Palau last week

[Desert_Diver]

I've been to Palau 8 times. You had a bad week, there is no Shark finning in Palau. If they do catch a trawler like they did about 5 years ago they seize the boat and burn the fins. They are pretty good at patrolling their waters.

If you were expecting clouds of fish....no not really you will see many large schools of fish like Fusiliers, Moorish idols, Jacks etc. (But not like Raja Ampat that is where you can see clouds of fish....but not many sharks as finning years ago pretty much cleaned them out). Did you go up to Devil fish city? there are always Mantas there. I've seen many mantas throughout the area when I go in Feb or March. The Manta mating season is in October and first part of November....Robint saw many last year in the German Channel...and I have not been that lucky! In the times I have been there I have only seen about 5 or 6 species of sharks but mostly Grey's, Leopard and White tips....I've been there when people have seen Hammerheads and Tigers...I have not been that lucky!!!

I'd say you had a bad week.

I just got back from one week on Palau Aggressor and one week at Manta Ray Bay resort on Yap. I had no complaints about the diversity or density of marine life at Palau. We saw huge schools of a variety of fish at Blue Corner and Peleilu Corner. The coral in German Coral Gardens was terrific. I have no complaints about Palau.
Yap is not as high on my satisfaction chart.

And Scott? Sea sickness is Divine Retribution for divers who dive too much. :kiss2:

Art

 

[Travelnsj]

I just got back from one week on Palau Aggressor and one week at Manta Ray Bay resort on Yap. I had no complaints about the diversity or density of marine life at Palau. We saw huge schools of a variety of fish at Blue Corner and Peleilu Corner. The coral in German Coral Gardens was terrific. I have no complaints about Palau.
Yap is not as high on my satisfaction chart.

And Scott? Sea sickness is Divine Retribution for divers who dive too much. :kiss2:

Art

Hey Art,

How was the weather?

 

[Desert_Diver]

Hey Art,

How was the weather?

Palau was outstanding. Sunny and warm every day. One day of heavy mist/light drizzle at Yap. But I don't think it had much affect on viz. Viz on the south end of Yap (about an hour from Manta Ray Bay resort) at Yap Caverns/Gilmann's Wall was excellant. All of the manta viewing areas on the more northerly end of the island were consistantly 20 to 40 feet of visibility).

I will go back to Palau. I would have to have great incentive to go back to Yap.

Art

 

[Travelnsj]

Palau was outstanding. Sunny and warm every day. One day of heavy mist/light drizzle at Yap. But I don't think it had much affect on viz. Viz on the south end of Yap (about an hour from Manta Ray Bay resort) at Yap Caverns/Gilmann's Wall was excellant. All of the manta viewing areas on the more northerly end of the island were consistantly 20 to 40 feet of visibility).

I will go back to Palau. I would have to have great incentive to go back to Yap.

Art

Was the diving everything you expected in Palau? Lots of sharks etc?

I agree with Yap...Yawn.

 

[Mike Veitch]

I agree with Yap...Yawn.

tsk...

 

[Travelnsj]

tsk...

Sorry Mike:depressed:

 

[Mike Veitch]

 

[FredGarvin]

Just returned this morning from a week in Palau - stayed at PPR (who said the food was good?!?!) and dove with Sam's. Found PPR to be a little on the cheesy side, but still reputed to be the best resort in Palau, so I guess it's all relative. My experience with Sam's was not representative, as we chartered a boat/driver/DM for four people which would normally hold 8-10, and our DM was attentive. Lunches were unequivocally awful. We ended up ordering peanut butter and jelly sandwiches most of the week, and even they were so-so.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts about the abundance of marine life, particularly if you've been to Palau more than once. It seemed to us that fishing and shark finning had taken its toll in a big way. All my life I'd heard how thick the place is with fish, sharks, turtles, mantas, etc. One of our group had been there 16 years ago and was devastated by how much less life there was this time than there was on her first visit.

I'd like to know how this jibes with others' experiences. I'll start another thread (maybe not tonight, as I'm jet-lagged as all get-out) but in the mean time I'd really like to hear from folks about that. We never saw any species of shark other than whitetip and gray reef; only saw a handful of turtles all week and no mantas; much smaller schools of fish than expected, and lower abundance of fish overall. Even though shark finning is illegal, it still goes on, and fishing is not nearly as restricted as it should be. I'd dreamed of diving Palau for so many years, and ended up going halfway around the world to see much less than I've seen in many other locations from Baja to the Caribbean. It worries me greatly.

Hey Gale,
We had two meals at PPR and both were good. The portions were filling and the quality of the dishes quite good. The food was tasty. On other hand, we were not expecting food quality on par with a Wolfgang Puck (Postrio?....) or a Giada DeLaurentiis catered experience. The prices were a bit high, but again this was the nicest resort/hotel on the island and so we expected to pay a bit more than if we had eaten at a local Palau restaurant. We certainly did not feel ripped off. The setting was lovely and the service good. I had mentioned earlier in my post, the rooms at PPR were small, very simply decorated and really could have used a face lift. I would not have used the term "cheesy" but rather "unremarkable" when referring to the rooms at PPR. The grounds however were beautiful, the resort setting on a beach within a cove was lovely too. The tile covered pool was well maintained and the facility offered everything other similar facilities offer except for golf. To be honest in my experience, I have been rarely impressed with the room accomodations at most dive dedicated resorts around the world. We knew this place was not a Four Seasons nor Ritz Carlton so ultimately we were happy with our experience.

Sam's Tours was fine. The food they provided, especially the sandwiches - I agree - was poor. It is such a short sighted mistake to try to save money by providing sub-standard food. Good food improves the morale in any experience and leaves a poor impression when missing. For a 3-5 extra bucks they would not have to hear from customers like us regarding our disappointment.

Garv

 

[jjardin]

The sandwiches were terrible but everyone on my boat seemed to like the bento box at Sams--and I thought they were pretty accomodating with what was in there--e.g. I hate fish and got all meat the whole time. And we never ran out of cokes, etc.

 

[RikRaeder]

Just returned from Sam's myself. The sandwiches were Quizno sandwiches. What should one expect? Frankly, I found pretty much all the food on Palau pretty bad. Not much variety anywhere and everything was fried or greasy or just too heavy...too much meat and too big portions everywhere. Don't know who'd want to eat so much, especially so much of something just mediocre.
I found Sam's to be an excellent, clean, well-maintained, well-organized, and professional operation all the way around. The boats were bigger than what I'm used to diving, the groups were small enough and manageable, the guides and boat crews were extremely helpful and friendly, and the rain on my face as we zoomed across the lagoon made me feel alive. The only thing I might have changed would be the weather (can't do much about that) and the food (although the bottom time was probably the best food I had in Palau...not saying much though).