Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in
Micronesia/Palau

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Aggressor Fleet: "First Time In Palau - Awesome Reefs - Good Diving", May, 2019, by Mark Tarczynski, CA, US ( 2 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 10938 has 2 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Been on a bunch of Aggressor boats in my lifetime. Palau Rock Island Aggressor is the largest, most spacious, Aggressor I've ever had the pleasure of diving from. Our normal sized suite was roughly twice the size of a typical Aggressor. The diving is from a skiff. But amazingly, the skiff is lifted from the water to the dive deck via a massive hydraulic lift system. All you need to do is step from the dive deck on to, or off of, the skiff. EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE DIVE SHIP. Rock Island Aggressor crew was spectacular. Chef Cameron was impressive in the kitchen. Menu items were sometimes a little on the spicy side (I like it), causing some guests to complain about acid reflux when diving after eating lunch. I say, “Deal with it!”. The Chef did a great job. Captain Ike and Ripan were two of my favorite dive masters. Very knowledgeable, helpful and concerned for their guests’ comfort and well being. The diving was "okay". I say okay because, for being so close to the Coral Triangle, I expected a denser biomass. Sadly, I was mistaken. Nevertheless, the corals were 100% healthy. Zero bleaching and zero algae. We briefly saw one Manta at German Channel. We also encountered multiple reef sharks that never got very close and many, many, many turtles. We also encountered one "baby" Whale Shark and one Marble Ray, several Napoleon Wrasse, tons of Titan Triggers (watch out for those guys - very aggressive) and we were fortunate enough to witness the Bump Head Parrot Fish spawning (that was cool!). Many schooling barracuda, jacks, and snapper were also encountered. Aggressor also organizes a land tour to Jellyfish Lake. Millions of stinger-less jellyfish inhabit this lake. When going to Palau, this is a "must-see" phenomenon. Swimming in Jellyfish Lake was nothing short of outstanding! Bucket list item checked off! Water temps were about 80-84 degrees Fahrenheit, visibility varied from 50 - 100'. As expected, there was a lot of current on a good number of our dives. Reef hooks were used on about three of the dives. Definitely not for beginners, although there was one “beginner” on our guest list and she seemed to do just fine. Despite the disappointing biomass, diving in Palau ranks up there in my top 10 dive destinations around the world. Highly recommended.
Websites	Aggressor Fleet
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	All over the Caribbean, Indonesia, Mexico, Galapagos, Cocos, Bahamas, Florida Keys ... Did my check-out dive in 1971 in an old rock quarry in Racine Wisconsin in the middle of March ... dry suits weren't invented yet. Oh yeah ... and I was using a J-valve.
Closest Airport	ROR	Getting There	United LAX -> HNL -> GUM -> ROR For a 3-hop flight, everything went shockingly well. All connections were short and on-time and no lost luggage.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	80-100 Ft/ 24-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Supposed to follow the DM on each dive. 2 DMs in the water and many times 3. However, we never felt it mandatory to follow the lead DM. If you split from the group, a DM would hang back and keep an eye on you
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Two camera tables and plenty of charging stations. Multiple large camera set-ups and large drones were comfortably accommodated on this trip.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in Micronesia/Palau

Aggressor Fleet: "First Time In Palau - Awesome Reefs - Good Diving", May, 2019,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in
Micronesia/Palau