er1n99
Registered
We've just had a wonderful trip on the Palau Aggressor and an okay time in Pohnpei.
My dive buddy and I jumped on the Palau Aggressor II Aug 28-Sept 5 (or something like that) and had an absolutely wonderful experience. We'll definitely book an Aggressor trip again with no hesitations. The PAII really was eat, sleep, and dive.
The staterooms were more than adequate. There's a queen sized bed and a full size bed on top (bunk style). The room held the two of us just fine, and could have had a third if really needed. Sink, shower, and private toilet as well. The rooms have lots of storage space and we had no problems. THere is also a TV and DVD player in each room. Food is fantastic. Continental or hot breakfast is available, snacks after each dive, buffet lunch, and a plated, sit-down dinner that was always too much food. Dinners included soup course, main course of roast beef, mashed potatoes, veggies, and then chocolate peanut butter pie. There was always too much food but it was so good that you wanted to finish it all.
Diving was all done from the skiff that was hydraulically raised and lowered from the mothership. The bell would ring, you have 15 minutes before the skiff lowers, then off to dive. Dives normally started at 715 or so, and before most people would be at the land based dive shop, you've already done a 60 minute dive. All dives are 60 minutes (or less if you run out of air). The surface intervals were normally spent on the sundeck with fellow passengers, lounging in the hammocks, catching some rays, or even watching the schooling sharks that came to visit.
What did we see? You name it, we saw it. We were fortunate to see mantas feeding in German Channel. 8+ just feasting. Sea turtles. Sharks. Eagle Rays. Napoleon Wrasse. And lots of coral reef fish (duh). There were drift dives, tunnel dives, wall dives, dives to shoot with a wide-angle lens, dives to shoot with a macro lens, hook in dives, etc. And the water was 84 degrees with vis between 50 and 150 feet. We were able to get to the island of Pelieu (the first time that the Aggressor had been able to in 6 months) and did the "Pelieu Express." Fantastic.
Coming from the US, we arrived on Sunday at 2am. We checked into the Sea Passion Hotel which is across the street from Neco Marine (where Aggressor and Tropic Dancer are based) and had a restful sleep. Sea Passion caters to Japanese tourists but the rooms are good, AC works, and the showers are huge (4ft by 8ft). Aggressor picks you up at 5pm on Sunday of your start. After the Aggressor, we checked back in to the Sea Passion for a few days of topside viewing of Palau. Checkout on the Aggressor is 8am on Sunday...
For our topside time, we did 2 tours through Sam's Tours. There was the kayak tour of Niko Bay which included some tours of some of the rock islands as well as kayaking and snorkeling. Then there was the waterfall tour which really was a driving tour of the large island in Palau (starts with a B and I'm not even going to try to spell it). In the Waterfall tour, you visit large meeting houses of the Palauan elders, you see Japanese ruins of when they occupied Palau, you go to the "eco theme park" (that's what they advertise it as) of the waterfall, you visit the new Palauan capitol building (which looks a little like the US White House), and you see the underwater city. Good tours.
Palau is a very developed third world country. What surprised us was how developed it was. Road systems are good. There is money being spent by the Japanese, the US, and Taiwan to build up Pohnpei. Everyone takes credit cards. The main "downtown" of Koror has grocery stores, restaurants, etc. It seems less of an impoverished nation than Fiji or Costa Rica.
After Palau, we skipped on over on the Island Hopper to Pohnpei. Why? Because we used frequent flyer miles to pay for this trip, so we might as well get our miles' worth, right?
Pohnpei is not nearly as developed at Palau. It truly is a third wold country. The roads are poor and narrow, there is tons of litter and abandoned vehicles, and you'll see naked children running around.
We stayed at the Village Hotel. It is out of town ($3 taxi ride each way) and is a quaint place. All rooms are individual buildings, made of wood and thatched roofs. There is no AC as everything is screened in. You sleep within mosquito netting on comfortable waterbeds. Big plus is that there is free wifi in the rooms and in the main building of the hotel. We can't say that we felt very welcome here. While it is owned by Americans, we felt that we were the only (americans) there. We also were probably the only ones under the age of 45. They seem to attract large groups of Japanese as well as officials (an older guy from the IMF--no not that guy from the IMF, a guy from the US Dept of Health and Human Services). They just weren't friendly. We stayed 7 nights. No effort to learn our names, tell us about Pohnpei, etc. It was very different than other locations around the world where you stay somewhere for a dive vacation and you leave feeling like you'll miss your newfound friends.
There is only 1 restaurant at the hotel that you have to eat every meal at. Food pricing is interesting. $4.50 for 6 half slices of french toast or $5 for a bagel. $3.75 for cereal with a banana. Dinners run about $15. Fish, Chicken, Beef, even crab. Comes with soup and salad. We found that we could order an appetizer and split an entree and would be satisfied. Or entree and dessert.
Diving with Village is interesting. Apparently, it is the only dive operation on the whole island. There is no "dive shop." If you didn't bring it with you, you aren't going to find it here. It truly is a 2-tank, day boat kind of place. The diving was less than amazing (but perhaps it is because we just came from Palau the week before). The water is 86 degrees and visibility ranged from 100ft on the first few days to 30ft on the last day.
We did get an opportunity to visit Ant Atoll. Topside was beautiful. Below water was just okay.
Again, maybe because we just came from Palau and the outstanding service of Aggressor that we found Pohnpei less than stellar. Would I go out of my way to come here (Pohnpei)? No. Am I glad that we stopped while using frequent flyer miles? Sure. Would I come again. Probably not.
Hopefully this trip report is helpful with some of the "other stuff" that people wonder about when going on a trip. Diving in the Pacific is great and there are lots of threads as to what you can see.
