Palau & Yap April, 2013 Questions

Never mind.. got it figured out. Can't wait!

soundfield:

Never mind.. got it figured out. Can't wait!

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Good to hear you have it sorted out. Unfortunately I've never been to Palau, but I have spent quite a bit of time in Yap. It is an amazing dive location. Of course if you are going to Yap, you can't miss out on doing a Manta dive. This place is famous for them and for good reason. Every time I've done a Manta dive there we have seen at least one, up to 4 or 5 hanging out together. After a couple of dives I did find they got a little boring though, luckily there are plenty of other awesome dives there.
Here is a map of the dive sites in Yap:


Around O'Keefe's Island, they do a night dive with Mandarin fish. As soon as the sun goes down the coral colonies come alive with dozens of Mandarin fish, it is really amazing.
Down around the south west of the island there is some wall diving which is absolutely incredible. Watch your depth there because it just deeps dropping off further and further. There are also some little caves to explore down there around the south end, although most of it is more like trenches, having an open top.
Further up the west side at the vertigo dive site they do shark dives. Plenty of reef sharks around and they have been known to get the occasional tiger shark or oceanic white tip.
There are plenty more dive sites as well, but these were the best dives that I did. I'm sure you will love it.

We dove with Sam's tours and they will arrange some 3 tank dive days for you if you ask and there are other people who want to do it. We dove there 11 days and never got bored! Have fun!

soundfield:

I’m planning a (once in a lifetime) trip to Palau & Yap April, 2013. I’ve been reading the boards to get as much info as I can before I make any reservations. For you seasoned travelers/divers out there, I have a few questions; are 7 days on Palau (Sam’s Tours) enough time to see what needs to be seen, our should I extend it? How many days on Yap would be sufficient to see what that island has to offer? Also, using the land based Sam’s tours 2 tank dives, is that enough to get your satisfaction. I’m still considering a live aboard for Palau, but if I see the same things underwater (I don’t mind the 40 min boat rides to and from), I’d like to save some cash. I’m only going to get one crack at this in my life, so I want to “do it right”. Any info is appreciated and thank you in advance.

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Soundfield I agree with jake 11 assessment, Sams Tours are very professional and do a very good job. Plenty of dive sites, they have mantas there as well. They have shark action nearly everywhere, drop offs, caverns, swim throughs, turtles, garden eels, large pelagics and schooling fish everywhere. 7 days is not that long... maybe you can extend if you like what you see. I am sure they will accomodate.
We did the a land tour of Peleliu (WW2 stuff) after a double dive through sams, I found this facinating and informative. The guide they arranged was very knowledgeable about the war history, in my opininon it was worth it. Did a Kayak tour out of Sams on our last day it was a pleasant way to round off the trip. I am not a fan of livaboards as you have not much room to move around the boat , no variety of people etc.
Sams have free nitrox if qualified and remaining air dives for macro diving at their shop wall off their pier, only few meters deep, lots of mandarin fish, pipe fish, and other critters, you will enjoy. Sams foods is very good. Have a red rooster beer for me Cheers and have fun.
Graham

3 days minimum on Yap. You'll want to do the Manta cleaning station and some of the more remote dives. We just got back from a week there and didn't scratch the surface of all the sites. Amazing place. We stayed at Manta Ray Bay and it was super. Really a great dive operation and a super friendly staff.