Sipidan or Palau?

[Mr. Blues]

What's the collective wisdom on Sipidan vs Palau.
I'll be diving (somewhere) around the end of Oct. and wondering which area
has the best weather/viz during that time. It seems that both places will be ok, and offer both macro and big stuff. I'm not a photographer but have put off going to either place mainly because of the expense. This fall I'll finally pull the trigger but wonder what's the best bang for the buck, when all is said and done and dived?
Decisions decisions.....

 

[Travelnsj]

I have been to Palau 8x...been to Sipadan 1 time. Probably not go back to Sipadan unless I got a major discount....Oct in Palau can possibly be rough weather...you could hit a good week. I usually go in March. I was in Sipadan in Sept 04 for 2 weeks...about 30' vis saw turtles, trevally, couple of white tips, ribbon eels, some muck stuff and the big wall a Barracuda once!...

Palau is some of the best diving I have ever done.

 

[Rickg]

What's the collective wisdom on Sipidan vs Palau.
I'll be diving (somewhere) around the end of Oct. and wondering which area
has the best weather/viz during that time. It seems that both places will be ok, and offer both macro and big stuff. I'm not a photographer but have put off going to either place mainly because of the expense. This fall I'll finally pull the trigger but wonder what's the best bang for the buck, when all is said and done and dived?
Decisions decisions.....

Mr. Blues,

Both are world class destinations.

I have been to Palau once and the diving at Blue Corner is electric with all of the grey reef sharks, tuna, and other pelagics.

I've been to Sipadan 4 times and never failed to have been amazed by everything Sipadan and the other nearby islands have to offer. You can see my latest trip report at

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/malaysia-singapore/213465-sipadan-dive-trip.html

And you see pictures from some of my trips there by clicking on the PicasaWeb link in my signature line below.

Here are some things to think about when making your decision:

# of dives per day: Sipadan = 4-5 dives (with 4 probably the norm) per day even if you staying at one of the Mabul shore resorts. Palau = 2 (and possibly 3) dives per day unless you are staying on a LOB.

Local Populace: the people of Malaysia are wonderful

Bang for your buck: we have wanted to return to Palau (from San Diego, CA) for another trip for a long time but when I sit down and do the math Malaysia and Indonesia alway come out on top. Continental Airlines has a virtual lock on getting to Palau from the US and their ticket prices reflect it.

Wrecks - Palau has some good wrecks (if you can get your dive provider to go to them). Sipadan - none to speak of.

Sipadan (and Mabul & Kapalai) has some pretty darn good macro available in addition to Sipadan's turtles, barracudas, bumphead wrasse, white tip sharks, occasional hammerheads.

Palau probably has some good macro also but it hards to get someone to slow down long enough to look for it because everything is about the drift diving (which is fantastic).

It all boils down to what you are looking for. We are looking at springing the bucks to go back to Palau in FEB for our 25th wedding anniversary which will be our excuse to splurge.

If you decide to go to Palau I recommend you look at a LOB in order to get the most for your money. You can make 4-5 dives a day from a LOB as opposed to 2-3 dives a day from a day boat. I can say that I didn't see anything about Palua night life that would tilt me towards staying at at a shore resort.

Hope you have a great trip no matter where you go.

 

[Mr. Blues]

Your replies are appreciated. Wish the currency exchange rate was better for $US.

 

[Scuba Susie]

Hey Mr. Blues,
Must be tough to get much diving in, living in Sante Fe! Unless you take your gear up to 10,000 Waves and dive the hot tubs!
I went to Sipidan 2 years ago and loved it so much I am going back this year in the Fall. Stayed at the land portion of SMART and loved that too! Laid back, flexible diving and always saw something different. Mating sharks was cool, as was the mating mandarins. Tons of cuda's, jacks and yes...hammerheads! I have never been to Palau but I know what I saw and I know what I like. Could have skipped the muck diving on that other little island next to Mabul though. Although I did see my first pigmy seahorse...at least I think I saw it! I also like SMART because of the location. It is the only resort there looking directly at Sipidan and not the local village.
Enjoy where ever you decide!
Scuba Sue

 

[Mr. Blues]

WoW...It's been years since I soaked at 10K.
As I recall, it was pretty fished out and the viz was so-so.
Thanks for your reply. Is Bolinas still home to Great Whites?
Stay wet,
Blues

 

[Bubble Junky]

I worked for six months in Palau, and dived Sipidan for a week. I know you can't expext to see the best of a place in a week, but for me Sipidan is a 'poor man's Palau'. Palau has much more big stuff (mantas, sharks, eagle rays (ornate & spotted), tuna, sailfish etc...); the walls are more colourful and the currents are more 'fun' !! There's some cool small stuff there too - ornate and robust ghost pipefish, leaf-fish, mandrin fish etc......
I found the the macro to be better at Sipidan (well. Mabul and Kapalai)
Palau is AWESOME !!!

 

[NudiHuntrs]

Palau is a must-dive, in my opinion. The diving was breathtaking and seemed to have everything: lots of sharks, beautiful healthy soft coral gardens, really nice wrecks..rays, turtles, eels, giant clams, Napolean wrasse.. It was worth every penny.

I definitely second the idea of going on a LOB-- I was on the Palau Aggressor and will rebook with them when I go back. You'll get to do more dives AND they plan it so you are doing Blue Corner first thing in the AM before the land-based folks get there. It was fantastic having the iconic dive sites all to ourselves and to choose to dive them more than once. We also spent one day doing all wreck dives, at the request of a couple other divers on board. Great macro on the night dives.

I was there in September and the viz was at least 50-75' on every dive except two of the wrecks we did. It rained a couple of times and had one night of rough seas, but the rest of the time it was beautiful. The water was a toasty 82 degrees..

No matter what you choose, have a great trip!

 

[dromo]

First , I answer to Mr Blues , Sipadan is actually the amazing place everybody reports. A perfect mix of different kinds of muck dive on Mabul and Kapalai and abundant pelagic and reef life on Sipadan. It is a must to stay on Mabul and booked before going to ( so you will dive Sipadan twice in the morning). Spend some times to visit Borneo ( Sarawak more than Sabah).

Difficult to compare but for me it the best place I dived into ( red sea x3 , Coz , Bali, Maldivian x2 , for the best ).
So , I look for another amazing place and was advised to consider Palau..and I notice such competent divers in this thread : dive-pro who spent 6months there , Travelnsj who went 8x to Palau ( so sorry you were deceived about Sipadan , perhaps try to go sooner on summer ? ) and co..

I schedule to go to on february , wish to avoid LOB (except if actually incomparable value of ), I read previous post which support this option , I am not interested in wrecks and deep dives ( matter of taste and nitrox ) .

Which resorts would you advice ? What about visit on earth ?

Thanks

Dromo