Palau: Liveaboard decisions? Compared to shore-based? Help?

[flybigjet]

Greetings all--

The baseline: I'm headed to Palau Jan 4 - Jan 15 2017 (but with a travel day on each end, functional dates are Jan 5-14). I'm going with my wife, and afterwards, we are headed to the Odyssey in Truk.

My problem is what and where to stay in Palau. Money is somewhat of an issue, since this little shindig is going to cost me the better part of a car; however, it's sort of a "50th birthday" celebration, so I'm not adverse to spending the coin, I just want to spend it wisely.

I'm more of a diver than my wife. She tolerates, and will dive, but also likes to kayak, lay on the beach, do spa's, etc.

In some ways, I realize that my goals are inherently incompatible with hers, but I need to come to a decision about how we're going to go about this. One thing that is important to all of this is that I'd like to spend a day at the battlefield in Peleliu, and my wife would rather like to kayak the Rock Islands for a day.

Please chime in with any advice, ESPECIALLY if you have personal experience. I've spent the better part of a week reading the forum, but I'm starting to get data overload.

Option A: Liveaboard. So far, the ONLY two that I've found that work for our dates are the Palau Aggressor II and the Ocean Hunter III. (no idea about the Solitude-- their website doesn't go out to 2017 and I haven't heard back from them yet). Siren dates don't line up. Price is similar so it's a toss-up. One concern is reading several reviews about the PA-II from 2014ish that concerned me. Without digging up old history, for the expenditure of time and money, I expect the staff to be extremely personable, helpful, and professional-- something that I have concerns about after reading about the PA-II. It seems that there were a few issues with divemaster/captain, but I'm almost more concerned with the Aggressor Fleet's cop out of "we're a franchise and we don't have control". It makes me nervous. And would make my wife very unhappy. Which would make me unhappy. I have little to no knowledge about the Solitude and OC-III-- reviews seem pretty thin in comparison to the PA-II, but they seem to be well liked on here. One other thing to consider is that we'll be going directly to the Odyssey after this-- my wife could easily be talked into sitting by a beach for a week, and then going to Truk (but she can do that a lot easier and cheaper in the States!)

Option B: Shore based. Wife is leaning towards the Palau ROYAL Resort (NOT the PPR)-- and it's not exactly cheap (and I have heartburn because you're spending a lot of coin for somewhere that you'll be gone for most of the day from). For the diving, I'm considering Palau Dive Adventures, Sam's, or Fish and Fins. I've read pretty good things about PDA (although they're new and small), and Sam's might be a little bit "too big"? I don't have much knowledge of Fish and Fins.

We have an upper cap on spending, but my wife and I are of the age (more her than me), that comfort and nice are worth something. I don't mind sleeping in a dive on occasion, but she's more of a "beach, spa and wine" sort of girl. So, I need to consider the "better" hotels.

So. A little help? Essentially, suggestions/differences/raves/rants between the Palau Aggressor II, Ocean Hunter III and Solitude?

Same thing for Palau Dive Adventures/Sam's/Fish and Fins? Pro's? Con's?

And, hotels-- Is there anywhere else I could consider that's not quite at the PRR, but is equivalent to the PPR?

Thanks! I'm kind of losing my mind (and a LOT of sleep over this!)

R.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Hello again my Friend!

Most convenient hotel is Sea Passion (on Malakal), within walking distance of SamsTours, and Neco Marine land based Dive-Ops; and the eateries of the Drop-Off Bar & Grill, Kramers, PRR and SAMs Bottom Time Bar and Grill. You can also take the evening Blue Bird Shuttle Bus to shop and eat on Main Street in downtown Koror -(The 10 Best Palau Restaurants 2016 - TripAdvisor) or go up to the Palau Pacific Resort.

The Ocean Hunter Liveaboards are excellent, and are among the longest in service operation. However, where they are docked before embarkation is a long smelly walk past the town landfill from Main Street Koror (a shuttle from Fish n' Fins will come and pick you up though).

 

[flybigjet]

Grr. The Solitude is out due to dates.

But the Rock Island Aggressor is also a possibility- although I've read some not so great things about the Aggressor fleet lately.

Live board. Shore based.

I'm really 50/50 at the moment.

If shore based, I'm maybe leaning a tiny bit towards Palau Dive Adventures, simply because smaller appeals to me.

Thoughts?

 

[Kevrumbo]

Grr. The Solitude is out due to dates.

But the Rock Island Aggressor is also a possibility- although I've read some not so great things about the Aggressor fleet lately.

Live board. Shore based.

I'm really 50/50 at the moment.

