trip report-- Tropic Dancer (Palau)

[reefseeker2]

Thanks, I have been diving over 35 years. Dive Guides and make or break a trip. I can never figure out which is worse, a happy joking one who has no clue or a smug dive guide that has no clue. Have had both. I was planning on going this year with my daughter. How did you get there? Any tips? BTW write a report on Coco Islands. Last 11 years I have been diving all over Indonesia and getting depressed that the fish are disappearing. Even last trip to Alor I noticed the locals are down to eating all the little reef fish. 10 days didn't see one school of fish or one fish over 5 pounds. Corals were still amazing but I want big fish. Anyway let us know if they ever write you back. I love it when they will reply with give you a discount on a day of diving. (had that happen) But I have been on worse. Like going to the movies I want a good review from someone before I travel around the world.

 

[backpacking diver]

Hey again everyone-- first off, wow, no, I don't work for Fish'n'Fins! I just had a good experience with them. Check out my reply re: 3 dives a day and I hope you'll see that I'm not a mad advocate, I just know a good dive operation when I see it. Steve P, you absolutely do want to go during full moon; stronger currents mean more of everything, esp. mantas and sharks... As for the comment on the Kona Aggressor stiffing people with 26% Nitrox, guess which boat the Tropic Dancer shares crew with? Yes, the Kona Aggressor. And I have no idea why we weren't allowed to analyze our own-- just another rule/regulation.
Reefseeker2, since I went to Palau from Tokyo I'm not much help with routes there... most people seem to go via Hawaii to Guam to Palau, and sometimes that lets you break up the very long flight in Hawaii, I heard.
I am still waiting for a response from the Dancer fleet... we'll see how that goes...

 

[judypots]

My husband and I just got back from Palau - a week on the Agressor and 3 days of diving with Sam's Tours (this after 4 days of diving on Truk and 3 days at Yap - my head is spinning.) Before I mention anything else, I must tell you that a couple we met at Yap did the Dancer the same week we were on the Agressor, and they loved it. So, I'm guessing it all depends on who the staff is the week you're there. We loved the Agressor and had great dives, although as a first timer to Palau, I can't say whether the dives might have been even better. On the Agressor we had the option of doing 5 dives most days, one of which was a night dive. It seemed to me that tides and current were taken into account in determining where to go, and the guests were consulted a few times on preferences. We saw all kinds of life, and we returned to the Blue Corner 3 times, the German Channel twice and others were repeated as well. Of course, they were somewhat different each time we were there. The 3rd dive on the Blue Corner was the best out of 3 great dives - with schools of fish everywhere we looked, sharks galore (which we saw on every dive everywhere), and my personal favorites, the Napoleon Wrasses. Regarding our dives with Sam's Tours, they were enjoyable as well. But we both feel strongly that our preference at a place like Palau, where the dive sites are so far from shore, is most definitely for the Liveaboard. Happy diving.

 

[Steve P]

My husband and I just got back from Palau - a week on the Agressor and 3 days of diving with Sam's Tours (this after 4 days of diving on Truk and 3 days at Yap - my head is spinning.) Before I mention anything else, I must tell you that a couple we met at Yap did the Dancer the same week we were on the Agressor, and they loved it. So, I'm guessing it all depends on who the staff is the week you're there. We loved the Agressor and had great dives, although as a first timer to Palau, I can't say whether the dives might have been even better. On the Agressor we had the option of doing 5 dives most days, one of which was a night dive. It seemed to me that tides and current were taken into account in determining where to go, and the guests were consulted a few times on preferences. We saw all kinds of life, and we returned to the Blue Corner 3 times, the German Channel twice and others were repeated as well. Of course, they were somewhat different each time we were there. The 3rd dive on the Blue Corner was the best out of 3 great dives - with schools of fish everywhere we looked, sharks galore (which we saw on every dive everywhere), and my personal favorites, the Napoleon Wrasses. Regarding our dives with Sam's Tours, they were enjoyable as well. But we both feel strongly that our preference at a place like Palau, where the dive sites are so far from shore, is most definitely for the Liveaboard. Happy diving.

