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Just got back this morning from 11 spectacular days in Palau.
All in all, Palau was a spectacular experience. It's a must see for the pelagic life, spectacular walls, and great hard corals on the western outer reef. We learned to use reef hooks, which was a first. Not hard to learn, deploy or retrieve. As with the commentary above, a basic respect for the marine environment goes a long way. Hooking into rock and dead coral (of which there is plenty) is a great way to observe marine life in strong current without causing any damage.
- Getting there: We flew United from San Francisco via Honolulu and Guam. The connections in Guam are absurdly tight, even if all flights are on time, which they never are. We were 30 minutes late out of Honolulu, making up 15 minutes in flight. That reduced our connect time to the Palau flight from 45 minutes to just a half hour. We ran to the connecting gate, to find them waiting for us. On the way back, it was even crazier. Our flight was 45 minutes late leaving Palau, so our 1 hour connection was reduced to only 15 minutes, and you still need to clear US immigration and go through TSA screening before continuing on to Honolulu. On landing in Guam, the crew asked all local passengers to remain seated so connecting passengers could disembark first. The ground staff then shuttled us to the shortest lines and made sure US immigration staff were aware of the connecting passengers. Needless to say, they held the Honolulu flight for us - but it was stressful. If there is a next time, I would most likely fly Delta via Narita.
. - Staying there: We stayed at Palau Pacific Resort, which is hands down the nicest resort in Palau, but it is also the most expensive as well. Service is outstanding, and the food and accommodations were what you would expect from a major luxury resort. I was warned away from Palau Royal Resort, the other major property, as it caters primarily to Asian clientele, and many prior western reviewers indicated they felt marginalized. There are several small properties on Palau, and if I ever went back, I might give them a try. This was a bit of an intentional splurge due to the convergence of several birthdays and anniversaries.
. - Diving there: We dove with Fish 'n Fins. They are one of the two big operations in Koror. They run a tight operation with excellent guides, divemasters and boats. They've got a great bar/cafe on site for relaxing after you get back. Boats were often full (12-14 divers) and two divemasters. Unfortunately, divers with widely ranging skill levels are often combined on the same boats, but more of that later. The dive sites are pretty spectacular, with frequent visits to the big pelagic sites of Blue Corner, Ulong Channel, German Channel and New Drop Off. We never had the opportunity to dive any of the Peliliu sites, as we were told there are extra fees involved (more gas to get there + additional dive permits). That said, the sites we did visit were plenty exciting, and we dove with gray reef and white tip sharks on most dives. Blue Holes and Siaes Tunnel sites provided dramatic backdrops.
. - The Divers: This was really my one and only gripe - and it's a fairly major one. Palau is currently experiencing a boom in tourism from Asia (China, Taiwan, Korea & Japan). More and more of these new tourists are divers who arrive with the requisite certifications but, based on my own personal observations, questionable skills, and most alarmingly, little or no regard for the marine environment. While Fish 'n Fins caters more to western clients, they do see their fair share of Asian divers as well. We repeatedly witnessed divers with little or no buoyancy skills crashing into, or worse, standing on live coral. Octos and gauges dangling unsecured, getting caught in the coral. The staff treat this with resigned frustration. They try to enforce basic environmental safeguards, but ultimately acquiesce to the fact that these divers would simply take their business to the guy across the street who won't be as strict. Ultimately, the Palau government needs to take more forceful action to require stricter enforcement of the marine environment standards before the reefs are completely destroyed.
All in all, Palau was a spectacular experience. It's a must see for the pelagic life, spectacular walls, and great hard corals on the western outer reef. We learned to use reef hooks, which was a first. Not hard to learn, deploy or retrieve. As with the commentary above, a basic respect for the marine environment goes a long way. Hooking into rock and dead coral (of which there is plenty) is a great way to observe marine life in strong current without causing any damage.
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