If shore based, I'm maybe leaning a tiny bit towards Palau Dive Adventures, simply because smaller appeals to me.

Thoughts?

Palau Dive Adventures looks like they're based out of the Palasia Hotel now; not a good location for lodging in the middle of noisy "downtown" Main Street Koror, and far walking distance from water's edge.

Sea Passion Hotel has a nice small beach area for swimming & sunbathing for wife (you can swim over to Sams if you want!). Go with Palau Dive Adventures if you wish, but have them pick you up from Sea Passion Hotel.

 

[flybigjet]

This is exactly the type of info I need! Thanks. Palasia out. I will research Sea Passions.

R.

 

[Colo Hippie]

We did this trip in February 2015. We did a week on the Tropic Dancer in Palau then a week on the Odyssey and we loved both. The crew on the Tropic Dancer were absolutely top notch. However, unlike you my wife loves to dive as much as I do so we did not have your issues. I can tell you the tour on Peleliu was cool. Also if you do the live-a-board you do get to snorkel jellyfish lake and the live-a-boards tend to get there before the shore based trips and afterwards you get a motorboat ride through the rock islands back to the ship (at least we did on the TD.) Also the live-a-boards are on the dive sites in the morning before the day boats.

If you want to experience the local culture in Palau the live-a-board is not really the right choice. We had 1 afternoon on the last day to explore and the half day on Peleliu and Peleliu is VERY primitive, there is not much to see beyond the tour.

 

[Kevrumbo]

This is exactly the type of info I need! Thanks. . . .

R.

Don't forget to make your own much less expensive and just as durable & functional Palau Reef Hook:

Scuba Diving Palau with Fish 'n Fins - Reef Hook

 

[Colo Hippie]

Kevrumbo - good point !!!

We took our own but the Tropic Dancer had them for anyone that did not have a reef hook AND they assigned a Nautilus Life Line to each buddy team. The Nautilus was a really nice thing to have for peace of mind given the currents.

 

[OBXDIVEGUY]

I was in Palau last April and was torn on staying shore based or liveaboard too. My wife and I ended up staying land-side at Palau Pacific Reef Resort and dove with Sam's Tours. Turns out, the shore based dive ops go to all of the exact same places the liveaboards go to, so you really don't gain any benefit of going on a liveaboard. You also lose the advantage of taking in everything else Palau has to offer. We did kayak tours, jellyfish lake, off-road 4-wheeler tours, wandered around town, ate at several different restaurants, and just had an amazing time all around. Some say the liveaboards might get you to certain sites before the masses get there, and that may be true to some extent, but crowds were not an issue a single time for us. We even were still the first to Jellyfish lake just doing a day trip there.

Pacific Reef Resort was incredible, but it certainly isn't the cheapest option. As much as i'd like to, because of the cost, I'm not sure we'll stay there again. It was nice having Sam's Tours pick us up every morning and essentially provide a free water taxi, but they provide that service to several of the other resorts too.

I regret not getting to Peliliu, but coincidence would have it, we were there on the anniversary of the major WWII battle and there were tons of activities and even the Prime Minister of Japan was there. It made if very difficult to get over there. Oh well, gives us an excuse to go back

 

[jbjclj]

We spent 14 days in Palau. The first week at Palau Pacific Resort. Just beautiful...the beach and snorkeling were spectacular. Sam's picked us up at the PPR pier each day. Money saving tips....Breakfast was included and lunch is included with all dive operators ( they stop at a beach for surface interval, and you have already preordered your lunch choice) Delta houses it's flight attendants there and they told us to eat at the bar and order off the menu. Saved a lot of money. This is the best choice if your wife wants to snorkel, spa, beach, kayak. Downside....if you want to go into town for dinner you need to take the hotel shuttle.

The second week at Sea Passions. It was much more basic, but very convenient. Breakfast is included ( more of an Asian bent buffet). Nice pool. We walked every day to Sams (about a 5 minute walk). Ate dinner at least 3 x at the Drop Off Bar and Grill. The best cheeseburgers and onion rings we have ever had. Walked to Kramers, taxi to Taj.

We toured Palau Royal and it was very nice, the hotel had 90% visitors from Asia. I was looking to book there, but was told they were booked for 1 1/2 years with Chinese tours. You could walk to Sams and the other dive ops

We dove with Sam's and they were fine. This is not concierge diving. You store your gear in their lockers and rinse and return to lockers each day. We went everywhere the liveaboards did and made the trip to Peliliue one day (not to be missed). We dove in the morning and did the land tour in the afternoon. It was very sobering.

Good luck on your decision