Snorkeling from dive boats in Palau

[pword]

We will be in Palau in a few weeks for first trip and spouse is booked for five days of diving. I cannot dive but love to snorkel. The dive op does not allow snorkelers on the dive boats due to safety concerns, unless there are two or more snorkelers. But I found two other dive ops that do allows snorkelers. In general, what are the average depths of the coral and reef life at most dive sites in Palau? Is snorkeling at dive sites even appropriate and worthwhile? I don't want to be stuck snorkeling where all the action is too far below, or in really bad surface conditions. My hope is these other dive ops would try to put me on a boat with more appropriate snorkel conditions for that day, but should I just stick with the kayak/rock island tours if they are more appropriate for snorkeling? Thanks for any help from the snorkeling perspective.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Well, most of the dive sites are wall/drift diving, and some like Blue Corner are static using reef hooks keeping the diver in place against the current. Great visibility though, and you can see the divers & marine life below you from 60'/18m above on the surface (unfortunately it's also like watching the Super Bowl from the Goodyear Blimp -- all the action, color and pageantry is down there to see at the field level). Be sure to deploy an inflated Surface Marker Buoy and carry a whistle if you decide to snorkel these sites on the exposed outer reefs of the atoll.

There's still fairly good snorkeling to be seen during the surface interval inside the shelter of the Rock Islands, but it's this time that the dive guides usually serve the diver's box lunches. . .

 

[Deep Water Dan]

I just checked my dive log, and my average dive depth last time I did Palau was a shade over 50 feet. And as Kevrumbo noted, many of the dives are drift/outside the reef dives where there can be a strong current. And inside the reef the visibility isn't going to be very good for snorkeling. You could always learn to dive...

 

[robint]

Palau = drift diving.
quick story... on our trip there, one of our DMs told us how he had once gotten separated from the group as he was shooting video and didn't want to surface yet. He stayed down 15 more minutes, then when he surfaced he had drifted so far away he couldn't see the boat. He was out there for over an hour, drifted into open ocean away from island, and was seeing sharks coming out to check him out when the boat finally found him. The boat crew was out circling the area back and forth that whole time, looking for him but had no idea when he had gone or if he was still down and had perished. Frighting for the DM and for the boat crew.
Any questions?

 

[pword]

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Adventure-Ocean]

Many coral reefs in Palau are perfect for snorkling. Which ever of the tours you take just ask them what you should be concerned about that day. It could be great conditions with very little threat or it could be windy, choppy, currents etc. Go for it but ask the right questions to stay safe.