Glad to read your report, judy. My wife & I are planning a trip to Truk & Palau this summer and I just booked the Aggressor for our week in Palau. We were also considering Sam's, but agree that the distance to dive sites is an issue. Given the how far we're traveling (from Chicago) the cost of the trip and, from all I've heard, the incredible diving in Palau, 4+ dives per day is what I'm looking for. Hopefully we will have a much better experince than backpacking diver.

 

[ewaiea]

I must say I'm surprised to hear this trip report. I did the Tropic Dancer in October - we only had 6 divers onboard. I will always be a liveaboard hound, I'm already brainstorming ideas for this year. Interesting that the crew member Michelle mentioned she thought PNG's diving is better. I have heard many divers say they like PNG better, and other say they like Palau better. I've done both. My three liveaboards I've done are the Kona Aggressor, Star Dancer in PNG (north New Britain itinerary April 2010), and Tropic Dancer. What is better (Palau or PNG) depends on the type of stuff the diver likes, Sharks/high-energy drift dives/wrecks/etc OR unusual macro opportunities/muck diving/diving walls and undersea pinnacles. Also, liveaboards in PNG are usually non-drift dives where the diving is from the big boat, Palau is always from a skiff. Personally, I love Palau and the Tropic Dancer. BUT I thought that the diving and types of critters in PNG was more my kind of diving. To me, the more mainstream a dive destination is the less likely it is to be near the top of my list.

This is not to say I don't want to go to Australia, Cayman Islands, Belize, Turks and Caicos, etc. But to me the destinations that are hard to reach are always more up my alley. I'm considering December 2012 as a possible to trip back to PNG on Star Dancer (this time in Milne Bay) or perhaps Komodo Dancer in Komodo National Park.

But a few other non-Aggressor/Dancer companies I want to try are Mike Ball and/or Spirit of Freedom in Australia, Aqua Cat in the Bahamas, and a handful of others.

I think that Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet offer a great product, but they are prone (like anyone else) to non-ideal conditions, crew members, or crew dynamics. Every dive trip (whether it's liveaboard or land-based) is littered with possibilities of non-ideal situations. To me, it's all part of the experience and I just try and travel during times of the year where weather and dive conditions are more likely to be favorable.

Keep at it though, I'm sure your next trip is bound to be great.

 

[Shasta_man]

I recommend you choose Komodo next instead of PNG again. PNG would be great, no doubt, but I think you'll like Indo as well.

 

[backpacking diver]

Hi everyone-- I just got my response back from the Dancer company and I think George Orwell would be proud of what they're doing with the English language... to wit, after noting that 2 (of the 16 of us) divers had said on a survey that it was a good trip:

Having said the above, we are still gravely disappointed in the fact that our crew were not able to form enough of a personal connection with you so that they could fully understand and meet your needs. That’s why we our crews are so diverse. We know that not every guest will mesh with every crew member – but by having diversity we hope that a guest will mesh with one crew member who can take it upon themselves to ensure that we meet all of your needs.

So, if you're going to get into trouble in the water and ask a crew member for help, like my buddy did, better hope it's the crew member with whom you've meshed so that they've formed enough of a personal connection with you to know what "Help" means!!!!

This also cracked me up b/c one of the female divers on our boat did indeed mesh with one of the crew members, and I believe he did ensure that he met all her needs... but I suspect that's NOT what the letter-writer had in mind... He did hope they would be seeing me soon on another Dancer trip. Did he read my letter????

 

[theduckguru]

I guess now you know who one of the persons reporting a good trip were.

Hi everyone-- I just got my response back from the Dancer company and I think George Orwell would be proud of what they're doing with the English language... to wit, after noting that 2 (of the 16 of us) divers had said on a survey that it was a good :

This also cracked me up b/c one of the female divers on our boat did indeed mesh with one of the crew members, and I believe he did ensure that he met all her needs... but I suspect that's NOT what the letter-writer had in mind... He did hope they would be seeing me soon on another Dancer trip. Did he read my letter????

 

[Shasta_man]

Most ridiculous response I ever heard.

 

[robint]

Amazing response. Wow.