dnhill
Contributor
Trip Report Palau 1-20-06
Palau Pacific Resort and NECO Marine
I used Trip-N-Tour for this trip. The trip was originally scheduled for October, but I had to change due to hurricane Rita. Trip-N-Tour was great to work with.
Palau Pacific Resort was a beautiful facility with great guest service. It was pricy, but I got my moneys worth. The room was larger than expected and opened out for an ocean view. There is a safe in the room that is free of charge. One morning, I left for diving and closed but did not lock the safe. When I came back in there was a note that stated the security chief and the housekeeping chief had gone through the rooms and had noticed the safe unlocked. They locked it and requested that I call when I got back in the room. They promptly came and unlocked it for me and waited to verify that all contents were there. The food was good. There was a buffet, but I felt that it was too expensive. I could order off the menu for less than the buffet price and have more than enough to eat. There was a dive operation on site called Splash, but it was for Japanese. I think it is a sister operation to NECO.
NECO was a very service oriented dive operation. Chris was the divemaster and was quite good. It was also good that the other divers during the week were fun to be with. On another boat with NECO was a large group from Maui Dreams dive shop those were fun folks to be with after diving. The diving was just OK the first two days. Rain and poor visibility made me wonder why I came all the way to Palau for diving. But on day three when the sun was shining and we went to Blue Corner it was all worth it. I am used to diving in Cozumel where I see the occasional shark and turtle. There were both in large quantities on most every dive in Palau. On the next to last day we went to German Channel to see the mantas and they were there. So on the last day we went back and had another dive with them as well. My favorite dive sites were New Drop Off, Blue Corner, and German Channel. I was worried because the boat rides were supposed to be long, however, it was not bad at all. The NECO boats were fast and smooth, and I got to have the rest of the day at the PPR. I would not hesitate to be land based in Palau again.
I was diving with NECO for 6 days. If I go again, I will stay longer than a week on Palau or have an add-on trip to Truk , Yap, or Hawaii if possible. When I was adjusted to the time zone, it was time to go home.
Palau Pacific Resort and NECO Marine
I used Trip-N-Tour for this trip. The trip was originally scheduled for October, but I had to change due to hurricane Rita. Trip-N-Tour was great to work with.
Palau Pacific Resort was a beautiful facility with great guest service. It was pricy, but I got my moneys worth. The room was larger than expected and opened out for an ocean view. There is a safe in the room that is free of charge. One morning, I left for diving and closed but did not lock the safe. When I came back in there was a note that stated the security chief and the housekeeping chief had gone through the rooms and had noticed the safe unlocked. They locked it and requested that I call when I got back in the room. They promptly came and unlocked it for me and waited to verify that all contents were there. The food was good. There was a buffet, but I felt that it was too expensive. I could order off the menu for less than the buffet price and have more than enough to eat. There was a dive operation on site called Splash, but it was for Japanese. I think it is a sister operation to NECO.
NECO was a very service oriented dive operation. Chris was the divemaster and was quite good. It was also good that the other divers during the week were fun to be with. On another boat with NECO was a large group from Maui Dreams dive shop those were fun folks to be with after diving. The diving was just OK the first two days. Rain and poor visibility made me wonder why I came all the way to Palau for diving. But on day three when the sun was shining and we went to Blue Corner it was all worth it. I am used to diving in Cozumel where I see the occasional shark and turtle. There were both in large quantities on most every dive in Palau. On the next to last day we went to German Channel to see the mantas and they were there. So on the last day we went back and had another dive with them as well. My favorite dive sites were New Drop Off, Blue Corner, and German Channel. I was worried because the boat rides were supposed to be long, however, it was not bad at all. The NECO boats were fast and smooth, and I got to have the rest of the day at the PPR. I would not hesitate to be land based in Palau again.
I was diving with NECO for 6 days. If I go again, I will stay longer than a week on Palau or have an add-on trip to Truk , Yap, or Hawaii if possible. When I was adjusted to the time zone, it was time to go home.
