Palau second thoughts?

[Mossman]

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?

You've been getting weird responses. I thought Komodo was great for macro, but the only "big stuff" were the dragons on land. We did have a manta sighting somewhere on the way back to Bali (it was a Bali-Komodo r/t liveaboard) and a nice school of bumpheads off Lombok, but that wasn't Komodo.

In Palau, the "big stuff" is pretty much limited to a few white-tip and black-tip sightings, more if you're lucky, and napoleon wrasse. In Rangiroa, more big stuff, but you have to get out to the less-inhabited atolls for better diving in the Tuamotus IMO. Great shark action, rays, dolphins, turtles, etc. You also have lots of sharks, including bigger lemon sharks, in Moorea and Bora Bora.

Yap is more solid than Palau for mantas. In my two trips to Palau, the only manta sighting was a shadow in murky German Channel.

To meet all your criteria, Cocos is your best bet. Galapagos is better IMO, but it violates your #1.

 

[Mike]

In Rangiroa, more big stuff, but you have to get out to the less-inhabited atolls for better diving in the Tuamotus IMO. Great shark action, rays, dolphins, turtles, etc. You also have lots of sharks, including bigger lemon sharks, in Moorea and Bora Bora.

Did you dive Rangiroa? We dived there this year and I'm trying to get my head around your post which goes contrary to everything we experienced and everything I've heard in regard to Bora Bora and Moorea, which we also stayed at but did not dive as we were under the impression the 'shark' diving there was all feeding dives and everything I read about diving at Bora Bora and Moorea was negative in regard to comparison to Rangiroa, so we saved our diving for Rangiroa where there was absolutely no shortage of sharks, dolphins and mantas there at all... including a 15-20 foot tiger and about the same sized hammer head

 

[Mossman]

Did you dive Rangiroa? We dived there this year and I'm trying to get my head around your post which goes contrary to everything we experienced and everything I've heard in regard to Bora Bora and Moorea, which we also stayed at but did not dive as we were under the impression the 'shark' diving there was all feeding dives and everything I read about diving at Bora Bora and Moorea was negative in regard to comparison to Rangiroa, so we saved our diving for Rangiroa where there was absolutely no shortage of sharks, dolphins and mantas there at all... including a 15-20 foot tiger and about the same sized hammer head

I did six dives in Rangiroa off the Tahiti Aggressor in 2003, before they moved the boat to the Society Islands. The sites were called Silverado Roundup, Turtle Corner, Big Corner, and 3 dives at Tiputa Pass. I did two more Tiputa Pass dives from the Paul Gauguin using a local company in 2009. They weren't as good as what I remember off the Aggressor. On the Aggressor dives, I noted in my log that we saw silvertip and gray reef sharks, napoleon wrasses, turtles, and an eagle ray. The dives were excellent, but I still preferred some of the other dives we did on the trip. Apataki was probably my favorite, an endless shark parade while we clung to the side of the channel. Saw mantas in Fakarava and Toao. We saved Rangiroa until the end at which point it may have been anticlimatic. Still, it's probably some of the best pelagic diving in the world accessible without a liveaboard.

I unwillingly participated in a shark feed when staying in Moorea after the Aggressor trip, ascending near what I thought was our dive boat but was actually a boat of locals throwing chicken parts into the water. Lots of blacktips. Very exciting.

My other dives off the Paul Gaugin included one in Moorea and one in Bora Bora. Both had plenty of sharks (black tip, white tip, lemon). No feeding whatsoever. Very clear water. Little or no current. Boring hard corals. Very much like diving Hawaii, but fewer fish and more sharks. Supposedly there are manta dives off Bora Bora, but not where we dove. (If it's mantas you want and Yap is too far to go, a Kona night manta dive is an incredible experience). I wouldn't travel all the way to Tahiti just to dive in the Society Islands, but it's worth getting wet if you're already there.

Don't recommend the Marquesas, though that's from only one dive's experience at "Hammerhead Sentry Point" on Hiva Oa. Supposedly saw shadows of scalloped hammerheads which got most of the group kicking against the current into the murk at 90'. I didn't bother, having had my fill of scalloped hammerheads in Cocos and the Galapagos, the only other places I've been in the world that rival (and usually exceed) the Tuamotus for pelagic activity.

