake which has been upgraded with a nice diving platform with a ladder. We were lucky to have it to ourselves and with plenty of sun so the jellyfish came right up to the surface. At Ulong Channel as it was close to full moon, we saw grouper spawning, which means aggressive behavior among the fish!
On Days 5-6, we came back to the Koror area and did Helmet Wreck, Jakes Seaplane, Iro Wreck, Chandelier Cave and the Mandarinfish Lake. We also did a side trip to the Rock Islands, Milky Way and some nice snorkeling nearby.
After getting off the boat we spent another 3 days in Koror, at the Palau Plantation Resort. A great little resort, highly recommended. Our room had a great view of the lagoon over the tops of the jungle trees. However the wifi connection here is slow. It is walkable to town, about 10 minutes mostly downhill. There is also a free shuttle to WCTC in the afternoons. We did an ATV off-road tour of Babeldaob, visited the National Museum (which is near Plantation), and ate at Ememelai (Philipino food, highly recommended), Rock Island Grill (not recommended), B Izakaya Yume (recommended) and had drinks at Kramers which is out of the way but a cute place.
Some random tips for Palau:
- water is drinkable if boiled so its okay to ask for iced water in restaurants
- Internet is generally slow but the free wifi at the coffee place near WCTC is not bad
- taxis are not expensive but pricing seems to vary on the drivers mood. For getting around Koror probably anything from $5-15 per trip.
- if doing Ocean Hunter I, there is no need to bring snacks - they provided so much food and snacks between dives. But do bring drinks (soda, beer and wine) if you like. Otherwise available on the boat for a cost.
-the downsides to OH I, nitrox is not free ($299 for the week and highly recommended to be able to do 4-5 dives a day). The boat takes max 6 adults and cabins are small. We were 5 for the week which was probably one more than really comfortable. Ocean Hunter III is a bigger boat with, I am told, bigger cabins and a jacuzzi, but in strong current it would be hard to dive off the boat. It would be hard off OH I too, but its chaser is, for some reason, bigger than OH III's.
- the American influence means be generous in tipping - for OH I we gave about 10% of the cost of the whole trip or about $300 each (for the whole crew).
If I've missed anything or if you have any questions, feel free to ask or pm me. Palau is a great place, some of the best diving I've done across 4 continents and the people are just lovely.
Spent a week on a liveaboard, Ocean Hunter I (Fish'n'Fins), which I highly recommend. The crew was small, just Troy the captain, Richard the dive guide (instructor) and Roy who did everything else, including cook the most amazing meals. Truly an outstanding operation and the food the best I have had on a LOB and the best in Palau!
Day 1 (Saturday)
- all flights arrive in the middle of the night. Ours was made worse by an hours delay leaving Manila so we got in around 3 am. FnF waiting and whisked us to our hotel. Picked up at 10:30 next morning to board the boat. Able to stop for groceries before that for the boat (sodas). As it was pouring down, Troy decided to set sail for the outer reef to do our checkout dive so it was late afternoon when we got to it. Most of the diving takes place south of Koror and we spent most of our time in the Ngemelis region. Peleliu was damaged in typhoon Bopha so we were not able to dive the famous sites there. Until the situation is repaired (which, in the case of corals, is gonna be a while), it may be worth it to skip that area, in which case advise your dive operator you don't want a Peleliu permit to save some money. Our checkout dive was German Channel where there are two cleaning stations at 14 and 25 m respectively. As it was raining and late afternoon, we had the place to ourselves and we saw a manta right over the cleaning station, two white tipped reef sharks, a leopard shark and a turtle. Best checkout dive. EVER.
Day 2
- average of 4 dives a day. We did New Drop Off, which was our first experience with a reef hook. Very thrilling experience, current was crazy (including up and down). Troy and Richard alternate the guiding which is a good way to keep the crew healthy and less tired. They don't use the hooks and if any of us drifted off they need to be in top shape to fin against the current to grab us. Oh yes, the sharks were everywhere - white tips, black tips, grey reef sharks. So close you can see the yellows of their eyes.
Days 3-6
- we did all the major sites of Ngemelis: Blue Corner, Blue Hole, Virgin Blue Hole, German Channel again (our absolute favourite in the area, we did it 4 times in total and every single time there were mantas, and so close one almost whipped me with its fin!), Peleliu: Turtle Cove, Barnums Wall, before moving to the Ulong area where we dived Ulong Channel, Shark City. We then did our side trip to Jellyfish Lake which has been upgraded with a nice diving platform with a ladder. We were lucky to have it to ourselves and with plenty of sun so the jellyfish came right up to the surface. At Ulong Channel as it was close to full moon, we saw grouper spawning, which means aggressive behavior among the fish!
On Days 5-6, we came back to the Koror area and did Helmet Wreck, Jakes Seaplane, Iro Wreck, Chandelier Cave and the Mandarinfish Lake. We also did a side trip to the Rock Islands, Milky Way and some nice snorkeling nearby.
After getting off the boat we spent another 3 days in Koror, at the Palau Plantation Resort. A great little resort, highly recommended. Our room had a great view of the lagoon over the tops of the jungle trees. However the wifi connection here is slow. It is walkable to town, about 10 minutes mostly downhill. There is also a free shuttle to WCTC in the afternoons. We did an ATV off-road tour of Babeldaob, visited the National Museum (which is near Plantation), and ate at Ememelai (Philipino food, highly recommended), Rock Island Grill (not recommended), B Izakaya Yume (recommended) and had drinks at Kramers which is out of the way but a cute place.
Some random tips for Palau:
- water is drinkable if boiled so its okay to ask for iced water in restaurants
- Internet is generally slow but the free wifi at the coffee place near WCTC is not bad
- taxis are not expensive but pricing seems to vary on the drivers mood. For getting around Koror probably anything from $5-15 per trip.
- if doing Ocean Hunter I, there is no need to bring snacks - they provided so much food and snacks between dives. But do bring drinks (soda, beer and wine) if you like. Otherwise available on the boat for a cost.
-the downsides to OH I, nitrox is not free ($299 for the week and highly recommended to be able to do 4-5 dives a day). The boat takes max 6 adults and cabins are small. We were 5 for the week which was probably one more than really comfortable. Ocean Hunter III is a bigger boat with, I am told, bigger cabins and a jacuzzi, but in strong current it would be hard to dive off the boat. It would be hard off OH I too, but its chaser is, for some reason, bigger than OH III's.
- the American influence means be generous in tipping - for OH I we gave about 10% of the cost of the whole trip or about $300 each (for the whole crew).
If I've missed anything or if you have any questions, feel free to ask or pm me. Palau is a great place, some of the best diving I've done across 4 continents and the people are just lovely.
