Palau or Papua New Guinea by liveaboard?

Just wondering if I could pick y'alls brains again and ask what the major differences are in your minds between Palau and Papua New Guinea. I understand that PNG is an out and back style of diving with perhaps higher biodiversity and Palau - while having high biodiversity - is more known for its big animal encounters and drift diving.

Just figured I would get the opinions of those who have seen it first hand. Thanks all and Merry Christmas!

ewaiea:

Just wondering if I could pick y'alls brains again and ask what the major differences are in your minds between Palau and Papua New Guinea. I understand that PNG is an out and back style of diving with perhaps higher biodiversity and Palau - while having high biodiversity - is more known for its big animal encounters and drift diving.

Just figured I would get the opinions of those who have seen it first hand. Thanks all and Merry Christmas!

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Having only done Palau, I would say that it is easy diving as long as you are comfortable with your skills and good air consumption. The liveaboards (Big Blue, Eco Explorer, Aggressor) all use a skiff to dive from which drops you in the water, then picks you up when you surface. All dives are drift with the exception of the wreck dive the last day up by Koror, and the night dive we did one night had no current so it was out and back from skiff. I wouldn't do Palau if you aren't into big animals though as most dives are focused on those guys. One guy on our boat all week complained about the drift dives were too intense, he wanted easy "Caribbean style" diving plus he didn't enjoy the sharks or mantas. :shocked2: There is plenty of little life of all sorts though but you have to look for it as you drift, some sights it was easy but most you can't really stop for long. Check out my gallery:
Palau on the Eco Explorer - Dec 2007


robin

The two places you're asking about don't have much in common except that they are both very exciting (and expensive) destinations. I like to compare all aspects of a trip, not just the kind of diving they do.

I've done two live-aboards at each destination over the years. I've also dived with Sam's Tours in Palau and did a lot of land tours. Palau has more big stuff and less exciting macro. PNG (depending on where you go) has AMAZING macro with very good big stuff too. Both have great topside attractions, but the PNG highlands is hands-down more exciting than what's in Palau. If you do a live-aboard to either place spend some time on land too. You'll be really sorry if you don't. PNG has more diversity.

In both places there will be dives where you can dive right from the back of the boat or get dropped off and picked up by dingy.

In Palau you'll cover all the best dive spots regardless of what boat you're on, so go for a nicer boat. PNG is more spread out and would take a lot more time to visit all the best spots. I've been to Milne Bay at Tawali and on the Spirit of Niugini and to the south coast of East New Britain island out of Rabaul on the PHD Star Dancer. There are still other areas I want to go to but they will be trips in the future.

Palau is probably a safer place to visit. PNG is more rugged and isn't as glamourous.

Palau smells better. MUCH better.

PNG has WAAAAAY better artifacts and art to buy and take home with you and its much less expensive than what you find in Palau.

If you travel to Palau you only have Continental Micronesia to take you there. Don't even think about the island hopper flights. They are horrible! PNG has more options depending on what day you fly and what country you fly through. Both flights are expensive, but if you do go to PNG, get your ticket from South Pacific Island Travel. They have tons of experience in both areas but have the best prices on PNG tickets that I have found.

Both are amazing and which ever one you don't pick for this trip, put it high on your list for a future visit.

Hope this helps!

UW Photographer....thanks for the post.
Which do you think has less diver traffic?

cowdog77:

UW Photographer....thanks for the post.
Which do you think has less diver traffic?

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Definitely PNG. We never saw another diver (other than our own group) on either of the trips. In Palau we had to schedule our dives around the other ops. It wasn't crowded at all, but PNG is less visited. Here's a trip report from one trip and am still working on another from my more recent trip in Sept 08.

Very good report, appreciate all the important detail! Thanks for taking the time.

We have done both and will go back to each someday. But If I had to choose one or the other I would go with PNG. We have trip reports, slide shows and galleries for each at our website. In PNG we did Milne Bay which is more known for small stuff but we still came across plenty of sharks, rays and schools. Aquablue Dreams

Recently returned Sept 08,from two weeks on and u/w in PNG; and did two weeks liveaboard back-to-back in Palau Sept/Oct 07. Must say that my two weeks diving in Palau were much more exciting diving than the 8 days diving PNG.

Land tour on PNG was fabulous; didn't really catch any land tours on Palau but the locals were friendly and the food fabulous in Koror. I'm a solo female diver, and traveled alone to Palau. Not once did I worry about being alone, and even walked to dinner on my own in the evenings. Spent 14 days on a liveaboard in Palau, and logged 44 dives in 11 days of diving. Excellent dollar value for diving quality and quantity.

Both trips were very expensive, as airfare to either location is exorbident. And the longer travel time (from West Coast) to PNG also jacks the price because of hotel costs for overnights on the way and way home. But I would (and will) go back to Palau in a heartbeat, and felt that for the money, Palau was a much more cost effective DIVING trip. I'm really in it for the diving. I am NOT a shopper, so local artifacts and crafts shopping is not on my radar. I'd rather be diving.

I prefer PNG to Palau. I spent a few weeks in PNG: 10 days on the now-defunct Telita in Milne Bay, about a week on Loloata Island diving Bootless Bay, a day in Port Moresby and a short trek in the highlands. I squeezed 50 dives in. I did the Aggressor in Palau. I agree with UWPhotographer's general conclusions. PNG had amazing variety; macro-life comparable to the reefs in Komodo or Sulawesi and occasional big animal encounters with mantas, tuna, hammerheads, and reef sharks. Palau had constant reef sharks and some good manta dives, plus jellyfish lake and good reef life in general. If Dik Knight is still the proprietor of Loloata Island be sure to dine with him a few nights--he's quite a character and the island is a great place to chill after a long flight. He can hook you up with guides, boats, betel nut--whatever you need.

I am at a loss as I have not been to Palau, but have been to PNG. We took Stardancer to the Fathers and Witu's. We had plenty of shark action almost every day and that includes night as well. We saw some big silver tips and big gray whalers. The diversity was incredible as you could make a dive and try to keep track of what species you were looking at but loose count and forget, which was frustrating.
We dove out of Walindi and dove out of Loloata, on the Stardancer in the Fathers and Witu's was our absolute best, it topped the Red Sea.
PNG is a primitive place, the volcanos are active and we saw no plane, jet, or other boat on the liveaboard except for one day trading with the locals.