diving Dolphin in Palau

[ken chung ar]

hi all,

i just came back yesterday from a liveaboard trip in palau.

weather wasn't too good with constant western wind and occasional rainfalls. however, the blue corner was as great as ever. i hooked myself on the edge and enjoyed grey reef sharks gliding in my arm's reach and staring at me in the eye!!

the vessel i was aboard was Big Blue Explorer (BBE). the staff was all filipinos and very frienldy and helpful. the boat manager Gat was also very helpful and supportive. he managed to provide me with DiveSorb and FREE Nitrox on board. the other two guides, Lisa and Richard, were also eager to help u.

i have planned to dive Dolphin in Cocos next year so that it was a good preparatory excursion for me. if u guys are thinking of diving Dolphin in Palau, BBE is certainly worth considering.

ken chung ar

 

[Henryville]

Nice report, Ken - thanks. Are you diving the Dolphin around Izu? How easy is it to do so (obtain gas and sorb?)

 

[ken chung ar]

Nice report, Ken - thanks. Are you diving the Dolphin around Izu? How easy is it to do so (obtain gas and sorb?)

hi henryville,

thank you for your questions. YES, i do dive my dolphin in izu often, usually once or twice every month.

if you want to buy sorb in izu, you won't make it. however, it is not a problem, if you live in tokyo. you can easily buy it here and put it in your car when you go down there.

gas is not a problem, either. there are several dive shops in izu where you can buy nitrox, although their locations are pretty much limited to the western coast, such as ohsezaki and ida. when i go to the eastern coast like kaiyo-kohen and shimoda (for mikomoto, of course), i have nitrox put into my tanks in tokyo and go by car with them.

the real problem is that people working at dive shops down there are not used to divers using rebreathers of any kind. you would not believe that i have been flatly refused to use my dolphin at several diving sites of izu. japan is way behind the current trend in that sense. therefore, it is also for educational purposes that i dive dolphin there.

i wrote an introductory article on rebreather diving in the official journal of PADI Japan 'cause i want professional PADI members to know that rebreathers are not evil machines to kill people!

ken chung ar

 

[WendySH]

Hi, Ken,

You are right that the weather is not good, but still we saw a lot of big stuff when we hooked...... Grey Reefs, Eagle Ray, Big Nepolian, schools of barracudas and jacks and school of "hookers". haha!!

According to Gat, the best season to Palau is February which is the mating season of sharks.

One thing that you missed in this Palau trip is the WONDERFUL jelly fish lake. Really great fun!!

 

[ken chung ar]

hay wendy,

a quick re-union on the internet! it's heck of fun, isn't it?

it's true i could not join you at the jellyfish lake. instead, i met the high chief of palau and discussed my retirement plan. he even showed me around the national hospital of palau, and i met some docs there.

ken chung ar

 

[WendySH]

Are you really planning retirement?? Retirement is definitely too early for you.

 

[Snowbear]

Are you really planning retirement?? Retirement is definitely too early for you.

It's never too early to retire

 

[ken chung ar]

hi snowbear,

thank you for your supportive comment. the problem is, WendySH is TOO young to understand it!

 

[WendySH]

Ken, Thanks for the word "YOUNG". I love that description!! haha......