Big Blue Explorer question

Considering the Big Blue Explorer...

What is the access to non-diving activities during the trip?

Are land tours always available or is it one day of the trip, or...? Is it always the entire group goes or doesn't go? How is it decided, group vote or ...?

Land tours including actual land tours or kayak tours as well.

Since I'm sitting here wearing a Big Blue Explorer T-Shirt, I suppose I'll give you a response.


I don't recall that anybody on the ship did a non-diving activity throughout the whole week. Big Blue is geared towards diving. We did have a few intervals that were spent away from the boat, and we did do Jellyfish Lake. Other than that, it was dive, Dive, DIVE! If there were land tours available, neither I nor anyone else on the ship did one.


If you really want to do a land tour, you will have an oppurtunity the day that you leave. You'll need the 24 hours interval prior to your flight, unless you are diving light (I dove the full 5 dives a day except for 1 day, and you'll only do 3 dives the last day including Mandarin Fish Lake). I didn't choose to do a tour myself. The flight back to the states wound up leaving at around 1 AM, so there would have been time if I'd wanted to do a land tour. I think there were only 2 flights a week leaving to Guam with Continetntal, there were other flights going to Tokyo if you're using a different carrier. If you really want to do one or more land tours, you'd probably have to organize your flight schedule so you have an extra day before or after you stay on the Big Blue.

I agree with TheNitroxinator that most land tours should be done before or after the liveaboard. Palau is a small island that you can cover all the "land tours" in just a few days. You definately want to do a 1/2 day kayak tour where you will see the beautiful rock islands, WWII artifacts, and snorkle. We also did a quick trip to see where the stone money was mined in Palau before boats took it back to Yap (If you have time, it is a "free" layover to stop in Yap on Continental Microneasia - worth spending 3-4 days to see). It is a full day tour to see Babeldaob (unless the new road is complete but I doubt it). You can check out all of Koror when you eat dinner one of the land days - there is a great Indian restaurant, you also can go to the jail and see the storyboards. We also did a swim with the dolphins 1/3 day.

I was on the liveaboard Ocean Hunter. In addition to 5 dives a day, we would go fishing each day - fresh sashimi almost every day. They would also drop you off on small rock islands to explore if you wanted. And Jellyfish lake, Mandarine Lake, Chandaler Cave are all part of all the liveaboards. We did a land tour of the WWII artifacts on Pelilu island during our liveaboard (one less dive that day for those that did the tour, the one person who did not do the tour was able to give diving). Dive sites were suggested by the crew but majority ruled unless weather did not allow. ON our last day, we chose to dive Blue Corner 4 times!!!! Ocean Hunter will also bring kayaks if you want (actually they will do anything you want).

Bottom Line - focus most of your time in Palau on diving on the liveaboard, dive Blue Corner as much as possible, a couple of land days before or after the liveaboard is plenty, Palau Pacific Resort is the only hotel with a real beach and it has a free shuttle bus into Koror - it is expensive though (book directly on their website for best rates, even better than walk ups). Palau hotel in Koror is resonable ($30 for AC, TV, and fridge but no beach and not a lot to do in town).

We were on the BBE last February. They offered the opportunity to go ashore at Peleliu in lieu of one dive. As it turned out, the land based tour never showed up. Other than that, it was 5 days of wonderful diving!

I posted a trip report which highlighted our trip. I would go back to the BBE in a heartbeat -- even with the 23 hours of travel (door to door).

Otter:

We were on the BBE last February. They offered the opportunity to go ashore at Peleliu in lieu of one dive. As it turned out, the land based tour never showed up. Other than that, it was 5 days of wonderful diving!

I posted a trip report which highlighted our trip. I would go back to the BBE in a heartbeat -- even with the 23 hours of travel (door to door).

Click to expand...

Too bad Otter, that Peleliu trip was a highlight for me. I had blood who fought there in WW-2. It was pretty surreal to walk some of the same ground.

I second the recommendation for BBE. We had a great time also. And on the trip back, we actually got back an hour before we left. Not bad after 20+ hours of travel.

gedunk:

Too bad Otter, that Peleliu trip was a highlight for me. I had blood who fought there in WW-2. It was pretty surreal to walk some of the same ground.

I second the recommendation for BBE. We had a great time also. And on the trip back, we actually got back an hour before we left. Not bad after 20+ hours of travel.

Click to expand...

My Dad fought in the Pacific and while I don't know if he was in this specific area, watching the History Channel episode on Peleliu and then seeing it in first person was -- as you put it -- surreal. If we go again, I will definitely try to make there.

