I was on the boat last February. I like to be warm underwater and cool when out of the water. Weather was generally good. No need for warm clothing. Back roll from the skiffs. Easy ladder for getting back on board. Following are my notes from the trip.
My flight to Koror, Palau is on Continental Airlines. As expected security is quite thorough. Baggage coming into the Philippines is x-rayed. On the outbound on Continental everything and everyone is physically searched. The shoes of every passenger are x-rayed and then you are asked to remove them and they are physically inspected a second time. I have no complaints with any of these procedures. It just demonstrates the very real situation that exists today when travelling.
We have arrived into Koror. Since my last visit a new terminal has been built. The arrival process is efficient. A few minutes after clearing immigration and customs I am met by two members from the liveaboard. Since I am the only person for the boat arriving on this flight we are on our way within a few minutes. The crew members, who are part of the diving team, are both from the Philippines.
After a 30 minute bus ride we arrive at the harbor at which the Big Blue Explorer (BBE) is located. The boat, like many of its type, has been converted for use as a liveaboard. The BBE is a big boat. It is 167 long and has three decks. The boat is crewed by a diving and management staff of five and an operating crew of 14. The boat manager is Lynn, two of the diving staff, Simon and Terry, are from Australia and the other two diving staff are from the Philippines. The ship's operating crew are all Philippino.
The BBE was built in 1979 and originally operated as a communications ship for Japanese fishing fleets. There are four decks. The topmost deck contains the bridge, bar, sun area, hot tub, and an outdoor eating area. Smoking is allowed in the outdoor eating area. The next level, A deck, contains five cabins and the ship's office.
My cabin is spacious for a liveaboard. There is a desk, two beds, an upper and a lower, a couch, a cabinet, storage space, a sofa, and an ensuite shower-toilet combination. Hot water is through an instant electric water heater. The shower is the standard shipboard arrangement with no separate area or curtain so some care must be taken to not spray all of the areas in the toilet.
B deck contains more guest cabins and a lounge area for watching movies and resting. There is very little difference between the deluxe and standard cabins. C deck is the ships store and the crew quarters. The boat has many features that reflects its past. These include a rear deck filled with compressors, generators, and other equipment. None of this interferes with the comfort or diving but there is a bit more clutter and items about than on a more custom built diving liveaboard.
The remainder of this day is given to unpacking, a very short briefing on the essential features of the ship, and then dinner. Dinner, as are all meals is buffet-style. The dinner will prove fairly typical. Soup, two main dishes, one meat and the other fish, a vegetable dish, and two starches. One starch is almost always plain steam rice and the other is usually potatoes. There is green salad, a selection of cut fruit, and dessert. Lunch is very similar. The food is good and plentiful. Most items are lukewarm by the time they are served.
Soft drinks are available all day long at no additional charge. There is an assorted of regular and diet drinks. There is a charge for any type of alcohol as well as for Gatorade. Wine is sold by the bottle.
The boat stays pier side for the night and gets underway on Sunday morning.
08 Feb 04
We are underway at 0600 for German Channel. This is only area in which the boat overnights. In fact, the only time the boat moves is one the day we dive at Peleliu Island and the day of return to the main harbor. The morning of the first day involves three briefings: more details on the ship, an overview of diving procedures, and a briefing for the first dive site.
Breakfast consists of a standard set of Western dishes. There is usually one egg dish and a dish such as waffles or pancakes. There is fresh fruit. Typically this has been cantaloupe, a honey dew-type melon, grapes, and bananas. There are breads, bagels, and English muffins. There is "juice". One morning it was Tang. In general I believe the juice is prepared from a powder and is really some type of sweetened fruit flavored drink.
Diving procedures.
All diving is done in groups. There are two dive guides in the water. One guide at the front of the group and another at the back. Since there are ten guests we are all diving from the same chase boat. The maximum depth is 100 feet and dive lengths are typically 45 minutes. Our longest dive of the trip was 67 minutes. In general, dives of 45 to 50 minutes. Buddy diving although not enforced but this makes little difference since this is generally group diving. Nitrox is recommended. The cost for the week is $150. A nitrox course to include nitrox for the week is $225. A good deal. Half of this group is using Nitrox. The fills are can be 32 or 36 Enriched Air Nitrox (EAN) but all of the fills I have seen are between 30 and 32.
The chase boat is comfortable, fast, and covered. There is water and towels as well as a radio and other safety equipment. Water entry is a back roll off the front or back of the chase boat. Re-entry is via a ladder. Most divers hand up their fins and then climb back on board with their equipment. There is no separate camera area or rinse tank aboard the chase boats but the crew is careful with the camera equipment.
Diving briefings are conducted before each dive on the bar deck. A white board contains a diagram of the site, expected depth, hook-in points, and features of special interest. The dive guides carry safety reels and a float is deployed prior to starting the standard safety stop. All guests are provided with a safety tube and reef hook. A briefing is provided on how each item is employed.
The checkout dive of the trip is at Coral Gardens. The visibility is fair and the corals still show damage from the El Nino event of 1997-1998. There is the usual collection of tropical fish. The dive is an easy swim along a wall.
08 - 13 Feb 04
There are typically five dives each day. Two day-time dives in the morning and two in the afternoon followed by a night dive. During this week we dived the following sites.
Coral Garden
Blue Holes
Lighthouse Channel
Iro (Tanker)
Peleliu Express
Peleliu Corner
Ngedbus Drop-Off
Turtle Cove
German Channel
Big Drop-Off
New Drop-Off
Ngemelis Coral Garden
Blue Corner
Ulong Channel
Siaes Tunnel
Palau is know for its currents and sharks. They were both present. Since diving in Palau is described in detail in many books I won't provide descriptions of each site. However, a few notes.
We dived several sites a couple of times. Blue Corner three times and twice at Peleliu Express, Ulong Channel, German Channel, and Big Drop-Off. The first time at Blue Corner there was a rocking current. Peleliu had very good visibility and none of the currents for which it is notorious. Ulong which can be a fast drift through the channel was a lazy swim. This was advantageous as it allowed one to find numerous nudibranchs and flatworms.
German Channel is the site for spotting mantas. We had a short period with a couple of them on one of the dives. They did not stay long. We had several nice sightings of large eagle rays. Picture attached. The Iro can be a nice wreck dive but on the day we dove it the visibility was very poor. In fact, at times just 10 feet or less. Lighthouse Channel is a close-in dive on the last day. It had a ferocious current and the area is most dead coral. However it was a great dive. There were all manner of interesting nudibranchs and an octopus.
The last dive of the trip was at Mandarin Fish Lake. It is really not a lake but a shallow cove. Among the coral fingers is the very shy but exceptionally beautiful Mandarin Fish.
