Quick Palau trip report

[PalauDiver]

I was in Palau last week visiting my family and doing some diving and snorkeling. I dove Blue Corner, German Channel and the Helmet Wreck. It is low season so there were not many boats out which was nice as it can get a bit crowded during the high season. Since most people come to dive the reefs and walls, the wrecks are usually quite empty which is great. And they are, with few exceptions, within the Malakal harbor, so only about a 5 minute boat ride. There were lots of sharks, turtles and other sea life. Seas and visibility was good. Some pics to enjoy

Great Barracuda at Blue Corner

Grey Reef Shark at Blue Corner

Turtle napping at Blue Corner

Turtle cruising the ripping current at Blue Corner

My dive partner

Sea anemone and clown fish at German Channel

Two white tips at a cleaning station at German Channel

Big Black Grouper chilling at German Channel

Depth Charges on the Helmet Wreck

The Helmet Wreck's namesake helmets

Deck gun of the Helmet Wreck

 

[vimaldude]

PalauDiver-

Thanks for the report.

I am going to be there next week on Palau Aggressor and looking forward to it.

How are the dive conditions right now? (ie. visibility, currents, sea conditions etc?)
Did you get any rains/stroms while you were there?

 

[PalauDiver]

Well, last week the conditions were excellent and the dive sites were not busy since it is low season. I got some rain and some rougher seas for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. Keep in mind that, being Palau, the weather and conditions can change day to day and hour to hour. However, the forecast does look good in that there is nothing major headed that way. At Ulong channel, there seems to be a grey reef shark nursery going on as I counted around 30 juveniles with 4-5 adults. The cleaning stations at the German Channel were in full swing and hardly anyone around to spook them. There was not a lot of plankton though so not too many mantas, that changes by the tide though. On the wrecks, I was the only diver, and I never saw another boat tied off on the buoys so if you like wrecks and have a chance to go, you will have it all to yourselves. Blue Corner, did have a few boats there, but it is tide dependent, since most try to get there to be able to to the Blue Corner/Blue Hole combo. Since you may have time see if you can do the combo and each one separately. In short, the conditions are amazing and the crowds are for the most part sparse to non-existent The Aggressor is amazing and you will have a blast!

Let me know if you have any other questions at all about the diving or non/diving....

 

[PalauDiver]

This was the most divers that I saw at one time at Blue Corner. This is the plateau where you would hook in to watch all the life flying through the current. My dive partner is the one in foreground. On that dive we were only able to stay there for a second because we did not have our hooks and the current was ripping.

 

[drbill]

Palau is my favorite destination. Hope you didn't drink any of the sake on Helmet Wreck!

 

[PalauDiver]

Of course not....

 

[rongoodman]

I just set my dive computers to local time and emailed a request to the Aggressor office there to have some dark beer on board. Less than 3 weeks to go!

A question for those with experience: How long should the line on the reef hook be?

 

[PalauDiver]

The tether is usually 36(ish) inches. That is my best eyeball guess, I haven't actually measured it though.

 

[rongoodman]

Many pictures show them as much longer, which is why I was puzzled.

 

[PalauDiver]

I don't think there is a hard and fast rule for the length.