Until our next trip...
My dive buddy and I jumped on the Palau Aggressor II Aug 28-Sept 5 (or something like that) and had an absolutely wonderful experience. We'll definitely book an Aggressor trip again with no hesitations. The PAII really was eat, sleep, and dive.
The staterooms were more than adequate. There's a queen sized bed and a full size bed on top (bunk style). The room held the two of us just fine, and could have had a third if really needed. Sink, shower, and private toilet as well. The rooms have lots of storage space and we had no problems. THere is also a TV and DVD player in each room. Food is fantastic. Continental or hot breakfast is available, snacks after each dive, buffet lunch, and a plated, sit-down dinner that was always too much food. Dinners included soup course, main course of roast beef, mashed potatoes, veggies, and then chocolate peanut butter pie. There was always too much food but it was so good that you wanted to finish it all.
Diving was all done from the skiff that was hydraulically raised and lowered from the mothership. The bell would ring, you have 15 minutes before the skiff lowers, then off to dive. Dives normally started at 715 or so, and before most people would be at the land based dive shop, you've already done a 60 minute dive. All dives are 60 minutes (or less if you run out of air). The surface intervals were normally spent on the sundeck with fellow passengers, lounging in the hammocks, catching some rays, or even watching the schooling sharks that came to visit.
What did we see? You name it, we saw it. We were fortunate to see mantas feeding in German Channel. 8+ just feasting. Sea turtles. Sharks. Eagle Rays. Napoleon Wrasse. And lots of coral reef fish (duh). There were drift dives, tunnel dives, wall dives, dives to shoot with a wide-angle lens, dives to shoot with a macro lens, hook in dives, etc. And the water was 84 degrees with vis between 50 and 150 feet. We were able to get to the island of Pelieu (the first time that the Aggressor had been able to in 6 months) and did the "Pelieu Express." Fantastic.
Coming from the US, we arrived on Sunday at 2am. We checked into the Sea Passion Hotel which is across the street from Neco Marine (where Aggressor and Tropic Dancer are based) and had a restful sleep. Sea Passion caters to Japanese tourists but the rooms are good, AC works, and the showers are huge (4ft by 8ft). Aggressor picks you up at 5pm on Sunday of your start. After the Aggressor, we checked back in to the Sea Passion for a few days of topside viewing of Palau. Checkout on the Aggressor is 8am on Sunday...
For our topside time, we did 2 tours through Sam's Tours. There was the kayak tour of Niko Bay which included some tours of some of the rock islands as well as kayaking and snorkeling. Then there was the waterfall tour which really was a driving tour of the large island in Palau (starts with a B and I'm not even going to try to spell it). In the Waterfall tour, you visit large meeting houses of the Palauan elders, you see Japanese ruins of when they occupied Palau, you go to the "eco theme park" (that's what they advertise it as) of the waterfall, you visit the new Palauan capitol building (which looks a little like the US White House), and you see the underwater city. Good tours.
Palau is a very developed third world country. What surprised us was how developed it was. Road systems are good. There is money being spent by the Japanese, the US, and Taiwan to build up Pohnpei. Everyone takes credit cards. The main "downtown" of Koror has grocery stores, restaurants, etc. It seems less of an impoverished nation than Fiji or Costa Rica.
After Palau, we skipped on over on the Island Hopper to Pohnpei. Why? Because we used frequent flyer miles to pay for this trip, so we might as well get our miles' worth, right?
Pohnpei is not nearly as developed at Palau. It truly is a third wold country. The roads are poor and narrow, there is tons of litter and abandoned vehicles, and you'll see naked children running around.
We stayed at the Village Hotel. It is out of town ($3 taxi ride each way) and is a quaint place. All rooms are individual buildings, made of wood and thatched roofs. There is no AC as everything is screened in. You sleep within mosquito netting on comfortable waterbeds. Big plus is that there is free wifi in the rooms and in the main building of the hotel. We can't say that we felt very welcome here. While it is owned by Americans, we felt that we were the only (americans) there. We also were probably the only ones under the age of 45. They seem to attract large groups of Japanese as well as officials (an older guy from the IMF--no not that guy from the IMF, a guy from the US Dept of Health and Human Services). They just weren't friendly. We stayed 7 nights. No effort to learn our names, tell us about Pohnpei, etc. It was very different than other locations around the world where you stay somewhere for a dive vacation and you leave feeling like you'll miss your newfound friends.
There is only 1 restaurant at the hotel that you have to eat every meal at. Food pricing is interesting. $4.50 for 6 half slices of french toast or $5 for a bagel. $3.75 for cereal with a banana. Dinners run about $15. Fish, Chicken, Beef, even crab. Comes with soup and salad. We found that we could order an appetizer and split an entree and would be satisfied. Or entree and dessert.
Diving with Village is interesting. Apparently, it is the only dive operation on the whole island. There is no "dive shop." If you didn't bring it with you, you aren't going to find it here. It truly is a 2-tank, day boat kind of place. The diving was less than amazing (but perhaps it is because we just came from Palau the week before). The water is 86 degrees and visibility ranged from 100ft on the first few days to 30ft on the last day.
We did get an opportunity to visit Ant Atoll. Topside was beautiful. Below water was just okay.
Again, maybe because we just came from Palau and the outstanding service of Aggressor that we found Pohnpei less than stellar. Would I go out of my way to come here (Pohnpei)? No. Am I glad that we stopped while using frequent flyer miles? Sure. Would I come again. Probably not.
Hopefully this trip report is helpful with some of the "other stuff" that people wonder about when going on a trip. Diving in the Pacific is great and there are lots of threads as to what you can see.
Until our next trip...
)
