Red Sea or Palau for a solo dive trip?

[jsyteng]

Have some time off before starting a new job in October. Asked for some opinions (in another thread) and it looks like I‘ll be able to squeeze in a last minute trip on board either the Red Sea or Palau Aggressor in mid-September.

I’m located in Boston, AOW/Nitrox certified, with almost 100 dives. I‘ve been mostly to the Carribean and now have the opportunity to try something really different and exotic!

Already have things priced out. Red Sea is coming in considerably cheaper overall. There is one male share space left. The Red Sea itinerary is for ”The Brothers“ islands.

Palau live aboard so far only has 6 signups, so there is plenty of space left with the potential of scoring a double-occupancy room all by myself (while still paying for just for one person).

Both are pretty tough and expensive to get to for me, with Palau being worse.

Would love hear views/opinions. Really hard for me to choose. Always had Palau on the bucket list, but thinking Red Sea might be a bit more manageable of a trip.

 

[rongoodman]

My trip to Palau was far superior to the Red Sea, although the timing probably had a lot to do with it(Red Sea in March, Palau in September).

 

[jsyteng]

My trip to Palau was far superior to the Red Sea, although the timing probably had a lot to do with it(Red Sea in March, Palau in September).

Thanks for the response. Can you tell me specially what was more superior? Would love to learn more . . . .

 

[BoltSnap]

My trip to Palau was far superior to the Red Sea, although the timing probably had a lot to do with it(Red Sea in March, Palau in September).

It isn't fair to compare Palau in September to the Red Sea in March. Red Sea is May to end of October.

The Red sea in March is cold crapie.

 

[aquabluegreg]

The other thing to consider are flights. Air carrier options limited and fares are pretty steep to Palau right now.

 

[jsyteng]

yes, getting quotes of >$2.5K for round trip from Boston. Ugh.

 

[aquabluegreg]

Just curious, why are you limiting your choices to Red Sea or Palau. There are several destinations with excellent diving AND reasonable air fares. Socorros, Maldives, Galapagos, Indonesia, Thailand.

 

[rongoodman]

Don't forget Cocos Island! Somebody mentioned space being available on one of the Agressor boats in Sept.

 

[aquabluegreg]

Although the Cosos Island is a great destination, I weigh it against the long open ocean transit.

 

[drrich2]

Never been to either; have mulled over the possibility of both. Got some questions that might help the brain storming process...

1.) Do you care anything about topside attractions? Such as visiting pyramids, etc...?

2.) If you want to do that, and find Egypt more appealing (e.g.: historical notoriety, those pyramids), is that something you could do on this trip, or that would be better saved till later?

In other words, if you would like to do topside activities in Egypt in addition to the liveaboard, but you only have time to do travel and a liveaboard at this time, and Palau's topside doesn't appeal to you the same way, then doing Palau now and saving the Red Sea for later (when it's easier to take on an extra few days to your trip) might make sense.

Conversely, if you've more time to use now, and that's unlikely in the future, then taking advantage and hitting the Red Sea now might make more sense.

I'm not factoring in optimal seasons for either, just asking if the topside aspect means anything to you.