Palau Tides - Liveaboard v Land Based?

[Steve P]

Wife & I heading to Palau this July after a week in Chuuk. This will be our first trip to either and we've been waiting a loooong time to make this trip. We need to decide soon between choosing Liveaboard (considering Tropic Dancer or Aggressor) or Sam's or Neco for land-based. I've read the posts and know the major pros & cons of both options. Recent post on the liveaboard forum had very negative report regarding recent Tropic Dancer trip. I've also read favorable reports about TD and (sister ship) Aggressor.

One issue that came up on the negative report of TD charter was that the dive schedues are set in stone (to allow the 4 - 5 dives/day schedule) and the dive times did not match up with favorable tide schedules. Argument is that land based options allowed flexible dive times or longer surface intervals so arrival at sites matched best conditions.

So my questions are:

How critical is the tide schedule for diving Palau's best sites?

For those who have dived with Sam's or NECO, did you observe them varying the schedule to hit dive sites at optimum tide conditions? In my history with land based dive ops, most follow a set schedule of when they leave and when they plan on getting back to dock.

Lastly, if tides are critical for best conditions, how would I determine best times for diving Palau during week of July 29th?

If favorable tide conditions match the dive schedule on liveaboard during that week, I can rule out this potential concern.

I'd appreciate any infoformation / guidance regarding this subject.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[DMdoogie]

I've dove with all four of the ops you mentioned and not had a problem with any. As far as LB, when I dove on the Aggressor last year, the Captain would meet us at dinner and go over the next day's dive plans. He explained how the schedule might be improved because of tide information, and left it to a vote of the divers. The changes involved things like: when to dive, 0700 vs 0800 because of tides, and when to serve breakfast accordingly. In every case, we voted with the Captain's recommendation and were never disappointed. We also made last minute changes because of current reports from other boats. It all depends on an involved Captain, and divers willing to get up early to make it work out.
Sams has a large board with dive times, boats, dive sites, and divers on the wall of their shop. It also shows the tide chart. If you ask them, you can change boats and sites, if space permits, because of the tides. They know very well when to dive each site. The wild card is the currents, and Sams changed dive sites based on current reports from radio reports from other dive dive ops when we were out on the water after a vote of the divers.
Both are highly recommended.

 

[bracko]

I have done a land tour, not a Liveaboard.

I would generally go for a liveaboard over land due to the 45min+ trips out to the dive sites (even further for peleliu) and then a 20min trip to an island for lunch. the boats are fast fibreglass shells common for reef hopping I guess.

I have dived with Sam's, but had an experienced trip manager who chatted with the guide each morning as to the best spots to dive at. Then we (the rest of the group) were given options and we as a group chose the sites we wanted to go to (we had a boat to ourselves as a club dive group). after we'd dived most of the spots, it was up to us where we wanted to go. the variance between the dive guides at Sam's is pretty big, considering they're quite expensive I was a little disappointed with our main guide, even though he'd been there for a long time.

I'm not sure that I believe that the dive masters set in stone the sites around there as when the tides are wrong for sites like blue corner or Ulong channel, German channel (cleaning stations) etc... you just can't dive them, same for Peleliu express I would guess.

 

[richh32]

just my 2c. I think you should look at the dives per day. Land based you are most likely only going to do 2 dives. I myself wanted to go back out for a third tank and I just don't think they offer it at most dive shops there, but I could be wrong. I dove with Sams last July and they are top notch and the guides I had were there early studying the tides etc, so that is the determining factor where you go. I remember diving Ulong and the guide was in the water with his mask watching and waiting for the exact time for us to jump in, and he timed it right. the mantas came in and it was a memorable dive. Then after that Dive I think we did German channel, (this was very rare to do these two dives back to back, just because of the tides. we waited at the shop an extra hour in the morning to time it out, on a liveaboard the logistics would be tough seeing the windows and distance would play a role) The boat ride to the dive sites I thought was cool. Seeing the islands, chatting with the other divers but that is me. 45 min is not long. One last thing which was nice at Sam's was the board that listed where the boats were going allowed you to pick your site. I kind of floated amoungst the guides I had there and went to the sites i wanted as many times as I wanted which was nice. You could dive blue corner 3 days in a row or any other site etc. As far as a liveaboard there, I would love to do 4-5 dives a day. I would be curious as to how they would plan for the dives as far as deep to shallow each day. I would imagine your first dive would be a deep wall or wreck each day and the wrecks or walls in between the tide type dives?All in all for me I am budget minded. If I can make it to the liveaboard sites from land and save 50% or more I am staying on land. But that is me. Whatever you choose you will have a blast for sure.

 

[Steve P]

Thanks for the input! From comments received so far, seems that tides are a significant factor in determing best times to dive but that dive ops (liveaboard & land-based) take these into account when planning dives. We really want 3 dives per day and I would prefer the option of 4-5 (while 3/day is probably good for my wife). Based on that, live aboard makes most sense for us. (What I'm trying to convice her of.)

I did get a quote from Sam's for 3 dives/day package so I know that's an option and Ive read several postive reports about them (as well as Neco). I've also read that if you book 3 dive/day package in advance with Sam's you'll be placed on charter that stays out all day providing more options for the 3rd dive than if you returned to the dock after 2 dives.

As noted, I became a bit concerned after reading the negative post on the live board forum regarding the recent TD trip. It may have just been a bad week for diver and/or crew. However, if we decided on liveaboard (would be my wife's first) and had a bad experience it would not only be very dissapointing for both of us it would also be the last liveaboard I'd be able to talk her into.

 

[richh32]

That is good you can do the 3 dives a day with Sam's. Its a long way to go, might as well get your money's worth. I was actually supposed to be in Palau today. I got caught up in that Korean Airlines pricing error(the forum is on here). I bought a my ticket for $550 round trip out of chicago only to be one of 330 people who got cancelled out 2 months after purchasing our fares. I had literally just got back from Palau 3 weeks earlier, but I couldn't pass up the fare. I got my $$ back but I didn't want to pay full price to rebook so right now I have been lurking on here trying to find a deal. Seems like there isnt too many liveaboard or landbased that interest me. I may just bite the bullet and do a 5 day trip to little cayman. I have never been there and I have air miles to use, so it wont be too hard on the wallet.

 

[Doubler]

Steve,
I have never seen a bad report on the Palau Aggressor, although I have seen bad one's on the Tropic Dancer. There are other liveaboards available in Palau besides these two, there are two Explorer boats and Sam's runs two small liveaboards the Sundancer and Eclipse. Sundancer is a sailboat and the Eclipse is a 40 ft trawler.

 

[Steve P]

Steve,
I have never seen a bad report on the Palau Aggressor, although I have seen bad one's on the Tropic Dancer. There are other liveaboards available in Palau besides these two, there are two Explorer boats and Sam's runs two small liveaboards the Sundancer and Eclipse. Sundancer is a sailboat and the Eclipse is a 40 ft trawler.

Palau Aggressor just announced $600.00 per person discount for trips beginnig July 29th (week that we will be there) and for the next 5 weeks after! $1,200.00 savings definately tips the scales in that direction. :luxhello:

 

[Doubler]

Good choice!

 

[bracko]

great choice i think.

something else to note, while we were in the "low" season (August) one day they just didn't do the 3 dives per day because there weren't enough people wanting to do it.

while fuel is a legitimate reason to not offer it, Sam's is from what I've seen one of or the most expensive dive operator.