I lived in Palau for a year. I completed my DM and AI as well as worked for two of the shops there before I left.
Best time of year - - February or March. Best water clarity, wind conditions, and interesting underwater activity (such as Moorish Idols schooling). Palau is almost on the equator, you can count on some rain almost everyday, don't worry about the rain. Worry about the winds. When the normal NE tradewinds shift to SW in the June - August, most of the major dive sites are off limits to all but the very daring. People that try to force a Blue Corner dive with even mild 10 -15 mph SW winds are in for a trial by fire.
Liveaboard vs. Landbased - - I have to agree there is not a whole lot in Koror to see. Basically good food, good drink, then goodnight. On the flip side, owing to the way the crews get roated the liveaboard guides know less about Palau than returning guests. During one lunch break we had a group from one of the liveaboards stop and do a dive right where our boat was tied up. We WERE'NT even at a dive site. They saw the shop's boat and figured we had just come up from a dive, and they proceeded to drop their group right there. Is this sort of experience with $5k a head?
If you want to dive A LOT go do the liveaboard thing. If you want to see a lot of variety, hook up with an experienced guide from one of the local shops. One of the most experienced guides there, Keith, runs his own boat
www.palaudive.com and can find just about anything you want to see (short of whale sharks). Sam's and Fish-N-Fins also run great operations with smaller boats and cater to US and European guests. Neco and Splash run larger boats and tend to lean towards Japanese and asian guests.
The Peleliu option and Godwin - - The Storyboard in Peleliu is a bare bones family style hotel. There are 6 individual cottages right on one of the lagoons on the north end of Peleliu. Godwin is the owner, manager, and guide and his boat is 5 minutes from Blue Corner and Blue Hole, etc. If you can do without a lot of the amenities of a large resort, and you want quicker boat rides, give them a call. He is also one of the few people I would be very comfortable with on a ripping Peleliu Cut dive.
Go there with some experience under your belt! These are not the sort of dead easy mooring line dives you find in the Caymans. Almost every dive is a drift (from easy to just plain hell). I cannot recall an easy checkout dive for a first dive. If you are not careful you may just wind up at Blue Corner on your first dive.
Your boat driver is just as important as your guide. If that boat is not there at the end of your dive you may learn to understand this. Take good care of your boat driver, they are mostly locals and may seem a little gruff, but they appreciate it.
The last day you cannot dive look into a Kayak tour with Sam's. You haven't lived until you have snorkeled most of the inner reef lagoons of Palau. Disney Lake and Mandarinfish lake are two favorites.
