We spent nearly amonth in Palau in the time of year that is being discussed ( Dec/jan) and can give some advice. We stayed on the Aggressor for one of the weeks and it was by far the least enjoyable phase of the trip. Diving in Palau is highly tide dependent and nowadays can be very depressing if you visit places that were severely damaged by coral bleaching. The Aggressor crew in winter 2001/2002 were well meaning, hard working and pretty incompetent at being at the right place at the right time. Our diving experience with the guides from Neco Marine was superior in nearly every respect except for the rather tedious boat rides back and forth to Koror. Because everyone on the Aggressor has to dive at the same time (one skiff) this means that 16 people are going to be in the water simultaneously- creating a bubble curtain at places like Blue Corner that is detrimental to the diving. In general you want to be in places like German Channel or Siaes when tides make the current run (especially inbound)- then you will see the big beasts at the cleaner stations- they need the water flow to keep from sinking ( thinking mantas and sharkies here). They also love to ride the lift off the walls when current is really ripping inbound. Sort of like hang gliders along a cliff. The experience of being hooked off at the wall edge in high current watching the jacks and sharks "surf" the ridge lift is not to be missed.
It should be noted that much of the time on the liveaboard is spend simply anchored at German Channel- that is where the BBE hangs out. With multiple skiffs ( like BBE has) this can be a great place to use as a base. But in general it means that more distant sites will be less visited. In some ways the Siaes area is best visited using day boats from Koror. The same can be said for Peleliu- our Aggressor captain never even took us there.
The night diving from the Aggressor was also very limited which was a real shame- the night dives we did do were quite spectacular. I would push for more night dives if I were to do it again.
The December time frame is when trade winds begin to set in and there can be sustained winds of fairly strong force essentially for weeks. That is why the ride back to koror in the dive boat can be so bone-jarring. No kidding- bring a decent rain shell and something warm- you can get colder on the ride back than at any time diving. If you can ride in the rear of the boat.
We actually found that we could camp on Neco Island and use a cell phone to call Neco Marine to pick us up on their way out to the Ngemelis area ( Blue Corner, Big Drop, new Drop). We kayaked for 9 days around in the rock islands- worth doing if you have the time. The place is essentially a wilderness after 4:30 PM since there are no navaids out there and plenty of interesting shallow reefs, weird tidally affected surf breaks and other entertaining hazards which deter boat operators after dark. If you can get in touch with hanging out on your own island with just fruit bats and birds to keep you company ( a sort of Bill Gates/fantasy island experience) you can match the BBE at nearly zero $$ /night. And have a 15 minute boat ride to the Corner. Just watch for falling coconuts ( yep just like in Castaway)
An alternative is to stay at Carp Island- a resort that mostly caters to Japanese divers but which is right at the Blue Corner area- no nitrox there when we went there though. Rooms were basic and food as good as Koror. Cannot comment on the dive experience from there though.
The next time we go we intend to simply charter one of the day boats from Neco with four other friends- you can get the whole boat for a week with driver and DM for very reasonable $$ and have the ability to go places at your chosing ( considering tides etc).
Don't miss the jellyfish lake- swim out farther than it seems you need to go to find the heart of the swarm. Do not underestimate the snorkeling in Palau- the shallow spots are where the really big clams are. And there are beaches where the Bigeye trevally jacks hunt the bait fish right up to the beach.
By the way you can get darn near anything in Koror- there is an excellent infrastructure in place- the exception may be weird batteries for diving gear. They even have traffic jams on the one road come Christmas time.
Hope this helps a bit.
z
