After we bid farewell to the folks in Southern Leyte, we had an uneventful journey to Manila. We were joined by our friends (Joanne, Chris, Steffen, Vincent and Vig) from Singapore and then flew via Continental Air to Koror. We arrived at Koror close to 2 am. Sean, from Expedition fleet was waiting outside for us at the airport and helped us with all our gears. We were promptly transported by a 15 minutes bus ride to the dock, and then ferried out to the Pacific Explorer by chase boat for our overnight stay. The plan was to have us stayed and made two dives from the Pacific Explorer before transferring to the Big Blue Explorer (BBE).
The next morning, we woke up at 8 am, still tired but looking forward to explore the underwater world. We met Klaus and Gaby from Germany, had a sumptuous breakfast before Richard, another dive master told us to fill up some forms for our marine passes. After a short briefing, we did our check out dive at IRO wreck. This ship was sunk on 14th March 1944 but is still in fine shape and is covered with corals and a home for fish. There was nothing much to see beyond 30 meters due to poor visibility but the top deck has some magnificent structures, filled with healthy corals growth. Aili and I did a little penetration and we were both delighted when we found many shrimps and crabs hiding in the crevices of the hard corals but totally regretted for not taking our camera with us. We also saw emperor angelfishes, cute pajamas cardinal fishes, gobies, and various shoals of fusiliers.
After lunch, we did another dive at the Chandelier Cave before transferring to BBE. This consists of four air filled underwater caves in a straight line, with a single entrance and exit. Our plan was to explore slowly and then surfaced through the air pockets to enjoy the smooth crystalline structures, one after another. The darkness was overwhelming and I got disorientated after the first cave, so I decided to skip the rest and went out to check out the reef. The reef was laden with many stag horn-like corals, and I found many pajamas cardinal fishes, blennies and school of razor fishes making their home amidst them.
The BBE is a large (167 foot) and well-equipped cruiser. It is fully air-conditioned and has carpeted interiors. It can accommodate 22 divers and 16-18 crews. Aili and I shared the deluxe room B2, which I found roomy and YES the hot shower works. The dive deck has showers, a big rinse bucket for cameras, lots of space for hanging wetsuits, and crates for storing personal stuff and a dedicated camera with plenty of space and outlets for all the camera gears and rechargers. Other facilities include a whirlpool Jacuzzi, a large deck for open dining (and of course partying), entertainment center with TV, VHS, and stereo, library of marine identification books, and also satellite telephone.
After the rest of the guests (another two friends from Singapore, Nicholas and Michelle, Angela and Helena from Sweden, Michael and Paula from America and Adam from Australia) have embarked, we were set up into two groups of divers: the Singaporeans on the chase boat Hammerheads and the other seven on the Grey Reef. There are 6 dive masters on our trip: Terry, the ultra cool boat manager from Australia, Richard, the funny and ever talkative guy from England, Chris, the cute American who tried to learn Chinese from us, cheerful Sean and fun- loving LeAnn from Canada and Steve Fish, the famous videographer . YES, we were privileged to have him videoing us and at the end of the trip brought home a very cool video as souvenir. Richard and Chris were the main dive masters for our group while Terry will jump boats. Steve alternated between boats to capture the right special moments. The atmosphere on the boat was usually laid back and full of laughter.
The dives were scheduled the evening before and will be written on the notice board.
Our BCs and regs were set up on the chase boat on the first day. Detailed dive briefing with map before each dive was conducted. The entry into the water normally was to have all divers ready at the same time and enter the water simultaneously via backward roll. After the dive, the routine was to have your safety balloon deployed (IMPORTANT) during the safety stop so that the boatmen could pick you up due to huge surge at the surface. The dives usually last for 45-50 minutes even if you had more air, which was necessary to meet the schedule of 5 dives a day with surface intervals and meals in between. Nitrox (32 and 36%) is available on the BBE for $150 pp for the week. On the Hammerheads, only the dive masters, Nicholas and Michelle were diving on Nitrox. The rest of us were on air. I did not feel any exhaustion or went into deco dive even though I did a total 43 dives in two weeks, 16 dives in Southern Leyte and 27 dives in Palau. I was expecting crystal clear waters but the visibility was considered not too good for our trip, averaging 10-15 meters. The water temperature ranged from 28-30°C and the currents at some sites, e.g. Blue Corner, Siaes Corner and Ulong Channel were swift but not ripping.