 

[Mike]

I did six dives in Rangiroa off the Tahiti Aggressor in 2003, before they moved the boat to the Society Islands. The sites were called Silverado Roundup, Turtle Corner, Big Corner, and 3 dives at Tiputa Pass. I did two more Tiputa Pass dives from the Paul Gauguin using a local company in 2009. They weren't as good as what I remember off the Aggressor. On the Aggressor dives, I noted in my log that we saw silvertip and gray reef sharks, napoleon wrasses, turtles, and an eagle ray. The dives were excellent, but I still preferred some of the other dives we did on the trip. Apataki was probably my favorite, an endless shark parade while we clung to the side of the channel. Saw mantas in Fakarava and Toao. We saved Rangiroa until the end at which point it may have been anticlimatic. Still, it's probably some of the best pelagic diving in the world accessible without a liveaboard.

I unwillingly participated in a shark feed when staying in Moorea after the Aggressor trip, ascending near what I thought was our dive boat but was actually a boat of locals throwing chicken parts into the water. Lots of blacktips. Very exciting.

My other dives off the Paul Gaugin included one in Moorea and one in Bora Bora. Both had plenty of sharks (black tip, white tip, lemon). No feeding whatsoever. Very clear water. Little or no current. Boring hard corals. Very much like diving Hawaii, but fewer fish and more sharks. Supposedly there are manta dives off Bora Bora, but not where we dove. (If it's mantas you want and Yap is too far to go, a Kona night manta dive is an incredible experience). I wouldn't travel all the way to Tahiti just to dive in the Society Islands, but it's worth getting wet if you're already there.

Don't recommend the Marquesas, though that's from only one dive's experience at "Hammerhead Sentry Point" on Hiva Oa. Supposedly saw shadows of scalloped hammerheads which got most of the group kicking against the current into the murk at 90'. I didn't bother, having had my fill of scalloped hammerheads in Cocos and the Galapagos, the only other places I've been in the world that rival (and usually exceed) the Tuamotus for pelagic activity.

Great info, you've really got a good selection of experience in that area thanks to doing the live-a-boards! I'm guessing those live-a-boards got you to sites that aren't readily accessible from land based divers in that area. My experience is limited to the 2 passes at Rangiroa so far, but plan to get to Fakarava now that we've gotten a taste.

Gotta do the Kona manta dive sometime, if just to mark it off the bucket list.

 

[Mossman]

Great info, you've really got a good selection of experience in that area thanks to doing the live-a-boards! I'm guessing those live-a-boards got you to sites that aren't readily accessible from land based divers in that area. My experience is limited to the 2 passes at Rangiroa so far, but plan to get to Fakarava now that we've gotten a taste.

Gotta do the Kona manta dive sometime, if just to mark it off the bucket list.

According to Google, "Apataki's two large reef passes provide excellent diving and surfing, both of which are serviced by local boat-based charter companies. Land-based accommodations do not exist." Now that the Aggressor left, I'm not sure how you'd get there or ther other remote atolls without chartering your own boat. Some of the crossings were very rough for a 100' boat like the Aggressor. We had 12-14' swells at one point. When you're wealthy enough to own your own yacht, you can hire a dive service as these people did: Destination Guide: French Polynesia - Megayacht News

If you're already in Kona for diving, volcanoes, etc., definitely don't miss the manta night dive. We did it (with Jack's Diving Locker) as a two-tank sunset/night dive. They set out the high-tech plankton attracters (i.e. a crate of dive lights pointing upward), then do a nice reef dive. For the second dive, the group makes a ring around the light crate. The mantas swoop in for their free lunch and in the process get close enough to touch (one skimmed my head and several times I had to lower my camera so the strobes didn't hit one). Because it's an easy meal, the lights tend to attract injured mantas, but that doesn't detract from the experience. J counted 7 different mantas the first night and loved it so much she demanded we do it again the next night, where we were just as successful. Manta sightings are always exciting in the wild, but having 7 mantas buzzing your head for nearly an hour is quite the experience even if they are somewhat artificially attracted there.

 

[Hutch12]

You've been getting weird responses. I thought Komodo was great for macro, but the only "big stuff" were the dragons on land. We did have a manta sighting somewhere on the way back to Bali (it was a Bali-Komodo r/t liveaboard) and a nice school of bumpheads off Lombok, but that wasn't Komodo.

