Hawaii/Ni'ihau vs Palau?

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qwimjim

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Location
Canada
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I can only do land based diving because I'm travelling with an infant. I like the idea of Hawaii because it's a nice mixed trip with the hiking on the Na'Pali coast in Kauai and Volcanoes Nat Park on the Big Island but I read a lot that the diving is not "amazing", some saying not even as good as the Caribbean. I recently took a trip to Cozumel which is often raved about and while the diving was nice (and cheap) I wasn't blown away so if Hawaii is worse that would be a problem :) I want to jump in the water and be overwhelmed, schools of fish, big stuff, great visibility etc.. don't care about water temperature or macro/critter hunting or photography. Cozumel had great topography and visibility but quantity of marine life was disappointing.

So reading threads on this forum it seems that I would need to go to Komodo or Raja Ampat to truly get what I'm looking for but it also seems that land based diving in these locations doesn't compare to liveaboards because you can't get to the best sites. Seems foolish to go all that way until I can do it properly on a liveaboard. So second choice would be Palau, going by what I've read you can get to ALL the same sites doing land based in Palau, and that diving in Palau is amazing? Airfare to Palau is $2,000 and 5 days/10 dives is $725 with Sam's or $925 for 3 tank days.

Alternatively there's Hawaii, airfare is half that of Palau at $1,000 but diving is more expensive if I do the best stuff. If splitting time between Big Island and Kauai, 2 days of regular 2 tank diving, 1 night 2 tank Manta dive, and 2 days Ni'ihau would cost $1030. So how do Ni'ihau and the manta night dives compare to Palau given that it would actually cost me -more- per dive? Ni'ihau is $315 for a two tank dive! That's more than I paid for 10 dives in Cozumel

And finally the third option would be going to Palau and stopping in Hawaii for 10 days. Do all the topside fun stuff on hawaii and save the diving for Palau, except for maybe the manta night dive on the big island. I just wonder if I would regret going all the way to Kauai and not diving Ni'ihau or after a week in Palau would I not even care? :) Ni'ihau is only in season late May- late Sept and Palau is best Feb-Apr.

Sorry this was a long post, but hopefully someone who has been to both can help with my "dilemma" :)
 
I've been to all 3 locations you mentioned. In my opinion, Hawaii is third on list of dive sites. We went to Ni'ihau, and it wasn't better than diving Kauai. Cozumel is 2nd for diving. Palau is first. If you want to "...be overwhelmed, schools of fish, big stuff, great visibility…", Palau is the place to be.
 
Wow really, I thought Ni'ihau was the crown jewel of Hawaiian islands diving. I just never knew if it was worth the effort of travelling to kauai at a less than ideal time for me (may-sep), and the cost ($350 for 2 tanks).. for me to dive it I would essentially have to plan my entire trip around it.

Otherwise I would probably do Big Island/Palau in march as from what I've read march is good for kona, lots of whales to hear and see from the boat, and it's the best time of year for Palau?
 
I vote option 3. Combine Palau for diving and Hawaii for topside. Palau is often rated in the top 3 diving destinations in the world.

I may be in the minority but I liked the diving in Hawaii over much of the Caribbean. Maybe I just got lucky. Hawaii is mostly hard corals but I saw more fish/animal life in Hawaii than the Caribbean. Manta's on the Big Island day and night. The water clarity at Molokini on Maui was the best I've ever dove anywhere. Still, Hawaii is no comparison to Palau.
 
I vote option 3. Combine Palau for diving and Hawaii for topside. Palau is often rated in the top 3 diving destinations in the world.

I may be in the minority but I liked the diving in Hawaii over much of the Caribbean. Maybe I just got lucky. Hawaii is mostly hard corals but I saw more fish/animal life in Hawaii than the Caribbean. Manta's on the Big Island day and night. The water clarity at Molokini on Maui was the best I've ever dove anywhere. Still, Hawaii is no comparison to Palau.

I spent an hour watching a bunch of your videos on vimeo last night :) Beautiful work. I like interesting topography and coral but ultimately what I enjoy the most is great visibility and as much marine life as possible.. I'll take the latter over the former any day.
 
