Will Peleliu Trip Be Enjoyed By Relatively New Diver and Non Diving Wife?

[DrNivens]

My wife and I want to experience A Pacific island vacation and it is my turn to pick. I have 28 dives under my belt most of which were in dive quarries in Northeast Pa. I did dive in Belize this past February at Ambergris Kayewith a maximum depth of 114 ft. I am also a WWII history buff. My wife does not dive but will certainly snorkel, bike and do some leisurely kayaking.

My question is, is a Palau, more specifically a Peleliu trip for 10 days worth the expense given the type of dives I would be doing considering my diving experiencea and is there enough activities other than diving to keep my wife busy? Also, any comments on the weather? I understand that it rains often but is it sporadic or days at a time?

I've been thinking of staying at Dolphin Bay Resort.

 

[Deep Water Dan]

My advice would be to stay in Palau, and if you want to dive Peleliu sign up for the Peleliu boat. Peleliu can be some fairly advanced diving, and depending on the weather and the tides some or most of the dive sites might be undiveable. Peleliu is a very small island, with one paved road that is only a couple of miles long, if that. Plenty to keep your wife occupied in Palau, not so in Peleliu. The Peleliu day trip to see the WWII sites is worth the time, and you can do that from Palau on your non-dive day. The weather is always a crap shoot. If there's a disturbance in the area it can rain for several days straight. As a general rule, during the winter months there's less chance of any tropical storm activity and more chance of sunshine.

 

[Shasta_man]

I second Dan's comments. YOu're good for most of Palau's diving if you can float since it is mostly drift diving along walls. Don't miss going to Peleliu though. As a fellow history buff it was a great trip. Do their tour where you get to see some gun emplacements, a Japanese tank, Bloody Nose Ridge. Their little museum was actually a treat for me like seeing a thousand stitch belt in person, and is located in a former reinforced concrete blockhouse that has big bites taken out by naval gunfire. Get to stand on the invasion beaches.

 

[richh32]

dude you dont do a disservice to yourself and go to Palau with a non-diving spouse. unless that is the only way you are going to be able to go there is with her. i am telling you, and the others on here will too, you are going to want to dive everyday because it is that good. your wife is going to have to be pretty patient during the day. you will be gone from 8am til 3pm when you dive. And there is absolutely NOTHING to do at night. let her pick twice and go solo to palau.

 

[rbnelsoncausa]

We were in Palau and Peliliu this past April. I guess it depends on your wife's interests, Palau is nice but you'll be gone all day to get in 2 dives. Peliliu is really simple and quiet, but full of history and you can get to most dive sites in about 10 minutes from there instead of an hour+ from Palau. We stayed at Dolphin and they have kayaks for the guests and also have wireless from the cafe/lounge area if needed. All meals are at the resort as there isn't much choice elsewhere, but it is a lovely and relaxing place to be. We saw small sharks in the lagoon in front and it's easy kayaking with some opportunities to explore the nearby islands and find things like tanks and bomb craters and bullets and such. Palau is quite pretty and certainly more options, but Peliliu is a wonderful and peaceful getaway. We met guests there who had non diving spouses who also took tours during the day when the divers were out. Make sure to take mosquito repellant to either place and some benadryl or antihistamines. They do have biting bugs!
If I go back I'll just go to Peliliu. I liked the environment better and it's so peaceful there. Definitely worth taking some time to take the tours, they're fascinating. Read E. B. Sledges book before you go.

 

[richh32]

We were in Palau and Peliliu this past April. I guess it depends on your wife's interests, Palau is nice but you'll be gone all day to get in 2 dives. Peliliu is really simple and quiet, but full of history and you can get to most dive sites in about 10 minutes from there instead of an hour+ from Palau. We stayed at Dolphin and they have kayaks for the guests and also have wireless from the cafe/lounge area if needed. All meals are at the resort as there isn't much choice elsewhere, but it is a lovely and relaxing place to be. We saw small sharks in the lagoon in front and it's easy kayaking with some opportunities to explore the nearby islands and find things like tanks and bomb craters and bullets and such. Palau is quite pretty and certainly more options, but Peliliu is a wonderful and peaceful getaway. We met guests there who had non diving spouses who also took tours during the day when the divers were out. Make sure to take mosquito repellant to either place and some benadryl or antihistamines. They do have biting bugs!
If I go back I'll just go to Peliliu. I liked the environment better and it's so peaceful there. Definitely worth taking some time to take the tours, they're fascinating. Read E. B. Sledges book before you go.

who did you dive with in Peleliu? Could you do more than 3 dives if you wanted? That was the only bummer at Sam's in Palau 2 dives only.