I did a total of 27 dives covering IRO wreck, Chandelier Cave, Mandarin Fish Lake, German Channel, Ngedbus Coral Garden, Turtle Cove, New Drop Off, Big Drop Off, Blue Corner, Dexters Wall, Blue Hole, Ngebus Corner, Ngemelis Wall, Peleliu Express, Peleliu Yellow Wall, Peleliu Wall, Peleliu Pocket, Alices Garden, The Virgin Hole, Barnums Wall, Ulong Channel and Siaes Corner.
The diving varied from average to excellent. There has been some coral bleaching on the very shallow reefs on most sites. Most dives were drift dives and I rate Blue Corner and Peleliu Express to be my best dives for the interaction with the pelagic Hooking on, there was an arrays of action (gray reef sharks, white-tip sharks, giant trevallies and tuna, schooling jacks and barracudas, turtles, Napoleon wrasses and bumphead parrot fishes) parading before us but not close enough. The currents wasnt too strong and hooking onto the reef using the reef hook wasnt my cup of tea. I need my kind of adrenaline rush so I was like a wild fish swimming into the deep blue to get closer to the action. I must have caused much anxiety to our dive masters. Sorry guys! We dove German Channel twice but missed the manta rays completely. Sob, Sob but our group actually put up a manta show using black thrash bags. Nicholas was so good that I thought he must be one in his previous life. Youve got to watch the video to believe this!
Other favorites were the night dives that Aili and I did. We saw colors of the reefs, which we didnt see during the day. Beautiful soft and hard corals lined the reef. Our lights illuminated the corals and we saw the eyes of shrimps and crabs amidst them. We hoped for more time underwater. We also found lion fishes, flatworms, pygmy cuttlefishes, gobies, sleeping parrotfishes and many more. We made a trip to the Jellyfish Lake on the last day. There are two species of jellyfish living in the infamous Palau Lake but I saw only one, millions of them. Pretty cool!
The crew on the BBE was amazing. I didnt get to know all the crewmembers by names but I found all of them proactive and helpful. They have made my trip an enjoyable and safe one. The dives were well planned and coordinated. The guides are fantastic and very knowledgeable. The boat was kept clean the entire week. Fresh and warm towels were provided after each dive. Lots of drinking water, both hot (coffee, tea) & cold (mineral, soft drinks and cocktails) was available throughout the week. There were five meals served each day and the food was varied and plentiful, but too salty for my liking. The best meal for many of us should definitely be the fresh tuna sashimi caught by the dive masters.
Finally, I would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to all those who made my trip an unforgettable one: Yashee and the hardworking crew from the BBE, and all the wonderful friends. Hope well cross paths sometime, somewhere, above or underwater.
Till then, happy bubbles,
Jovin-
Pix link: http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Palau-07
Big Blue Explorer: http://www.amrnour.com/palau.htm
The next morning, we woke up at 8 am, still tired but looking forward to explore the underwater world. We met Klaus and Gaby from Germany, had a sumptuous breakfast before Richard, another dive master told us to fill up some forms for our marine passes. After a short briefing, we did our check out dive at IRO wreck. This ship was sunk on 14th March 1944 but is still in fine shape and is covered with corals and a home for fish. There was nothing much to see beyond 30 meters due to poor visibility but the top deck has some magnificent structures, filled with healthy corals growth. Aili and I did a little penetration and we were both delighted when we found many shrimps and crabs hiding in the crevices of the hard corals but totally regretted for not taking our camera with us. We also saw emperor angelfishes, cute pajamas cardinal fishes, gobies, and various shoals of fusiliers.
After lunch, we did another dive at the Chandelier Cave before transferring to BBE. This consists of four air filled underwater caves in a straight line, with a single entrance and exit. Our plan was to explore slowly and then surfaced through the air pockets to enjoy the smooth crystalline structures, one after another. The darkness was overwhelming and I got disorientated after the first cave, so I decided to skip the rest and went out to check out the reef. The reef was laden with many stag horn-like corals, and I found many pajamas cardinal fishes, blennies and school of razor fishes making their home amidst them.
The BBE is a large (167 foot) and well-equipped cruiser. It is fully air-conditioned and has carpeted interiors. It can accommodate 22 divers and 16-18 crews. Aili and I shared the deluxe room B2, which I found roomy and YES the hot shower works. The dive deck has showers, a big rinse bucket for cameras, lots of space for hanging wetsuits, and crates for storing personal stuff and a dedicated camera with plenty of space and outlets for all the camera gears and rechargers. Other facilities include a whirlpool Jacuzzi, a large deck for open dining (and of course partying), entertainment center with TV, VHS, and stereo, library of marine identification books, and also satellite telephone.