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Underwater topography in Hawaii is bland and boring, that being said they do have a bunch of critters found only in Hawaii. Midway is actually the top island for diving not talked about a lot and PITA to get there and mostly visited by Fisherman. The Manta Night Dive in Kona is awesome. You do realize that You can fly to FIJI faster than Palau.
 
Underwater topography in Hawaii is bland and boring, that being said they do have a bunch of critters found only in Hawaii. Midway is actually the top island for diving not talked about a lot and PITA to get there and mostly visited by Fisherman. The Manta Night Dive in Kona is awesome. You do realize that You can fly to FIJI faster than Palau.

Well what I meant was I'd take marine life and visibility over coral and topography. As far as Fiji, I've never heard it mentioned as being in the same league as like Palau, RA, Komodo, PNG so it wasn't on my radar but please correct me if I'm wrong! Starting a family and living on the east coast this is not the kind of trip I am likely to repeat for a long time so I want to get the best possible land based diving on the planet that I can get :)
 
Fiji is the soft coral capital of the world and most definitely on par with Palau and Indo. Check photos on Nai'a website.
 
I've dove Palau, Big Island and Maui, but not Nihau. Hawaii is just no comparison to Palau. Whether it is better or worse then the Caribbean really depends on what you are looking for. I've generally preferred the Caribbean over Hawaii because I like the soft corals and color and structure that you don't get in Hawaii, also usually warmer water. But Hawaii has some unique scenery, many endemic species, and a decent supply of big stuff (mantas, sharks, large turtles, whales if you're lucky.) So many dives there I will think "meh", but I've also had a good percentage of "memorable" dives there that kind of did blow me away because of something we saw. So while I'm not sure the diving would blow you away like you want, considering what you are looking for with some luck it could be enough. And topside has much to be said for it. (At the moment I'm kind of jaded on the Caribbean and wouldn't mind Hawaii over it.) The Palau/Hawaii combo might work for you, but I would try to work in more diving then just the manta dive while you're there.

One thing about Palau, I've only done liveaboard there but my understanding is you're talking an hour out to most dive sites by day boat, so may be longer days out if that is a factor.

Maldives might be something to consider, though I'm not sure how close you can get to a liveaboard experience from land there. Picking the right island/area at the right time would be important. It's the fishiest place I've been, though not cheap. Not sure if I would haul an infant there though.
 
I've dove Palau, Big Island and Maui, but not Nihau. Hawaii is just no comparison to Palau. Whether it is better or worse then the Caribbean really depends on what you are looking for. I've generally preferred the Caribbean over Hawaii because I like the soft corals and color and structure that you don't get in Hawaii, also usually warmer water. But Hawaii has some unique scenery, many endemic species, and a decent supply of big stuff (mantas, sharks, large turtles, whales if you're lucky.) So many dives there I will think "meh", but I've also had a good percentage of "memorable" dives there that kind of did blow me away because of something we saw. So while I'm not sure the diving would blow you away like you want, considering what you are looking for with some luck it could be enough. And topside has much to be said for it. (At the moment I'm kind of jaded on the Caribbean and wouldn't mind Hawaii over it.) The Palau/Hawaii combo might work for you, but I would try to work in more diving then just the manta dive while you're there.

One thing about Palau, I've only done liveaboard there but my understanding is you're talking an hour out to most dive sites by day boat, so may be longer days out if that is a factor.

Maldives might be something to consider, though I'm not sure how close you can get to a liveaboard experience from land there. Picking the right island/area at the right time would be important. It's the fishiest place I've been, though not cheap. Not sure if I would haul an infant there though.

Thanks that's helpful information. Unfortunately I don't have a choice but to do land based at this time. Palau one hour boat ride sounds ok, in Cozumel we got picked up first at 7:30 and never dove before 8:30-8:45. I enjoyed the boat ride, and I imagine the boat ride in Palau is much nicer scenery :) However, Palau sure is expensive. Airfare, 7 nights at the cheapest hotel with a pool + 5 days diving, rental gear, permits would cost $7,750 for 2, not including food. Compared with what we just paid in Cozumel $2,250. Could do 3 Cozumel trips for the price of one Palau trip.. I'm generally a quality vs quantity type but I'm debating whether it's worth spending $5K more to go to Palau :)
 

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