Shasta_man
Contributor
and we had an incredible time.
As a OW diver with 16 dives in Monterey and Fiji, and my wife with 14, we shot the works and went to Palau to do the dives we felt capable of doing.
Ended up with Advanced diver and Nitrox certification, diving free Nitrox all week, and did nearly every dive, at 18 dives in 6 days. Absolutely incredible. Weather was better than perfect and we lived on an amazing swimming pool. Dive rides were five or ten minutes with your responsibility being listen to the brief, put on your suit, grab your camera and get on the boat. Out to the dive site, the guide checks the current, then splash in you go! Hang on your safety stop, the guide deploys the safety sausage from depth, you surface, and the boat comes over and picks you up. Back to the BBE, pick up your camera and get on the BBE. Wash your suit off and your done. Do it again. It was typically 7 AM brief, then dive, come back and eat breakfast. After 1.5 - 2 hours, brief again, dive again, return for lunch. 1.5 - 2 hours, brief again, dive again, return for snacks. Brief again, dive again, great dinner. Then go for the night dive if you want. Repeat.
I'm literally just back and everything worked, from no camera flood to amazing weather to amazing dives.
I highly recommend the BBE. We listened to our guides, and I would dive with them anywhere in the world, any time. They took good care of us and we significantly improved, from better buoyancy to slowing our breathing down to understanding current, etc, etc. Food was also very good, with great soups, beef and pork dishes, and fish every day. Dessert was always good and always included fresh fruits and a couple pies and cheesecakes. No junk food here, we swam multiple times daily and hydrated and ate three squares. With the exercise and proper food intake, you couldn't help but get in better shape. Now to maintain that here.
For me, there is no question that the liveaboard was the way to go. Despite being 7 degrees off the equator and my heavy aversion to humidity, the temperature was perfect, with a nice breeze off the water always making the temp cool. Even literally cool when wet. That was NOT what I expected. The land on the other hand, was very hot with the first step on land overheating you. With breeze it was palatable but otherwise, much too hot. No question, the boat was the way to go. No comparison.
My wife and I experienced our first:
wreck dive
deep dive
drift dive
night dive
reef hook dive
sigificant current dive
first etc.
Sharks, rays, big schools of fish, huge wrasse, huge fans and soft corals, morays. Ten different colors of soft corals in a single clump. Hooking into Blue Corner, Pelelieu Wall. The easiest diving just floating watching the action.
Mostly experienced divers with multiple trips under their belts. We listened to them and all had the dives they wanted.
The travel was tolerable with time from LAX being 5 hours to Hawaii + 7 hours to Guam + 2 hours to Palau.
Once I come down off the ceiling, I'll write a trip report.
As a OW diver with 16 dives in Monterey and Fiji, and my wife with 14, we shot the works and went to Palau to do the dives we felt capable of doing.
Ended up with Advanced diver and Nitrox certification, diving free Nitrox all week, and did nearly every dive, at 18 dives in 6 days. Absolutely incredible. Weather was better than perfect and we lived on an amazing swimming pool. Dive rides were five or ten minutes with your responsibility being listen to the brief, put on your suit, grab your camera and get on the boat. Out to the dive site, the guide checks the current, then splash in you go! Hang on your safety stop, the guide deploys the safety sausage from depth, you surface, and the boat comes over and picks you up. Back to the BBE, pick up your camera and get on the BBE. Wash your suit off and your done. Do it again. It was typically 7 AM brief, then dive, come back and eat breakfast. After 1.5 - 2 hours, brief again, dive again, return for lunch. 1.5 - 2 hours, brief again, dive again, return for snacks. Brief again, dive again, great dinner. Then go for the night dive if you want. Repeat.
I'm literally just back and everything worked, from no camera flood to amazing weather to amazing dives.
I highly recommend the BBE. We listened to our guides, and I would dive with them anywhere in the world, any time. They took good care of us and we significantly improved, from better buoyancy to slowing our breathing down to understanding current, etc, etc. Food was also very good, with great soups, beef and pork dishes, and fish every day. Dessert was always good and always included fresh fruits and a couple pies and cheesecakes. No junk food here, we swam multiple times daily and hydrated and ate three squares. With the exercise and proper food intake, you couldn't help but get in better shape. Now to maintain that here.
For me, there is no question that the liveaboard was the way to go. Despite being 7 degrees off the equator and my heavy aversion to humidity, the temperature was perfect, with a nice breeze off the water always making the temp cool. Even literally cool when wet. That was NOT what I expected. The land on the other hand, was very hot with the first step on land overheating you. With breeze it was palatable but otherwise, much too hot. No question, the boat was the way to go. No comparison.
My wife and I experienced our first:
wreck dive
deep dive
drift dive
night dive
reef hook dive
sigificant current dive
first etc.
Sharks, rays, big schools of fish, huge wrasse, huge fans and soft corals, morays. Ten different colors of soft corals in a single clump. Hooking into Blue Corner, Pelelieu Wall. The easiest diving just floating watching the action.
Mostly experienced divers with multiple trips under their belts. We listened to them and all had the dives they wanted.
The travel was tolerable with time from LAX being 5 hours to Hawaii + 7 hours to Guam + 2 hours to Palau.
Once I come down off the ceiling, I'll write a trip report.
