Sea Passion Hotel Palau Lately Anyone

[Sorrows]

You're welcome. Bubba. I've never been able to post the big photos, but the thumbnails I can manage. And furthermore, WOW! Don't take this the wrong way, but the photos of the shark look almost fake--such definition! I really love the close-up of the manta--it gives a good sense of the motion. Please do post more if you have the time.

I'm not a wreck person, either, although both my guys are wreck-certified. I don't know why, because I'm not particularly claustrophobic or anything like that. Mostly I just hang outside and watch their bubbles/look for critters. But I will put the Iro Maru on the list. Any others?

 

[bubba105]

These little point & shoot cameras these days are amazing. For $300, camera & housing, you can shoot above & below water & the camera with housing can't weigh a pound. I recommend 2 batteries. Sunset shots are like cheating. In sunset mode the photos look better than the actual sunset itself. Mine is the Canon 1200, I got the bride the Canon 780, which is high def & blows my photos out of the water. The video is crystal clear, although she can't get her videos to load for you-tube for some reason beyond my capabilities (mov-avi), yes dear. Just wanted to share the video from Hawaii of the night manta dive. The bride put it together from my clips since she can't do her high def stuff yet. This is why I will stop off every time I go to the western Pacific, that & jet lag. Check it out.

YouTube - Big Island Hawaii manta night dive


This is Sam's list of sites. My favorites are all of them.

Sam's Tours: Palau Diving Micronesia Island Hopping

You'll be diving in zone 1. I guess if I had to pick only one 3 dive day it would be a Blue Corner hook in after 15-20 minutes on the wall, Ulong Channel with a hook in, make sure to tell your dive guide you want to see the giant clams & German Channel as the 3rd dive with no one else around. The walls are all mind blowing with the amount of corals & fish life. Try to dive Peleliu at least once & jelly fish lake is mandatory, bring good shoes, it's a climb. With 2 weeks you'll see everything & the big ticket dives more than once.

 

[Travelnsj]

Bubba...those are great photos....my Sony does not stack up!

Sorrows make sure and do the Helmet wreck. It is in the Harbor and vis will probably be crap but for what you will be looking at...it will not be a problem. I am not a wreck penetration person either and the Helmet is pretty much an exterior dive...has guns, grenades, gas masks etc. I strongly suggest talk to Airleen (Irene) about a combination of 2 tank morning dive and half day tour of Peleliu. It is a very humbling experience walking Orange beach seeing the Airstrip, the museum etc. I think I have a write up about it on a 2009 trip report posted here on SB.

 

[Mossman]

I think y'all are crazy. Supposedly loving 3 dives a day in Palau with a land-based op yet it sounds like the the 3rd dive ain't so great. That's versus doing 4-5 dives on a liveaboard where the otherwise expensive food and booze are included (at least on the Aggressor or PH boats). Why, why, why would you settle for 3 dives a day when you go all that way, not to mention that you spend so much time on little boats back and forth when you're diving from land? Liveaboards in Palau offer 4-5 dives a day with minimal travel time in small skiffs, 3 meals a day plus snacks in an otherwise expensive dining locale, and very little chance to get seasick for those who are prone. I just don't get it. If you're happy with 2-3 dives a day, land-based is great, but if you want to really dive Palau, liveaboard is really the only way to do it.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Liveaboard is the way to go --you're generally the first recreational dive group at popular dive sites like Blue Corner at 8am, while the land based ops are just shoving-off from the docks in Koror for the hour long transit. . .

However none of the liveaboards has readily available the technical logistics, doubles and mixed gas/oxygen deco support that I'll be needing for the penetrations I plan to do on the Oilers Iro & Sata (and I doubt there's any helium available at all in Palau to even consider diving USS Perry in 75 to 81m out by Angaur).

 

[Travelnsj]

I think y'all are crazy. Supposedly loving 3 dives a day in Palau with a land-based op yet it sounds like the the 3rd dive ain't so great. That's versus doing 4-5 dives on a liveaboard where the otherwise expensive food and booze are included (at least on the Aggressor or PH boats). Why, why, why would you settle for 3 dives a day when you go all that way, not to mention that you spend so much time on little boats back and forth when you're diving from land? Liveaboards in Palau offer 4-5 dives a day with minimal travel time in small skiffs, 3 meals a day plus snacks in an otherwise expensive dining locale, and very little chance to get seasick for those who are prone. I just don't get it. If you're happy with 2-3 dives a day, land-based is great, but if you want to really dive Palau, liveaboard is really the only way to do it.

Because I do not like LOB's!

 

[Sorrows]

Bubba, my son's camera was quite a bit more expensive--a graduation gift--and it has two big lights and the super macro thing. He started out in video and we still have it (big and cumbersome) and the guys don't want to bring it as the new camera has some short term video capability. I don't know--this is not my thing, but I'm thinking they'll regret leaving it behind.

BTW, the manta video is so other-wordly, isn't it? Majestically flying through the streaming lights and bubbles...just amazing. Can't wait--I hope I get to see them in Palau.

 

[Sorrows]

I strongly suggest talk to Airleen (Irene) about a combination of 2 tank morning dive and half day tour of Peleliu. It is a very humbling experience walking Orange beach seeing the Airstrip, the museum etc. I think I have a write up about it on a 2009 trip report posted here on SB.

Travelnsj, I'm so glad you've brought this up. We've read With the Old Breed, plan to see the HBO series before we go and have visited the exhibit at the USMC museum at Quantico, so going to Peleliu has always been a definite must. But I was wondering if we shouldn't do it on a separate trip--perhaps the off-gas day? Did you feel a half-day tour was enough time?

I'll go look up your report.

Okay, I've actually read your report before--as a matter of fact, it was one of the reasons I decided to go with Sam's. Another one of your reports led me to have second thoughts about the Philippines. Anyway, would love to hear more details about visiting Peleliu.

 

[Sorrows]

Mossman, dude, live and let live! Or should I say, "dive and let dive?" Whatever.

One day I would love to try a liveaboard, but my guys are resistant to the idea--which is funny, since both are excellent sailors. There are three of us, and that is a very awkward number for a liveaboard. Actually, it's kind of an awkward number for diving, too.

And what happens if you get stuck with a group that is, you know, a bit obnoxious or overbearing or is just comprised of people you don't want to spend time with? I mean, that does happen from time to time, doesn't it?

No doubt about it, though, you guys have the better deal.

 

[BSOD]

That's versus doing 4-5 dives on a liveaboard where the otherwise expensive food and booze are included (at least on the Aggressor or PH boats) ... Liveaboards in Palau offer 4-5 dives a day with minimal travel time in small skiffs, 3 meals a day plus snacks in an otherwise expensive dining locale ...

The food on land really isn't that expensive. Maybe if you eat at the resorts the entire time, sure, but that's holds true for any destination. I'm guessing (perhaps incorrectly) something like a burger and fries from Bem Ermii is a lot cheaper than whatever the liveaboard buffet works out to for a meal. Plus there's undoubtedly a larger diversity of food choices on land; can you try fruitbat on a liveaboard?

I can see the appeal of a liveaboard for some (haven't done one yet myself), getting the maximum amount of dive time in, but I can also see the appeal of land based diving where you have the option of experiencing the locale.

Different strokes for different folks.