Palau second thoughts?

[scuba e]

I have been reading about palau. Up to date it has sounded like a great location but after digging deeper it sounds like it is getting a bit crowded.
We have focused on dive time (4-6 dives a day) and mostly macro with wide angle opportunities considered a bonus. For this reason alot of trips to Cocoview in the Carib. A lot of West Coast diving when we still lived in Southern California. Last year we did Puetra Galera in the PI. It was simply life changing and crushed the Carib for us. It let us know we could handle the travel with no issues (we had some very serious challenges, got there a day late and after midnight with hurdle after hurdle but survived and loved it). Our dive buddies have done Fiji, Wakatobi, etc. and said the diving (macro wise) was the best they had seen and trip overall the best they had.
I would love to go back but PI just fueled a fire to see and do more and more. The general consensus is that we have done and seen some very good macro. Where is the big stuff? Palau? Rangiroa?

I know there are other locales for big. I will dive the Socoros eventually. But there are somethings that need to be considered for the wife and dive buddies:

1. Warm water.
2. Big stuff (wide angle)
3. some Macro
4. 4 dives a day
5. minimal crowds
6. some level of freedom (we are all pretty good on air and 50 minutes on 40fsw dives is not acceptable)

We can handle currents, liveaboards, mediocre food, bugs, heat and language barriers if the diving is worth it. So whatcha think? Where do we go? Whats the best you've seen?

 

[jamesdiving]

Komodo

---------- Post added November 14th, 2013 at 01:30 PM ----------

Komodo has great macro, incredible coral, warm water, mantas, dolphins, massive schools of fish. It also has great scenery, not to mention dragons... Plus you have to fly via Bali, which has some great diving of its own - macro in Tulamben/Amed plus mantas and mola molas (at the right time of year) at Nusa Penida. Depending on how long you're planning to spend in Indonesia, it's a short flight from Bali to either Manado (for macro at Lembeh), Ambon (again for macro) or Wakatobi. (Not to mention the fact that Bali has some non-diving attractions of note)

Staying in Indonesia, I haven't been to Raja Ampat yet and it's not particularly renowned for big stuff (mantas aside) but it is renowned for the richest, most diverse reefs on earth.

Alternatively the Maldives is good for reef sharks, mantas and whale sharks (though I didn't see any of the latter myself), but the coral and overall species diversity isn't at the same level as Indonesia.

Even further afield there's Papua New Guinea or Australia. The Barrier Reef gets the attention, and it's nice (the Yongala wreck is downright amazing), but personally I much prefer Ningaloo on the west coast. Much closer to shore and much less crowded, with arguably better reefs. They have mantas (the really big, oceanic kind), whale sharks and plenty of reef sharks. I haven't been to Papua New Guinea yet but I hear great things.

Finally, the Red Sea is incredible. Egypt is deserted right now because of the political instability but the Red Sea coast is a long way from Cairo and the population centres along the Nile and perfectly safe. The reefs are spectacular and, in the south there are plenty of large sharks (oceanic whitetips, scalloped hammerheads, tigers, silkies) as well as mantas. Sudan is even better, but very difficult to get in on a US passport.

 

[bracko]

Komodo

exactly my thoughts. Both regions are must go places once on your diving "career" but Komodo is a macro haven with some blue water dives, Palau is a blue water destination with some macro.

Komodo will be significantly cheaper with a week/10 days liveaboard. Palau's liveaboards were very expensive when I checked last and if you don't do a liveaboard you will never do more than 3 dives a day, that includes a night dive. some places offer 15L tanks so one of your dives can be a good 90min easy.

I went to Palau in August 2011 and it certainly wasn't what I would call crowded. obviously the high season will be worse but we had no real issues with visability, although probably 30-40% of the afternoons we had a shower in the afternoon. one afternoon it absolutely bucketed down for an hour.

in Peleliu I seriously checked someone elses computer because I didn't believe we could possibly be 23m below the surface and still get the beautiful light penetration we had on the dive.

 

[Adventure-Ocean]

Many years ago when I was sent from Guam to Palau to help with some research diving, we hired a guy and a nice 20ft boat for two weeks. We dove as much as we wanted where ever we wanted. I believe it would still be easy to do the same. Adventure-Ocean

 

[gizmo1972]

go for the Turks & Caicos islands lots of sharks that come very close , some stunning macro stuff and 5 dives a day on the Turks & Caicos Agressor
Stunning fun!!!!

 

[jamesdiving]

I haven't been to Turks & Caicos but Indonesia makes the parts of the Caribbean I have dived look like the Sahara desert. It's a long old journey from the US and it's not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but boy is it worth it...

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

I'm not sure I would describe Palau as being crowded either. I recommend Palau Dive Adventures and Palau Pacific Resort but they don't do 4 dives a day. That sounds more like a liveaboard. That said, Atlantis Resorts at Puerto Galera and Dumaguete let you dive like a you are on liveaboard, 4-5 tanks a day if you want. And we get some very good packages there. Had a recent combo deal with the resorts and Azores liveaboard.

Another option might be Raja Ampat, either raja4divers or Misool Eco. Of course Fiji is good too. I have some folks who are in the middle of a Matava / Wananavu trip and they are raving about Bligh Waters.

 

[bracko]

haven't heard much about Raja being a macro destination but have heard wonderful things about it.

also Palau Pacific is (or was when I was there) by far the most expensive in the area. Sea Passions was reasonable, clean and friendly. we never actually ate there though, we always went to restaurants in town. If you're on a scuba holiday I wouldn't waste it on the Palau Pacific unless 5 star hotels are a necessity in life (which for some people they are, and that's fine).

Palau Pacific would be an amazing place to stay for a romantic trip away with some diving on the side.

 

[lamarpaulski]

Komodo and Bali ...like they said. Bali is fascinating above water and Komodo has dragons and other stuff in addition to amazing variety of underwater life.

 

[dgrauman]

If maximum number of dives a day is your goal, then you really need to think live aboard in Palau. On the other hand, exploring time on land and touring Peleliu was equally wonderful, and balanced things out nicely. Crowding was never an issue.