 

[DrNivens]

I appreciate your input. My thoughts were that by staying on Peleliu I would have more of an island experience at a reasonable price also thinking that there would be access to a nice beach and snorkeling sites without having to pay for a guided trip. From the comments I have read on the various travel sites, Palau Pacific Resort sounds like the best but is also quite expensive for what they provide. I also thought that by diving with Peleliu Divers I would be diving with a smaller group assuming that they would schedule dives that would fit my experience. I'm not an experienced traveler and I don't want to set my expectations too high. The photos always look great and Fiji or Bora Bora sure look nice!

---------- Post Merged at 07:17 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:59 PM ----------

RB, what were you able to do on your own without having to pay for a guide or boat ride? I like the idea of free use of kayaks. Would you be able to kayak to good snorkeling sites from the Dolphin bungalows? How accommodating is the dive operation as far as what sites they take you to? Did you kayak/snorkel the Rock Islands? So many questions!

My dad served in the Pacific Theatre and I would love to dive/snorkel among the relics. I've read "With The Old Breed Peleliu, Okinawa and I can't imagine being on that island.

This trip would be very expensive, airfare round trip $2,000 per ticket. How would you rate the accommodations ? I'm fine as long as its clean.

Thanks for your input. Sorry for all the questions but this is a tough one to decide.

 

[Centrals]

My wife and I want to experience A Pacific island vacation and it is my turn to ....... I am also a WWII history buff.

Operation Hailstorm at Truk Lagoon.
But you have to ask your wife to stay at home!!!!

 

[Kevrumbo]

My wife and I want to experience A Pacific island vacation and it is my turn to pick. I have 28 dives under my belt most of which were in dive quarries in Northeast Pa. I did dive in Belize this past February at Ambergris Kayewith a maximum depth of 114 ft. I am also a WWII history buff. My wife does not dive but will certainly snorkel, bike and do some leisurely kayaking.

My question is, is a Palau, more specifically a Peleliu trip for 10 days worth the expense given the type of dives I would be doing considering my diving experiencea and is there enough activities other than diving to keep my wife busy? Also, any comments on the weather? I understand that it rains often but is it sporadic or days at a time?

I've been thinking of staying at Dolphin Bay Resort.

To be fair to your non-diving wife, I would recommend staying in Koror rather than out on Peleliu. My favorite dive-op/hotel combination is SamsTours and Sea Passion Hotel. (Palau Visitors Authority) You can easily arrange a full-day tour of Peleliu from Koror on a day-off/non-diving day as well.


As a WWII buff myself (and having several times read Sledge's "With the Old Breed -Peleliu & Okinawa"), just a 2 hour overview "Surface Interval" Tour between dives of the Peleliu Battlefield was eerily quiet & sobering enough . . .you don't have to spend the entire week there unless you want to go exploring inside the caves & fortifications of Umurbrogol Mountain.

Bring a light rain jacket/poncho; the boat rides from Koror to the dive sites are over an hour long through the most gorgeous scenery of the Rock Islands --but it can be a rough & wet return as well through prevailing afternoon rainstorm squalls.

 

[jbjclj]

We spent 2 weeks in April, 1 week at PPR and 1 week at Sea Passions. PPR is beautiful, but pricey. Although, if you eat at the bar, you can order off the menu at half the price. I would not got back to Sea Passions. We visited Palau Royal and that would be our choice. Close to Sams, walking to restaurants. We did the dive trip to Peleilu, with the afternoon land tour. The diving was spectacular, but very strong currents. The land tour quite sobering. We would go back to Palau in an instant

That being said, I would not recommend it for a non diving wife. You would not get back to the hotel until after 3:00 and really there is not much for her to do. The snorkling at PPR was great and they do have Kayaks.

My husband and I have been diving over 30 years. We go to Cozumel at least twice a year and love it. It would be an easier place to get to and more things for her to do. Plus, the trip to Palau is a killer (23 hours) Cozumel 8 hours

Good luck, whatever you decide

Cheryl