2000 Chapbook

Palau

Long day-boat rides to the best diving weave through calm water and past magnificent rock islands, but there's the potential for rough seas on the outer edges of islands.... Serious divers who want more dives prefer live-aboards due to the length of the daily commute from Koror.... Marine biodiversity here is among the greatest in the world.... Visibility can exceed 200', while currents range from nil to dangerously strong, with four Japanese divers carried away in 1994.... Water temperatures are in the low- to mid-80s.... Favorite dives include Great Wall at Ngemelis, Blue Corner, and any of the walls around the tip of Peleliu.... The capital city of Koror, well along the way to being Caymanized by massive tourism, has excellent ethnic restaurants.... Check out the DW Motel or Sunrise Villa Hotel for low-priced lodging options.... The best handicrafts are prisoners' carved wooden story boards for sale at the jail in town; hand-pressed coconut oil from street vendors is a good gift for your personal massage practitioner.... The College of Micronesia's bookstore offers printed signs that are useful back home ("No Chewing Betelnut" and "No Smoking Drinks").... See Gen. Douglas MacArthur's old yacht, which is gradually sinking into the water at the dock in Peleliu....

For full reviews of the following Palau live-aboards, see:

Palau Aggressor II,In Depth- March 1996

Sun Dancer,In Depth- February 1995

Ocean Hunter,February 1999, Steve Evers, Boulder Creek, CA. Vis: 40-80 ft. Water: 80-83 degrees. Sunny. Water: calm. Dive Restrictions: None. Comfortable boat holds six divers and crew of three. Two smaller rooms at bow hold two divers each with one head to share. One spacious room in aft with private head. Food outstanding. Much of the coral was bleached from high water temperatures about six months ago, but was still enjoyable. Coral in Peleliu was the least damaged (Peleliu Tip and Peleliu Express). Jellyfish Lake had few jellyfish. (Tel: 011-680-488-2637; Fax: 011-680-488-5418 or 680-488-1725; e-mail: Ocean.Hunter@palaunet.com; website www.oceanhunter.com)

Ocean Hunter,March 1999, Bob Hill (rhill43010@aol.com), Apopka, FL. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 79-84 degrees. Sunny. Water: calm, currents. Dive your computer, within recreational limits of 130 ft. Photo subject matter was awesome. Crew helpful pointing out subject and took excellent care handling of photo equipment. Ocean Hunter has been fitted with divers in mind. We loved the size - 62 feet - and the limitation of six divers. No crowds! Boat of a shallow drift enabling it to put us in the water right at the dive sites. Individual lockers for smaller gear as well as a very nice hanger where we hung our skins to dry between dives (wetsuits are not needed in these waters) on bow. At the stern were tanks with BCs affixed. They were set up the first day and crew refilled the tanks in place. Back up to your rig and one of the crew would assist you getting into it. We stored fins and mask against the rear bulkhead. Rinse bucket for masks and a large fresh water rinse tub for photo gear. One step down to the large dive platform and a giant stride into the beautiful water. Crew right there to hand you your camera. Ladder at one side of the dive platform. A level above the dive preparation area is the wheelhouse. Here are a three-shelved camer rack and other flat areas where you can work on your photo gear. Plenty of electric outlets for recharging batteries. Each of the crew except cook were divers. They were attentive without interfering with our dives, letting us dive our own profiles, but pointed out fish. Below decks nicely laid out, well appointed and well maintained. Forward cabin with two bunks room to move around and store things. Middle cabin much smaller. Sherri and I initially shared the lower bunk but found it tight so used both the upper as well. Adequate storage space (but no need to take much with you anyway). Forward and middle cabins share a bath. Third cabin at the stern is quite spacious and has its own bath. Due to its size there is a surcharge for this cabin. Each cabin has its own air conditioning. Food was extremely good and plentiful. Three of our group are vegetarians. Solomon, the cook, was very accommodating, often fixing duplicate meals, one with meat and the other without (e.g., lasagna). Boat is stocked with a good library of undersea reference books. Television in the main salon with a selection of movies, I shoot video and had planned to review my efforts, however, the system was PAL and not compatible with my American system. Boat manufactures its own fresh water. Topside there are two hoses with shower spray attachments one at the stern and one at the bow. Warm water for rinsing following dives and were very helpful; we kept soap and shampoo in our storage lockers and never used the shower in the bathroom. No Nitrox, no E-6 processing. Diving outstanding! Well worth the cost and the hassle of getting there. 18 varieties of butterfly fish, some in schools so large it looked like confetti falling. Walls were magnificent sheer drops with a lot of soft corals and macro subjects. Blue Corner strong current but an amazing amount of fish life. We would hook on the reef with our hooks and watch the show. Several nice blue holes and other beautiful reef dives. Several wreck nice wreck dives with a lot of coral growth and fish life. Most days we did four dives but some we did five. Deepest was 110 feet. Did three dives in excess of 100 ft, five between 90 and 100 ft., five between 80 and 90 ft, three between 70 and 80 ft and ten below 70 feet. Tova and Novat are nice and helpful. They have surrounded themselves with good people.