Its funny, when you have stops in Yap, Guam, and Honululu, and can nap a bit, it really breaks up the flight such that it didn't seem bad.

We also opted to pay a few bucks more (not a lot more) to get a day room at PPR (Palua Pacific Resort -- I believe) and wandered the island until our 23:00 depature for the airport. PPR is VERY nice and our group really enjoyed exploring as much of the island as we could.

One of the funny parts of diving the BBE was that one of our Divemaster was a Filipino named Gat. Gat lived 3 miles from where I do for several years before returning home. He knew all of our local dive sites and it made the trip all that more enjoyable. I thought it somewhat ironic to fly half-way around the world and end up diving with someone from my own backyard.

Now the rumors are/were that the Boat Manager and perhaps a couple of others might relocate to the BBE's latest addition in Belize. I haven't heard nor seen anything more about that.

As long as you want to dive.....BBE is great.

Thanks everyone, this was the info we wanted to get.

I had a similar "backyard" experience in Fiji, but reversed. On returning the California, my wife talked to her boss' contractor, doing a little work on the boss' house. The contractor owns the land where we did our surface intervals in Taveuni, technically on Vanua Levu. Very small world.

Otter:

My Dad fought in the Pacific and while I don't know if he was in this specific area, watching the History Channel episode on Peleliu and then seeing it in first person was -- as you put it -- surreal. If we go again, I will definitely try to make there.

Its funny, when you have stops in Yap, Guam, and Honululu, and can nap a bit, it really breaks up the flight such that it didn't seem bad.

We also opted to pay a few bucks more (not a lot more) to get a day room at PPR (Palua Pacific Resort -- I believe) and wandered the island until our 23:00 depature for the airport. PPR is VERY nice and our group really enjoyed exploring as much of the island as we could.

One of the funny parts of diving the BBE was that one of our Divemaster was a Filipino named Gat. Gat lived 3 miles from where I do for several years before returning home. He knew all of our local dive sites and it made the trip all that more enjoyable. I thought it somewhat ironic to fly half-way around the world and end up diving with someone from my own backyard.

Now the rumors are/were that the Boat Manager and perhaps a couple of others might relocate to the BBE's latest addition in Belize. I haven't heard nor seen anything more about that.

As long as you want to dive.....BBE is great.

Click to expand...

Another question!

How was the entry and exit of the water on the skiffs? Back roll?

I read the Aggressor is back roll and then up a ladder over the side, being a little difficult.

I'd prefer giant stride and a wide ladder at the back.

Otter:

My Dad fought in the Pacific and while I don't know if he was in this specific area, watching the History Channel episode on Peleliu and then seeing it in first person was -- as you put it -- surreal. If we go again, I will definitely try to make there.

Its funny, when you have stops in Yap, Guam, and Honululu, and can nap a bit, it really breaks up the flight such that it didn't seem bad.

We also opted to pay a few bucks more (not a lot more) to get a day room at PPR (Palua Pacific Resort -- I believe) and wandered the island until our 23:00 depature for the airport. PPR is VERY nice and our group really enjoyed exploring as much of the island as we could.

One of the funny parts of diving the BBE was that one of our Divemaster was a Filipino named Gat. Gat lived 3 miles from where I do for several years before returning home. He knew all of our local dive sites and it made the trip all that more enjoyable. I thought it somewhat ironic to fly half-way around the world and end up diving with someone from my own backyard.

Now the rumors are/were that the Boat Manager and perhaps a couple of others might relocate to the BBE's latest addition in Belize. I haven't heard nor seen anything more about that.

As long as you want to dive.....BBE is great.

Click to expand...

How was the entry and exit of the water on the skiffs? Back roll?

Click to expand...

I spent a week in Truk before going to Palau. The back roll and entry off the BBE's skiffs was easier than the skiffs for the Thorfinn. You can theoretically do a giant stride, if you're comfortable with standing on a somewhat narrow ledge in your fins. Re-entry was through a ladder on the side of the boat - you hand up your fins and camera; I've forgotten if we handed up our BCDs there (I know at Truk and Kungkungen Bay everybody handed their BCDs up before climbing the ladder, but I think we didn't in Palau). At any rate, its pretty easy to get back into the boat. And the entry is trivial when you compare it to entering and exiting through So-Cal surf. One lady did scrape her leg doing her back roll in on one dive. If your careful, its a non-issue.

Actually guests can and I did, hand up my bcd and tanks to the dive crew when getting back on the chaseboats. here in Asia that is the standard,we admit that we are the most spoiled divers. even the guys do it. I guess its bec the bancas here in the Philippines, though large and comfortable, have ladders thatare not really built to make carrying up a tank easy.....