Raja Ampat, Palau, or Maldives

[heidihart88]

I did Palau about a year ago, I had been refered to Sam's dive shop and I absolutely loved them. I stayed within walking distance and I had a cheap good place and most of my fellow divers were jealous. Sam's is a great location to meet people and they had great guides. I wouldn't have gone anywhere else. I often tell people that Palau ruined me for other dive destinations, and after doing the Galapagos, Hawaii, Yap, Truk, Greece, New Zealand and Washington State I still think Palau had the best all around dive experience. Other places had something "special" but my favorite overall by far was Palau.

 

[heidihart88]

I just saw a post that you basically have to do a live aboard in Palau. This is ridiculous. I have done a lot of diving and I had the best trip to Palau with all land based diving and the trip from shore to site was beautiful. I really enjoyed the time spent on the boat, the islands are so incredible this is a great way to see them. Don't forget to do jellyfish lake also!

 

[Travelnsj]

I been to Palau 10 times, Raja Ampat 3 times and going for my 4th time in a couple of weeks. Never have used a LOB. I dive with Sams in Palau an excellent operation and stay at the Sorido resort in RA. I know people who dive Palau and Raja Ampat...they also have been to the Maldives and thought the diving in the Maldives was not comparable to Palau and RA...my 2psi!

 

[Shasta_man]

If you like enjoying part of your day speedboating back and forth through the islands, and spending your SIs on an island, then go for it. My preference is being "home" 5 mins after the dive and enjoying that same island view the whole time, including at night. I do like being away from the rest of civilization completely on the trip until I come back. While not eliminating the possibility, I also find that day boats are much more prone to encountering the problem diver since they're only committing to a couple tanks. I don't want to spend any of my dives with them. Diving with a resort like the RA ones would be closer to liveaboard divers than an individual op. I prefer to complete diving then land. If you want to mix land and sea, this obviously won't work.

There is no right answer, just personal preference.

 

[Travelnsj]

If you like enjoying part of your day speedboating back and forth through the islands, and spending your SIs on an island, then go for it. My preference is being "home" 5 mins after the dive and enjoying that same island view the whole time, including at night. I do like being away from the rest of civilization completely on the trip until I come back. While not eliminating the possibility, I also find that day boats are much more prone to encountering the problem diver since they're only committing to a couple tanks. I don't want to spend any of my dives with them. Diving with a resort like the RA ones would be closer to liveaboard divers than an individual op. I prefer to complete diving then land. If you want to mix land and sea, this obviously won't work.

There is no right answer, just personal preference.

I've been on 4 or 5 LOB's that included boats like Mike Ball the Galapagos Aggressor etc....i do not like being in cramped quarters, rocking boat and getting seasick. Although you may have traveled much more extensively than me, I have never experienced "encountering the problem diver" as any good land based op puts like divers on your boat except for places like Hawaii, California or Florida. I always get in 3 to 4 dives a day in Palau, Raja, Tahiti, Fiji etc etc....and usually can work in a 5th dive if I want.

Now if you want to talk about going to places like Komodo, Eastern Fields, Coral sea etc and if you want to do the Misool to Papua area of RA....LOB is probably the only way to go....But it is personal preference....I like Terra Firma at night!

 

[fearlessdiver]

Hi Travelnsj and thank you for your input.
Have you been at Palau in May? Some divers are saying that May probably is not the best time to go there. Also about Maldives, are you saying that Palau and RA are much better than Maldives or the other way around?

 

[Travelnsj]

Hi Travelnsj and thank you for your input.
Have you been at Palau in May? Some divers are saying that May probably is not the best time to go there. Also about Maldives, are you saying that Palau and RA are much better than Maldives or the other way around?

No have not been to Palau in May but heard it is just as good as anytime in the spring. My friends who have been to the Solomons and the Maldives did not care for either of them compared to Palau or RA. They found it pretty fished out except for a couple of Manta dives they had.....hope this helps.

 

[Shasta_man]

Were your Solomons divers friends also diving land based?

That observation on the Maldives is surprising.

 

[Travelnsj]

Were your Solomons divers friends also diving land based?

That observation on the Maldives is surprising.

They did Uepi and the Bilikiki.

 

[gee13]

Travensj did your friends dive just a resort based or a liveaboard? Did they dive ari atoll or madivaru? Im surprised to hear of anyone not care much about maldives as it has some high voltage dives and to be able to see whale sharks, hammmerheads and manta schools in one days diving must be one of diving's highest degree. Tell me if this is possible in Palau or RA?