SharkLover
Contributor
Palau trip report (2/16-2/25)
Arrival/Hotel: This was my second time to Palau (last there in 05) and I arrived in Korror at 10:00 PM from Guam. Since I had a prior week business trip in Taiwan my lag was nothing to speak of, so I was ready to go. I stayed at the West Plaza Malakal which met my needs very well. I was within walking distance to all of the essentials the dive boat, restaurants and convenience store. WPM is a reasonably priced hotel with good services. I was even able to tap into a local restaurants wireless!
Palau - above: A nice laid back island. They mostly cater to tourists from Asia and Europe. I have found this to be a very safe and relaxful place to go. The real beauty is in the rock islands as you can see below
Weather: Pictures tell the story, everyday was roughly the same. It was partially cloudy, 87 F during the day, 77 at night. The occasional cloud gave us a shower on a couple of mornings which is normal for this time of year. Coming from a cold week in Taiwan, I relished the warmth.
Palau - below: I chose to dive with Keith at Dive Palau (palaudive.com). Keith specializes in individualized attention using a small group approach. I cant say enough about this guy. His gospel is long, slow dives getting back on the boat with ~300 left in our tanks. I was diving 3 Nitrox dives a day averaging 65-75 minutes per dive with an average depth of 65 ft per dive. Water temp was 82 and vis ranged from 50-80 feet. My day consisted of long boat rides (dive sites were 20-25 miles away) starting at 8:30 and ending roughly at 4. Since I love drop offs, reefs, caves, tunnels I was right at home with dives such as Blue Corner (heavy sigh), New Dropoff and Blue Holes. Large schools of sharks, barracuda and the occasional tuna were the norm. Dive depths ranged from 60 to 110 ft. In general, the diving was excellent and I could not ask for any more. The dive sites in Palau are the ones that keep you up at night left staring at the ceiling.
Food: Menu varied from local seafood to having Western food. My favorite restaurant was Kramers. The local fresh catch was either Wahoo, Yellowfin or Mahi Mahi which were awesome in Asian Seared Sashimi. Having spent the previous week in Taiwan, having a burger was also welcomed
Pros/Cons: Far too many pros to list. I loved the trip. I went diving with some terrific people from Norway, Japan and the U.S. As this was my second trip I was able to hone in on what to do/not to do. The only con to speak of was the huge dive coma that I am now experiencing since leaving the island.
A very special thank you to Scott (Travelnsj) as he was key in putting in touch with Keith. You can PM me if you require additional details. I'll have posted pics in a folder called Palau08
Arrival/Hotel: This was my second time to Palau (last there in 05) and I arrived in Korror at 10:00 PM from Guam. Since I had a prior week business trip in Taiwan my lag was nothing to speak of, so I was ready to go. I stayed at the West Plaza Malakal which met my needs very well. I was within walking distance to all of the essentials the dive boat, restaurants and convenience store. WPM is a reasonably priced hotel with good services. I was even able to tap into a local restaurants wireless!
Palau - above: A nice laid back island. They mostly cater to tourists from Asia and Europe. I have found this to be a very safe and relaxful place to go. The real beauty is in the rock islands as you can see below
Weather: Pictures tell the story, everyday was roughly the same. It was partially cloudy, 87 F during the day, 77 at night. The occasional cloud gave us a shower on a couple of mornings which is normal for this time of year. Coming from a cold week in Taiwan, I relished the warmth.
Palau - below: I chose to dive with Keith at Dive Palau (palaudive.com). Keith specializes in individualized attention using a small group approach. I cant say enough about this guy. His gospel is long, slow dives getting back on the boat with ~300 left in our tanks. I was diving 3 Nitrox dives a day averaging 65-75 minutes per dive with an average depth of 65 ft per dive. Water temp was 82 and vis ranged from 50-80 feet. My day consisted of long boat rides (dive sites were 20-25 miles away) starting at 8:30 and ending roughly at 4. Since I love drop offs, reefs, caves, tunnels I was right at home with dives such as Blue Corner (heavy sigh), New Dropoff and Blue Holes. Large schools of sharks, barracuda and the occasional tuna were the norm. Dive depths ranged from 60 to 110 ft. In general, the diving was excellent and I could not ask for any more. The dive sites in Palau are the ones that keep you up at night left staring at the ceiling.
Food: Menu varied from local seafood to having Western food. My favorite restaurant was Kramers. The local fresh catch was either Wahoo, Yellowfin or Mahi Mahi which were awesome in Asian Seared Sashimi. Having spent the previous week in Taiwan, having a burger was also welcomed
Pros/Cons: Far too many pros to list. I loved the trip. I went diving with some terrific people from Norway, Japan and the U.S. As this was my second trip I was able to hone in on what to do/not to do. The only con to speak of was the huge dive coma that I am now experiencing since leaving the island.
A very special thank you to Scott (Travelnsj) as he was key in putting in touch with Keith. You can PM me if you require additional details. I'll have posted pics in a folder called Palau08
Palau! Ever since my one and only trip to Palau in Feb 03, I've compared it to every place I've been, and so far nothing has come even close. I try to go to places where I've never been and generally do not like to return once I've been there.. Palau is the exception to the rule. I would return there in a heartbeat! 
