Palau: The return

[deepdiver47]

Palau trip report (2/16-2/25)

Arrival/Hotel: This was my second time to Palau (last there in 05) and I arrived in Korror at 10:00 PM from Guam. Since I had a prior week business trip in Taiwan my lag was nothing to speak of, so I was ready to go. I stayed at the West Plaza Malakal which met my needs very well. I was within walking distance to all of the essentials the dive boat, restaurants and convenience store. WPM is a reasonably priced hotel with good services. I was even able to tap into a local restaurants wireless!

Palau - above: A nice laid back island. They mostly cater to tourists from Asia and Europe. I have found this to be a very safe and relaxful place to go. The real beauty is in the rock islands, check out my pics

Weather: Pictures tell the story, everyday was roughly the same. It was partially cloudy, 87 F during the day, 77 at night. The occasional cloud gave us a shower on a couple of mornings which is normal for this time of year. Coming from a cold week in Taiwan, I relished the warmth.

Palau - below: I chose to dive with Keith at Dive Palau (palaudive.com). Keith specializes in individualized attention using a small group approach. I can’t say enough about this guy. His gospel is long, slow dives getting back on the boat with ~300 left in our tanks. I was diving 3 Nitrox dives a day averaging 65-75 minutes per dive with an average depth of 65 ft per dive. Water temp was 82 and vis ranged from 50-80 feet. My day consisted of long boat rides (dive sites were 20-25 miles away) starting at 8:30 and ending roughly at 4. Since I love drop offs, reefs, caves, tunnels I was right at home with dives such as Blue Corner (heavy sigh), New Dropoff and Blue Holes. Large schools of sharks, barracuda and the occasional tuna were the norm. Dive depths ranged from 60 to 110 ft. In general, the diving was excellent and I could not ask for any more. The dive sites in Palau are the ones that keep you up at night left staring at the ceiling.

Food: Menu varied from local seafood to having Western food. My favorite restaurant was Kramers. The local fresh catch was either Wahoo, Yellowfin or Mahi Mahi which were awesome in Asian Seared Sashimi. Having spent the previous week in Taiwan, having a burger was also welcomed

Pros/Cons: Far too many pros to list. I loved the trip. I went diving with some terrific people from Norway, Japan and the U.S. As this was my second trip I was able to hone in on what to do/not to do. The only con to speak of was the huge dive coma that I am now experiencing since leaving the island.
A very special thank you to Scott (Travelnsj) as he was key in putting in touch with Keith. You can PM me if you require additional details. I'll have posted pics in a folder called Palau08

[SkuaSeptember]

I really have to stop reading posts like this. They make me so sad. Mostly because I wasn't there!
I'm gonna go read posts about ice diving now, then I'll feel better.

[TX1Chica]

DD, Where is the folder with the pics??
Palau is my dream vacation and I would love to see the pictures.

[deepdiver47]

Originally Posted by TX1Chica

DD, Where is the folder with the pics??
Palau is my dream vacation and I would love to see the pictures.

Double click on the my photos icon under my Avatar or you can try this:

http://forum.scubatoys.com/gallery/b...&imageuser=494

[High Plains Drifter]

[dramatic captain kirk voice]mmmust get to Palau....got...to...get..to...Palau![/dramatic captain kirk voice]

[Travelnsj]

You got some nice Pics....I see you saw the Disco Clam (as Keith calls it) was that the one at Turtle Cove or Blue Holes?....Glad you had a good time.

[deepdiver47]

Originally Posted by Travelnsj

You got some nice Pics....I see you saw the Disco Clam (as Keith calls it) was that the one at Turtle Cove or Blue Holes?....Glad you had a good time.

The picture doesn't do it justice, I should have taken a video to see the neon glow. That clam was taken on the underside of the Sias Tunnel

ADVANCED LEVEL :: CAVERN DIVE / WALL DIVE / DEEP DIVE (MINIMUM 100 FEET)
The tunnel, one of the most unique dives in Palau, is considered to be an advanced dive - for two reasons: depth, and the overhead environment. Situated on the western side of the atoll, the vertical wall juts out into the Philippine Sea, forming a pointed corner where a large (50 foot hight) tunnel cuts right through the wall. The bottom is well below 140+ feet (40+m). Because of the depth, time in the tunnel is restricted to around 12 minutes, but getting there and back is exciting in itself.
Dropping down over the wall, you will enter a horizontal tunnel beginning at a depth of 90 feet (27m). As you enter the tunnel, there is a window on your left looking out to open sea, and the exit is straight in front of you. White tip sharks can be seen sleeping on the sandy bottom, which gets as shallow as 110 feet (33m) and swirling schools of bigeye trevally are common here. Inside the tunnel is home to some of Palau's rarer fish: colin’s angelfish, decorated dartfish, helfrich’s dartfish, and burgess’s butterfly fish - all oriented to the roof of the cave and swimming upside down. This is one dive where you will definately need to carry a flashlight.

[TX1Chica]

I really enjoyed your pictures. Some day I will make it their myself. Until then, I look forward to reading and seeing pictures of your next adventure

[rfb3]

Wow! Nice pics! And thanks for the trip report. Pic Palau08 is my favorite.

[Travelnsj]

Originally Posted by deepdiver47

The picture doesn't do it justice, I should have taken a video to see the neon glow. That clam was taken on the underside of the Sias Tunnel

Did not know there was a clam there....I have only done that dive a couple of times but as you come out...Wow is that beautiful!...I usually swim around the outside at about 80'....being I am an air hog I lose a few minutes (quite a few..LOL) of air. Did you do Sias Corner? when that current is ripping it is also a great hook up and I hope you did Ulong channel that is one of my favorites.