In Palau, the "big stuff" is pretty much limited to a few white-tip and black-tip sightings, more if you're lucky, and napoleon wrasse.

I guess diving in the wild is random by its very nature and we can only comment on our own experiences. To make a decision, most on here would take the majority as a recommendation. I would suggest that Mossman was rather unlucky, as is always the possibility, in his trips to Komodo and Palau if that is all that was seen.

After checking log books; In Komodo we saw Manta's on 4 dives, each time more than one and in one dive saw at least 12 possibly more feeding in formation in a current going through a channel at South Komodo as well as regular schools of Barracuda, Jacks and as you said, Bumpheads. Alos saw on multiple dives, fair numbers of reef sharks.

In Palau there were 6 dives where we had great experiences with Mantas and as for sharks, there were multiple dives where at any one time there were between 15-30 sharks in our field of vision.

I would suggest that this be classed as "big stuff"

The Op specifically asked for experiences and comparison of Komodo and Palau which have been given but since the discussion has been widened I would throw in Fiji and Tonga.

Fiji for the rainbow reef, still the most colorful and abundant reef system I have dived. There are also areas known for shark action in Fijian waters.

While the diving in Tonga is not so hot in comparison, the opportunity to dive with Humpback Whales around the islands of Va'Vau and others is simply breathtaking. This certainly falls under the category of "bug stuff"

I just saw that one of OPs requirements is warm water, temps in Fiji and Tonga ranged from 73-75 so as an APAC diver, not what I would call warm water but 3mm is just enough.

 

[scuba e]

Thanks to all. We are still researching. Palau may still be in the mix. And now, outta left field, I am looking at Raja to Lembeh with a few days in Lembeh land based to finish up.... Or, Lembeh land based to a Komodo liveaboard through Bali. Things do change fast.
So, the question gets acute. Will we miss anything in the above plans if we skip Palau? Fresh water jellies maybe? Thoughts?
Fiji looks a bit pricey but may fit.
Rangaroa is still interesting but looks like it lacks a mix of macro and wide angle (big and small)?
Whatcha got?

 

[Hutch12]

I think Raja to Lembeh would be heavily macro focused.

The Jelly Fish lake is cool but not worth planning a trip around. Palau definitely has the upper hand on big stuff i.e sharks and mantas. But there is reasonable big stuff in Komodo. Overall I think Komodo offers a wider variety including some amazing drift dives and hook in dives in some awesome currents.

One other Liveaboard option would be a "crossing trip". As the diving in parts of Indonesia is seasonal due to weather conditions, many of the liveaboards move from one area and itinerary to another for 3-4 months. When moving the boat from one area to the other, the operator will often offer a crossing trip which gives the best of two different areas as well as diving in between that is rarely dived. I know that Black Manta offers these types of trips.

I have never done one of these trips but am considering, one of the DMs aboard White Manta recommended the Komodo - Ring of Fire - Raja journey.

Only down side I can see to these trips is the one way flying on domestic flights, not sure if this could increase costs.

 

[farsidefan1]

Palau is my favorite dive destination. Next would be a tie between Red Sea, Fiji, GBR. I would jump on the Palau Aggressor in a heartbeat. 4-5 dives a day. My favorite site is the Ulong Channel. With the live aboard you get to many popular sites before the land based groups arrive.

 

[xariatay]

Visited Raja Ampat late nov-early dec 2011, was mostly macro, nice coral gardens, was great for mantas and wobbegong sharks and very little crowd, very nice resort... Visited Palau late Mar-early apr 2012 - lots of reef sharks - white-tip and grey but didn't get lucky with mantas, more crowded than Raja Ampat, budget accomodation...
Friends offered to let us stay for free in their bungalow for Raja Ampat - we just had to pay for food and diving but we hesitated, eventually declined (partly due to work)... For Palau, we are actively planning to revisit... ;-) Palau diving felt more exciting imo... For macro - we were able to get a bigger bang for the buck in Lembeh and Bali... We would reserve RA for some special occasions... ;-) However, our friends are making yearly visit to Raja Ampat as they were tired of eating packed lunch, after visiting Palau yearly for about a decade...