Like many divers around the world, Palau was definitely a bucket list location for me. I had heard the diving was great there, and I was not disappointed. Many people around the world evidently share that view, because there are a lot of different dive operators in that island cluster ready to serve those customers from far flung lands. On the other hand....
1. We encountered a very nicely made pamphlet obviously created by something like a chamber of commerce. It was a typical colorful and informative collection of facts about the island, tourist tips, and advertisements. Although there were some scuba operator advertisements, scuba was certainly not played up. There was a section on things to do while visiting Palau. Snorkeling was highlighted, but scuba was not even mentioned.
2. One of the nice things about the island is that if you want to go somewhere like a restaurant or other location, your destination will often send a free shuttle to take you there and back. One day we got such a ride to the official Palau museum. One of the guides there drove the shuttle that brought us. She asked us why we were in Palau--sightseeing, perhaps? No, we said, we were there fore scuba. "Scuba?" she asked, her voice filled with clear surprise. It really seemed to us she had no idea people came to Palau for such a strange reason.
3. The dive operator we used had warned us that if we had gear problems, we would either need to fix it ourselves or rent replacement gear. When my primary regulator hose formed a bubble, I needed to replace it. They told me that my best bet to find one on the island was a specific shop in Koror. When I got there, I saw that they had several complete models of regulator sets, and they had HP hoses galore. They had no regulator hoses. Moreover, neither of the two salespeople knew what a regulator hose was or where I could find one. It was more of a gift shop. Fortunately, one of the other customers in that gift shop worked for another dive operation, and he took me there. This operator advertised that it was able to support technical diving on the deeper sites in Palau. I use a bungeed alternate/long hose primary setup, but they only had traditional regulator hose lengths. I could get by with that, but if I had not found them, I have no idea where I could have gotten a regulator hose.
In general, then, it seems to me as if the island has a justified reputation for great diving, and you can easily find a boat and DM to take you to the dive sites. The rest of the island does not seem to be aware of this, though, and the many dive operators there have only one function--leading dives. That may be because although many westerners come for the diving, the overwhelming bulk of the tourist industry is from Asia, and they apparently come primarily for an island getaway, with no thought of scuba.
1. We encountered a very nicely made pamphlet obviously created by something like a chamber of commerce. It was a typical colorful and informative collection of facts about the island, tourist tips, and advertisements. Although there were some scuba operator advertisements, scuba was certainly not played up. There was a section on things to do while visiting Palau. Snorkeling was highlighted, but scuba was not even mentioned.
2. One of the nice things about the island is that if you want to go somewhere like a restaurant or other location, your destination will often send a free shuttle to take you there and back. One day we got such a ride to the official Palau museum. One of the guides there drove the shuttle that brought us. She asked us why we were in Palau--sightseeing, perhaps? No, we said, we were there fore scuba. "Scuba?" she asked, her voice filled with clear surprise. It really seemed to us she had no idea people came to Palau for such a strange reason.
3. The dive operator we used had warned us that if we had gear problems, we would either need to fix it ourselves or rent replacement gear. When my primary regulator hose formed a bubble, I needed to replace it. They told me that my best bet to find one on the island was a specific shop in Koror. When I got there, I saw that they had several complete models of regulator sets, and they had HP hoses galore. They had no regulator hoses. Moreover, neither of the two salespeople knew what a regulator hose was or where I could find one. It was more of a gift shop. Fortunately, one of the other customers in that gift shop worked for another dive operation, and he took me there. This operator advertised that it was able to support technical diving on the deeper sites in Palau. I use a bungeed alternate/long hose primary setup, but they only had traditional regulator hose lengths. I could get by with that, but if I had not found them, I have no idea where I could have gotten a regulator hose.
In general, then, it seems to me as if the island has a justified reputation for great diving, and you can easily find a boat and DM to take you to the dive sites. The rest of the island does not seem to be aware of this, though, and the many dive operators there have only one function--leading dives. That may be because although many westerners come for the diving, the overwhelming bulk of the tourist industry is from Asia, and they apparently come primarily for an island getaway, with no thought of scuba.
I’m afraid it won’t be long they would catch up to Palau demise. So, go there before it’s too late.