Ocean Hunter,December 1999, Peggy & José Miguel Duran (DuranJM@worldnet.att.net), Corpus Christi, TX. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 80-84 degrees. Weather: sunny. Water: calm, currents. Restrictions: None. Somewhat cramped facilities for one pro photographer and two amateur videographers. Would have been a problem if all six divers had cameras. Ocean Hunteris small enough to get where neither the Aggressornor the Dancercan and we always finished our dives at Blue Corner, Ngemelis, German Channel and other sites before the day boats were even in the horizon. All diving from the boat and even with the currents at Peleliu, we never had to wait to be picked up. Ken was a great captain/divemaster. Six divers in three cabins, small but well designed. You have to feel comfortable in live-aboards and have done several trips on them, before you can appreciate the Ocean Hunter.We were fortunate to have Carl Roessler on our trip, and his presence made possible some truly exciting photo/video opportunities. He has an extensive fund of great stories and is knowledgeable about marine life. Solomon, our chef, worked miracles in his tiny kitchen. Food gourmet and plentiful. Espresso after our meals was greatly enjoyed. Solomon's smoothies were wonderful. A congenial small group of divers was appreciated in such close quarters. Owner Navot Bornovski was with us several days adding his contagious enthusiasm. Disappointment: the extent of severe coral bleaching/death. Tropicals and large pelagics were there. Only small fishes and macro creatures were scarce in areas where they had been plentiful, according to some. Great video of mandarin fish outside Chandelier Cave! Navot and Tova graciously invited us for dinner at their home our last night in Koror. Their hospitality was as charming as their children. After 16 live-aboards, the Ocean Hunteris well at the top of our list. Live-aboard diving at its best and the only way to dive Palau.

Palau Aggressor II,October 1998, Thomas P. Aplin, Costa Mesa, CA. Vis: 80-150 ft. Water: 82-85 degrees. Spacious cabins with in suite bathrooms. Food plentiful, varied and excellent. Multinational crew (Palauan, Filipino, South African, German and American) was excellent. Sharks on every dive, many turtles, few other pelagics, no mantas. Good variety of fish and critters but not as diverse as Sulawesi. Crew gave us some choice in selecting sites. Blue Corner three times and Blue Holes twice. Most sites are in the same general area. Nights spent at moorings, not traveling to new sites. Spent an afternoon touring Peleliu, a major WW II battle site, and we found live ordnance! Dove two wrecks, one at night. The coral has suffered from El Niño warming, and the multitudes of divers at the popular sites are starting to take a toll; Japanese groups not environmentally sensitive. Unusual sites like Chandelier Cave and Jellyfish Lake make Palau unique. The raging current on some dives is for advanced divers only. The top deck of the boat is almost entirely coveredm not great for sun worshipers. While five dives were possible most days, most guests averaged four. (AggressorFleet: Ph: 800-348-2628 or 504-385-2628; Fax: 504-384-0817; e-mail:info@aggressor.com; website www.aggressor.com)

Palau Aggressor,November 1998, Lori Fulton & Carl Bloomer, Elgin, IL. Vis: 25-100 ft. Water: 80-85 degrees. Restrictions: None, some divers bounced to 150-200 ft. regularly. Accommodations and food excellent. Staff does everything. Current and surge from nonexistent to incredibly strong. Not for the novice. Numerous sharks, turtles, Jellyfish Lake incredible. Great diversity in marine life; however, repeat visitors said it was down markedly from prior visits. Coral bleaching. Evidence of wear and tear by divers observed (30 divers from another boat crawling across the coral in current hand over hand, first time I wished for a speargun). Blue Corner, Peleliu Corner and Jellyfish Lake are musts, as was Siaes Tunnel. Day room at Palau Pacific Resort ($25/diver) is worth every cent. Hotel rates vary significantly, so negotiate.

Palau Aggressor,November 1998, Hans Menco, Pittsford, NY. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: mid 80's. Expectations too high. Lack of huge schools of sharks disappointing. Also rain every day but no storms. Considerable amount of coral destruction due to bleaching. Very roomy meeting-video-eating area. Large area set aside for photo and video care of equipment. Extremely large top deck sun area. Cabins are small and cramped with insufficient storage space. They run the dive operation and the whole boat very professionally and efficiently. Help always available for any diving or photography-related problem. Boat is very clean with daily change of towels, etc. Well worth the trip.

