Palau Liveaboard in December...but also Truk/Chuuk and/or Yap?

[bilchil]

I'm almost surely doing a trip on a Palau liveaboard in December. I have two weeks only so I have time to either do a 7-day trip plus a visit to Truk and/or Yap OR a 10-day trip in Palau only. My first decision is this: 7-day Palau plus Truk/Yap or 10-day Palau only. And then my second decision: if the 7-day Palau plus, do I then add only Truk or Truk and Yap? My inclination, and what I've been planning, is a 7-day trip on the Tropic Dancer (booked, not paid yet) over xmas followed by 5 nights on Truk (probably @ Truk Stop) over New Years. But I thought, for due diligence sake, I should ask someone who's been to all 3 destinations for any thoughts they may have. So, anyone, do you think it better that I give Truk a miss so that I can fully avail myself of a 10-day Palau trip (that'd be the Aggressor in early December)...OR do you think Yap so brilliant I must add it to my xmas trip (that would entail cutting my Truk stay down to 3 nights, w/ only 2 nights on Yap...and making a miserable flying itinerary even more so, the Yap flights being in the middle of the night)? It seems to me that Yap would not add a lot to the trip, whereas Truk is a very special destination. Thanks in advance!

I'm almost surely doing a trip on a Palau liveaboard in December. I have two weeks only so I have time to either do a 7-day trip plus a visit to Truk and/or Yap OR a 10-day trip in Palau only. My first decision is this: 7-day Palau plus Truk/Yap or 10-day Palau only. And then my second decision: if the 7-day Palau plus, do I then add only Truk or Truk and Yap? My inclination, and what I've been planning, is a 7-day trip on the Tropic Dancer (booked, not paid yet) over xmas followed by 5 nights on Truk (probably @ Truk Stop) over New Years. But I thought, for due diligence sake, I should ask someone who's been to all 3 destinations for any thoughts they may have. So, anyone, do you think it better that I give Truk a miss so that I can fully avail myself of a 10-day Palau trip (that'd be the Aggressor in early December)...OR do you think Yap so brilliant I must add it to my xmas trip (that would entail cutting my Truk stay down to 3 nights, w/ only 2 nights on Yap...and making a miserable flying itinerary even more so, the Yap flights being in the middle of the night)? It seems to me that Yap would not add a lot to the trip, whereas Truk is a very special destination. Thanks in advance!

 

[Woodiver]

If you are flying United, the flight from Palau is in the early am, 1:30 or 2am. The end of diving on the Tropic Dancer is Saturday mid day. Half the boat left late Saturday to catch the early am United flight and it stops at Yap on the way to Guam if that helps. Not many flights in or out of Yap.

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Bit tricky getting from Palau to Truk. I would do Palau as one trip and save Truk for another time.

 

[Mossman]

Yap and Palau are easy enough to coordinate together, but AFAIK, you'd have to fly back to Guam in order to get to Truk.

Also, Truk is pretty nasty topside. I'd prefer a liveaboard there (the Odyssey) if only to get out of town. Yap, on the other hand, is straight out of National Geographic. No worries about getting mugged walking around Colonia.

That said, I think a 10-day itinerary in Palau would be great. I've only done a 7-day liveaboard there and we missed some of the "must do" sites (Peleliu Express for one). Except for the mantas, the diving is much the same in Yap as in Palau, and you can usually see mantas in Palau too. Unless it's mating season, when the Yap mantas would be particularly impressive, I'd stick to Palau. You're already spending enough time on planes and in airports getting to/from Palau, adding the extra late night flights would be exhausting unless you have the energy of a teenager.

 

[bilchil]

Thanks for the suggestions...the deal has done gone down: I'm doing two 7-day liveaboards in Palau...back to back...one week on the Aggressor, followed by one on the Tropic Dancer...just 'cause these particular trips in early September are both 'discounted'...about $2000 for each. Definitely the most dives (about 10 more than if I went to Chuuk in addition) for the money (about $1500 less than including Chuuk). Both itineraries will be very similar, since it's the same company (and pretty much the same boat design), but I guess some of the best dives in the world can be done twice in a coupla weeks, huh? They seem to try and go to Peleliu every trip, but in case something keeps us from it on one trip, I've got two chances....and if we make it both times then I'll probably do the land tour on the second one...maybe. I'd like to see some of the WW2 stuff (the old man was a marine down there then...incl Iwo Jima), but hard to stay out of 85 degree water (54 this past saturday at Anacapa...and that didn't keep me out).

 

[Mossman]

As I recall, doing the Peleliu land tour only cost us one dive and it was a repeat of the same site. Don't miss it, it's quite the experience. A sobering museum and memorial. I had just finished HBO's The Pacific before heading to Palau and it was mind-blowing to be standing on the very same runway that they showed the Marines crossing in the Peleliu episode.

Sounds like a good idea. Also, the liveaboard schedules are somewhat flexible. Show the Dancer captain what dives you already did on the Aggressor and maybe he can add some sprinkle some new sites in for you. Obviously you'll do Blue Corner on both trips, but that's hardly a bad thing. We had one diver who had been on the boat the week before and he had no complaints about repeating sites since they can vary so much in a week's time with different currents, moon phases, etc.