Typhoon Bopha's effect on Palau's dive sites

[Woodiver]

I don't know if the opinions of somebody coming off the charter effected by the typhoon would be the best opinion of the damage or current conditions. Remember, their vacation was impacted by the storm, diving cut short by the incoming storm and after the storm once diving resumed, conditions are probably really be stirred up.

A number of years ago, we were caught in a Kona storm part way through a trip on the Aggressor, running back to the mooring in Kona for safety with big winds, seas, boats washed up on the shore and spending 1 1/2 days powering into seas on the mooring at Kailua Kona without A/C power because the gen sets went down because the fuel filters were plugged up and we lost 2 days of diving because of the storm.

I know our opinions of the diving on this trip was impacted by the storm. What we could provide is valuable information on how the crew and boat reacted prior to and during the storm. IMHO, safety is much more important than if a dive site has some broken coral or a little more sand on it.

 

[jfcl01]

They probably would be able to tell us whether or not the reefs are blanketed in sand, in the way that Cozumel's were after Wilma.

 

[dgrauman]

I received this from Reef 'N Rainforest:

From what I have heard, the diving in Palau has not really been affected. Just after the storm, the visibility was greatly reduced but the currents have pretty much cleared that out. I think by the time you get there, the diving will be 100% back to normal.

The reef tops are a little deeper in Palau so they are not too exposed to the storm surge so they tend fair pretty well in larger storms. I have heard that was some damage to the eastern reefs but those are not the typical dive sites visited by Sam's or Fish n Fins. The German Channel area seems to have been pretty well protected from the storm and I have heard those reefs are fine.

---------- Post added December 10th, 2012 at 06:55 PM ----------

This from Sam's tours:

So far no report of sand on the reefs. Official statement from our
management below:

Following the Super Typhoon Bopha which hit Palau on the night of 2nd of
December 2012 we have been acutely aware of people's concerns regarding the
conditions of the reefs after the impact of the Typhoon. Early indications
and preliminary surveys appear to suggest there has been damage to the reefs
on the East side of Palau, which was where we experienced the greatest storm
surge and winds. There are typically 4 or 5 sites that we dive on the East
side of Palau on a regular basis; Short Drop Off, Ngerchong Inside and
Outside and two sites at Peleliu. For the time being, and until full
assessments have been made by local marine related NGO's, we will be
actively omitting these sites from our regular daily schedule unless they
are specifically requested. The vast majority of the sites we visit on a
regular basis such as Blue Corner, German Channel, and Ulong Channel, to
name but a few, appear to have been spared significant damage and have
retained their beauty and biodiversity. Whilst the visibility the first few
days after the storm was not great by Palau's standards, the suspended
sediment that the storm caused appears to be returning to its usual state
and we are getting reports, from our dive guides, that the conditions in the
water are essentially back to normal, warm, clear and breathtakingly
beautiful! We will continue to monitor the situation at the Dive sites and
will continue to work with local NGO's on the ground here in Palau to
document the extent of the situation and will provide our agents the most up
to date information on the conditions.

Warm regards,

Anne Munoz
Sam's Tours Palau

 

[mcliffy2]

Any further info from divers who have been since Bopha?

 

[farsidefan1]

Just a note. February is about the best month to dive Palau ( I hate myself to saying that but I think the cat is already out of the bag). Sigh, when I was younger and went skiing every week I used to tell out of towners that they were witnessing a miracle of good conditions. That usually Utah skiing was all rocks and ice. I didn't want to stand behind them in a lift line in the future. Nonetheless, if you go in Feb you will enjoy great conditions.

 

[jfcl01]

I have received 3 emails so far this week from someone who is currently diving in Palau....the reports are great so far...miminal sand on anything he has seen, and no damage to coral/delicate structures that he has seen so far.

 

[NorthO]

I came back a few days ago from a long trip in this area. I spent a week on the Ocean Hunter with Fish n' Fins just before christmas. I have to admit this was my first time in Palau so it's difficult for me to compare the before/after Bopha, but I can give an idea of the status the islands and the dive sites were in. First, on land a lot of the vegetation is intact inland, but as you get closer to the shore the damage really becomes worse. Roofs and houses blown away, trees uprooted... See pics below for details. People are really working hard to clean up everything though.

As for the dive sites, we did not go on the east sites, which were the most exposed ones and the most damaged ones it seems. All the pelagics and big animals are still thriving, lots of mantas in german channel, sharks, napoleons, turtles... Wall dives are amazing too. Viz was not great at first but getting better everyday.

BUT when you take a look at coral gardens and macro life, that's when the damage appears. As you can see in one of the pics below (never mind the cowrie), a good part of the reef is covered in a layer of silt and sand, sometimes only 1-2cm thick like in that picture, sometimes a LOT more (15-20+cm). And of course, when you dig a little, the coral polyps didn't survive this... So though the shape of the reef is still there, part of the coral gardens are in not-so-good shape.

Even with Bopha though, I had an amazing week in Palau and although I don't know what it was like before, I still consider what I've seen as world-class diving, and I'm sure the conditions have already improved since the time I was there.

 

[jfcl01]

thanks for the report

 

[Woodiver]

We just returned from a liveaboard trip in Palau last weekend. Most of the damage that we saw on Babelthuap was at the shoreline just down from the Capital building and was from the storm surge. A number of houses were destroyed during the storm. The Capital building was being used for temporary housing.

On Peleliu, a large number of trees were down and most of the crops on the island, banana, taro and papaya, were damaged by the surge.

Underwater vis was down and macro seems to have taken the big hit. Diving was still great at the hook in sites and only so so at the coral garden sites. German Channel may have had vis of 15' when we were there.

---------- Post added January 3rd, 2013 at 08:19 PM ----------

jfclo1,

Your PM mail box is full so I can't respond to your PM. Clean it out and I will answer your questions.

 

[dgrauman]

I just got back from 2 week shore base dive. Our experience was somewhat different. Granted, I have no previous Palau experience, but would say that that I was unable to detect any damage to the sites we visited with the exception of some silt in the German Channel one day that may have been due to misjudging the tides by our guide, as it was fine on another dive. On the remainder of the dives, I could detect no damage. I paid especial attention to the more delicate fan and soft corals, and all seemed intact.

I am sure other sites were not so fortunate, but there are so many sites available it is impossible to visit even a large fraction in 2 weeks. Perhaps our guides were more familiar with the most undamaged sites, but all in all it was still a fantastic experience.