After the rest of the guests (another two friends from Singapore, Nicholas and Michelle, Angela and Helena from Sweden, Michael and Paula from America and Adam from Australia) have embarked, we were set up into two groups of divers: the Singaporeans on the chase boat Hammerheads and the other seven on the Grey Reef. There are 6 dive masters on our trip: Terry, the ultra cool boat manager from Australia, Richard, the funny and ever talkative guy from England, Chris, the cute American who tried to learn Chinese from us, cheerful Sean and fun- loving LeAnn from Canada and Steve Fish, the famous videographer . YES, we were privileged to have him videoing us and at the end of the trip brought home a very cool video as souvenir. Richard and Chris were the main dive masters for our group while Terry will jump boats. Steve alternated between boats to capture the right special moments. The atmosphere on the boat was usually laid back and full of laughter.
The dives were scheduled the evening before and will be written on the notice board.
Our BCs and regs were set up on the chase boat on the first day. Detailed dive briefing with map before each dive was conducted. The entry into the water normally was to have all divers ready at the same time and enter the water simultaneously via backward roll. After the dive, the routine was to have your safety balloon deployed (IMPORTANT) during the safety stop so that the boatmen could pick you up due to huge surge at the surface. The dives usually last for 45-50 minutes even if you had more air, which was necessary to meet the schedule of 5 dives a day with surface intervals and meals in between. Nitrox (32 and 36%) is available on the BBE for $150 pp for the week. On the Hammerheads, only the dive masters, Nicholas and Michelle were diving on Nitrox. The rest of us were on air. I did not feel any exhaustion or went into deco dive even though I did a total 43 dives in two weeks, 16 dives in Southern Leyte and 27 dives in Palau. I was expecting crystal clear waters but the visibility was considered not too good for our trip, averaging 10-15 meters. The water temperature ranged from 28-30°C and the currents at some sites, e.g. Blue Corner, Siaes Corner and Ulong Channel were swift but not ripping.
I did a total of 27 dives covering IRO wreck, Chandelier Cave, Mandarin Fish Lake, German Channel, Ngedbus Coral Garden, Turtle Cove, New Drop Off, Big Drop Off, Blue Corner, Dexters Wall, Blue Hole, Ngebus Corner, Ngemelis Wall, Peleliu Express, Peleliu Yellow Wall, Peleliu Wall, Peleliu Pocket, Alices Garden, The Virgin Hole, Barnums Wall, Ulong Channel and Siaes Corner.
The diving varied from average to excellent. There has been some coral bleaching on the very shallow reefs on most sites. Most dives were drift dives and I rate Blue Corner and Peleliu Express to be my best dives for the interaction with the pelagic Hooking on, there was an arrays of action (gray reef sharks, white-tip sharks, giant trevallies and tuna, schooling jacks and barracudas, turtles, Napoleon wrasses and bumphead parrot fishes) parading before us but not close enough. The currents wasnt too strong and hooking onto the reef using the reef hook wasnt my cup of tea. I need my kind of adrenaline rush so I was like a wild fish swimming into the deep blue to get closer to the action. I must have caused much anxiety to our dive masters. Sorry guys! We dove German Channel twice but missed the manta rays completely. Sob, Sob but our group actually put up a manta show using black thrash bags. Nicholas was so good that I thought he must be one in his previous life. Youve got to watch the video to believe this!
Other favorites were the night dives that Aili and I did. We saw colors of the reefs, which we didnt see during the day. Beautiful soft and hard corals lined the reef. Our lights illuminated the corals and we saw the eyes of shrimps and crabs amidst them. We hoped for more time underwater. We also found lion fishes, flatworms, pygmy cuttlefishes, gobies, sleeping parrotfishes and many more. We made a trip to the Jellyfish Lake on the last day. There are two species of jellyfish living in the infamous Palau Lake but I saw only one, millions of them. Pretty cool!
The crew on the BBE was amazing. I didnt get to know all the crewmembers by names but I found all of them proactive and helpful. They have made my trip an enjoyable and safe one. The dives were well planned and coordinated. The guides are fantastic and very knowledgeable. The boat was kept clean the entire week. Fresh and warm towels were provided after each dive. Lots of drinking water, both hot (coffee, tea) & cold (mineral, soft drinks and cocktails) was available throughout the week. There were five meals served each day and the food was varied and plentiful, but too salty for my liking. The best meal for many of us should definitely be the fresh tuna sashimi caught by the dive masters.
Finally, I would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to all those who made my trip an unforgettable one: Yashee and the hardworking crew from the BBE, and all the wonderful friends. Hope well cross paths sometime, somewhere, above or underwater.
Till then, happy bubbles,
Jovin-
Pix link: http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Palau-07
Big Blue Explorer: http://www.amrnour.com/palau.htm
Maybe he sold enough videos on our trip to finally buy a new wetsuit... 