Palau Aggressor,February 1999, Christina K. Hutson, Indio, CA. Vis: 60-90 ft. Water: 82 degrees. Restrictions: 120 ft. My 3rd time back. Conditions were favorable and we were able to dive Peleliu. Good diving. Town on Peleliu is worth the time, especially for WWII buffs. Air-conditioned van and knowledgeable guide.

Palau Aggressor,February 1999, Joe Puckett, Burbank, CA. Vis: 100-170 ft. Water: 84-86 degrees. Sunny, rainy, cloudy, currents. Asked divers not to go below 130 feet but never came unglued if you did. Two-week trip to Palau, 4 days land based, 7 days aboard Palau Aggressor.Three days to Palau from LA via Tokyo using frequent flyer miles on Delta and Continental. Overnight in Tokyo, over $145, but unavoidable. Excellent ship and crew. Divers that have been on both the Aggressorand Peter Hughes boat say the Aggressoris more stable due to the catamaran format. Motto is "Eat, Dive, Sleep." On the water heading to the first dive via skiff by 7:30A. Get in two dives before lunch then two after then a night dive. Food excellent and plentiful. Renee the cook provides creative and delicious meals and snacks. Courteous, genuinely friendly crew tended to everything, above and below the water. Never micro managed dives, but always there if you needed them.

Palau Aggressor,April 1999, Donna Layden & Jim Jensen (layjendj@home.com), Denver, CO. Vis: 75-100 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Nice boat, accommodating crew. Live-aboard is the only way to see and dive Palau! Significant coral bleaching, but still schools of pyramid butterfly fish, snapper, triggerfish and sharks at Blue Corner. Current dives were fun for most of our group and well timed by captain. All diving is from dinghy that is hydraulically lowered into water - cool! Dinghy diving limits dive freedom, but unavoidable. Land tour of Peleliu Island makes WWII seem much more real and alive. We repeated sites that we liked - don't bother with wrecks here if you are doing Truk - they were disappointing. I got to see the best of Palau and though it was fun, I don't need to go back again.

Sun Dancer II,September 1998, Al Krenz (akrenz993@aol.com), Countryside, IL. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 86-88 degrees. Crew was helpful and anticipated our group's every need. Operation ran smoothly. Divemaster briefings were comprehensive and illustrated with large drawings. Meals were very good with tasty snacks between dives. Cabins small but comfortable and adequate. (Peter Hughes Diving, Inc.; Phone 800-669-9391 or 800-932-6237; Fax 305-669-9475; e-mail dancer@peterhughes.com; website www.peterhughes.com)

Sun Dancer II,October 1998, Jon Krohngold, Cypress, CA. Vis: 70-130 ft. Water: 83-86 degrees. Crew excellent, divemasters knowledgeable and gave excellent briefings. Accommodations very good. Had our own bathroom. Boat rides short to sites with plenty of room. Some dive sites can handle 20 divers at once. Recommended they split divers in two groups and give 15 minutes before second group enters. It is a long flight, get good seats if you can. Overall excellent operation.

Sun Dancer II,December 1998, Bill Dignin, San Mateo CA. Vis: 40-150 ft. Water 84-88 degrees. Two-tiered dive deck photo tables port and starboard. Crew gracious and enthusiastic. Chef eager to please, but food dull/freezer-burned. Rooms clean and adequate. Good briefings. A lot of coral bleaching. Disappointingly few macro critters and soft corals, but some lovely walls. Blue Corner, New Drop-Off, Virgin Blue Hole, Big Drop-Off all exciting, but some walls boring. Capt. Frank volunteered to go to Peleliu but currents bad so he continued to Angaur, vis 150'. Huge cobblestone coral field, but bleached. Free Nitrox. Photo pro took numerous photos of guests that were gratis at end of trip, a pleasant surprise. Disappointing to pay full fare for the short first and last days, but clean and efficient operation.

Sun Dancer,January 1999, Ben Glick, New Ashford, MA. Water: 84. Vis: 50-100. Coral bleaching is moderately bad.

Sun Dancer,January 1999, Thomas Harvery, Hillsdale, NJ. Service super and the boat had all the amenities. Three days of diving with the mantas in the German Channel, and the Blue Hole and Chandlers Cave were beautiful. The reef itself and the reef fish were missing as were all the jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake. They told us that water temperatures were in the 90's in Sept. That accounted for the massive coral damage, and lack of schooling fish. A long way to travel for Bahamas diving. It's sad to see a beautiful reef die.

Sun Dancer,April 1999, Stephen E. Hickman, Massillon, OH. Vis: up to 80 ft. Water: 79-81 degrees. Operation was excellent but most of hard coral was dead. Truk much more colorful. We had 2 days of sun, out of 16, that muted the colors. Had a tendency to repeat dives though they changed somewhat based on the current. Current was strong often which meant reef hooks and "commando diving." Still a memorable trip.

