Palau

[leslief]

I am planning on going to palau in mid March without reservations (I fly stand-by). Will I have a problem getting on a dive boat and upon arrival will it be easy to get to a budget hotel by taxi or by calling the hotels directly? Any hints tips or recomendations are appreciated.

[triggerman365]

I just dove with Fish & Fins. They are super accommodating and will pick you up from the hotels in Koror. I plan to use F&F again. Good luck and have fun.

[SquatchFish]

When I was in Palau I went with "Sam's Tours" diving (samstours.com) in Koror that was truly amazing. As for hotels I have no clue, but Taxi's on the other hand, real cheep, plus you can always haggle with them.

[bbarada]

Try Sam's Tours and the Sea Passion Hotel. They have great packages.

[bubba105]

Depending on how far down the "cheap hotel" ladder you want to go, you may be better off grabbing a dive package. Sam's has deals for hotels & diving on their website, which include airport transfers & daily hotel pick-ups. Showing up to dive with one of the dive outfits in Palau may get you a higher (daily) dive rate, which could wind up costing you the same money for a hotel & diving as a package with a better hotel. Don't know where you're flying from, but, if you've got a laptop, you may be able to book something from the airport after you secure a seat on the flight. Shoot them an e-mail, explain the stand-by thing & see what they have to say. Good luck.

Sam's Tours: Palau Diving Micronesia Island Hopping (http://www.samstours.com/packages.html)

[Centrals]

Dived with Sam's nearly 10 yrs ago and did not like the daily transfer to the sites which are miles away. 13 divers with over 40 tanks on a 200HP powered speed boat!!!! There were nearly 20 boats around when I surfaced on Blue Corner/Blue Hole. We could not go to Peleliu because of rough sea.
It was different story when I dived with Big Blue couple of yrs later. Liveaboard is the ONLY way.

[Krazytomdiver]

I lived(twice) and was a dive guide(once) at Fish & Fins in Koror for seven months(400 dives). I stayed at the Yuhi Motel & apartments. It's a great place for a long stay. I would look into a dive packages with any of the top three dive operations: Fish & Fins,Sam's Tour,or NESCO Marine. Warning,once you dive Palau,Ulong Island(the best),and Peleliu,you will have dove the best in the world. I"ve worked on twenty-seven islands in ten years and nothing even comes close to Palau.It's not for beginners so get plenty of experience to include Nitrox,deep,drift,and photograghy. Day trips take over an hour to the dive sites but the views are breathetaking and the boats are well equipped and very fast. Enjoy yourself,spend as long as you can because the flight is totally exhausting.Let me know if you have any questions.

[Travelnsj]

There is a place that is called the Guest house...gotta punch a button to get the Hot water to work...but the last time I heard it was around $45 a day. Ask Aireen at Sams I'm sure she can book it for you along with your diving....hey wait I'll be there in March and like uncrowded dive boats go with F&F or Neco!....LOL...just kidding!

[Scoober]

Lived in Palau, working as a diver for a coupla years. Love the DW Hotel, near the Rock Island Cafe. Common area room with TV, coffee, tea, water, etc. Provides the option of socializing with other budget divers/travellers. The private rooms are just fine. Nice folks. Rock Island Cafe right across the street, along with internet, coin-op laundry, small "grocery store" with liquor outlet. Ben Ermi Burger trailer just a block away. Near both town and Malakal, where the best dive shops are. West Hotel--Malakal is another good option. Kramers nearby, a great place for a meal, drink, beer, people, etc. Re Dive Ops: My clear first choice is Neco Marine, with the best facilities, the best boats and less crowded boats. Sam's is also excellent. Fish N Fins is good, as well, but I don't much like the location, and it does not have the post-dive hang out for a beer thing going on much. All take walk-ins. March is a great time to be in Palau, and your "long" boat rides through the Rock Islands will usually be a real pleasure. Take a light rain shell in case of high-speed rain showers. While in Palau, hit the Thai restaurant and the Indian restaurant. A few other gems aournd as well. Have fun! Heading there myself next week!!

[farsidefan1]

While not related to this thread I just thought I'd mention I"m leaving the snowlands of Utah tomorrow and heading to Palau for 2 weeks :acclaim:Sucks not to be me:D (not often I get to say that).

[Kevrumbo]

Call any of the dive ops mentioned above for a package deal, and ask & make sure your planned stand-by travel trip dates don't coincide with a major Japanese/Asian Holiday (for example Chinese New Year this past week) or a Western Holiday (like X-mas/New Years).

I'm back here in Palau right now having a great time!:D

[fbosch]

I was in Palau in 78 before it was a dive destination ,and hung out with Burt Hamner who discovered the jellyfish lakes, it was perfect then, when we went back in 01 it was not the same alsot of the shallow snorkeling reefs aroud Malakal harbor looked really rundown. We dove with Necco Marine and they seemed to do a reasonably good job, I think a livaboard is the way to go, since the trip out to the dive sites is over an hour

[ApexLongimanus]

just came back from palau. dived with sam's tours. top notch operation.

[farsidefan1]

Just returned from a week on the aggressor and a week with Sam's Tours. The Aggressor was all it is cracked up to be. Excellent service and convenience. One of the divers pointed out that usually on a liveaboard there is "that guy" which nobody can stand but he missed our boat. We all got along great. Course the diving was so good it would have been tough to get in or stay in a bad mood. 5 dives a day offered. We hit all the good spots, some multiple times. With Sam's It was more of the same but usually I only went on 2 per day. I began having ear issues. My Utah ears are just not used to that much diving. Usually I only go one week at a time. I met a fellow scubaboarder Scott at Sam's and we had a great time together. Nice to hang out with someone who has practically lived there over the last 10 yrs. He brought me up to speed on the land based operations. All in all an excellent trip. I'll see what I can do about posting some of the pictures. You may have to wait for Scott. His pics are excellent.