Sun Dancer,May 1999, Stephanie Mills, (smills@sgi.com), Bloomfield, MI. Boarded the Sun Dancerwith our group of 10. Nine others on board. Rooms are spacious, dive deck is big, 2 camera tables, showers, gear rinse tanks, huge sundeck, salon where we ate was large and comfortable. 10 crew members, a personable and capable group. Briefings thorough and informative. Did 22 dives and was underwater for 21 hours and 42 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed every dive. Peleliu Cut: My heart still pounds when I think about this dive! It was my first experience with big currents. Surface conditions were wild, large swells rocked and rolled us out to the site but it was fun riding in the tenders "yee ha!" Leisurely dive at first. As we rounded the cut, the current hit fast and we had seconds to put the reef hooks in. I settled a little too close to the edge and was pounded by upwellings, downcurrents and side currents...felt like a prize fighter getting pummeled. But the action in the blue was so fascinating. Turtle Cove: Gorgeous all covered with soft corals, sponges and sea fans the size of Manhattan. Couple sharks swimming leisurely below us, and the usual herds of pyramid butterflies, Square spotted anthias, lots of Moorish Idols. New Drop Off! What a thrill ride! Leisurely dive at first. I noticed sharks start to gather and then felt a slight increase in the current. I reached to get my reef hook and heard what can only be compared to a locomotive approaching. Within seconds, I tumbled up after barely jamming my reef hook into a piece of coral at the edge of the wall to prevent taking off for parts unknown. The current sounded like thunder; I held my mask on and my reg in my mouth, watching the shark and fish action off the wall. One by one, people released their hooks and sailed into the blue yonder at the speed of light to do their safety stops on the move and wait for the tender. Chandelier Caves: inside is glittering with limestone and full of huge stalactites. There were caverns you could swim to so the plan was to go into the cave, surface in the first cavern, go back down, surface in the next, etc. Turned off our lights so we were in pitch black! One by one people started leaving, you could see them descend, then turn lights on to get out of the cave. Bichu Maru: fully penetrable and covered with growth and interesting inhabitants, Mandarin fish, nudibranchs that looked like brooches.

Sun Dancer II,May 1999, Richard Litsch, Santa Rosa, CA. Vis: 30-100 ft. Water: 86 degrees. Limits suggested, but not enforced. crew, boat, food, accommodations were all top notch. Food beyond belief for such a remote location. Saw everything one would expect on a world class trip. Walls were stunning. My favorite sites were Peleliu Wall and Shark City. Blue Corner was great, but overrated compared with other sites and at times too crowded. Our group did not go to Jelly Fish Lake as they told us there are so few jellyfish left after El Niño, which it is not worth it. Did Mandarin Fish Lake. Great topside scenery in the Rock Islands; Mandarin fish would be hard to miss at this spot! Free Nitrox and alcoholic beverages are nice and worth considering when shopping for dive trips. Corals not as good as expected and night diving was poor. Overall a fantastic trip!

Sun Dancer II,August 1999, Mark Walden, Garland, TX. Vis: 30-100 ft. Water: 83-84 degrees. As exciting as advertised except the bleached coral. Rain and wind kept us from some better sites a couple of days. Plenty of sharks, turtles, and fish. Saw spotted lined eagle ray (at least that's what they told me it was). Crew and boat exceptional, headed by Capt. Alan who was hard working and loves his job. They helped me with loaner gear and having my luggage brought to boat after Continental sent me through Tokyo and my luggage through Hawaii. Trip worth the 19 hours of flying each way.

Sun Dancer II,August 1999, J.W. Phillis (SBPhillis@aol.com), Southfield, MI. Vis: 30-70 ft. Water: 86-88 degrees. Restrictions: 130 ft. Rinse tanks and tables too small when everyone has camera gear. Showers with intermittent sunshine, calm seas. Spent most of the time anchored near German Channel, with two smaller boats to carry divers to sites. Most diving in a limited area around Negemelis Island, Blue Corner, Blue Holes, New Drop-Off, Big Drop-Off with side trips to Peleliu Corner and Wall, Mandarin Fish Lake, and Chandelier Caves. Fish life plentiful including Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish, white tip and grey sharks, dog tooth tuna, lionfish. Corals in poor shape. Sun Danceris a state-of-the-art floating hotel with every convenience, including hot showers on the dive deck. Meals good, the cook satisfied a mixed group of Japanese and other nationalities. Being on a live-aboard spares divers the 60 min. daily trip to and from Koror, and means arriving at sites before the parade of day boats. Sites in Palau are overdived and makes one wonder if there are no other good sites on the island to dilute the intensity of diving activity.

Truk