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" Wow! What an experience! Had a great time. Although I am not fond of Continental airlines (for as far ahead as we scheduled we had terrible seat assignments) everything else worked out well. No problems with connections, the weather was perfect, the islands were beautiful and natives friendly. Lots of fascinating undersea life. Everyone stayed healthy. Just a great trip. Thanks for all your help."
John Buckley
June 2003 |
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"Palau diving is really up to its reputation as one of the best dive locations in the world. There are certainly many sites that are well suited for newly certified divers, but also there are sites that should only be dived by very experienced divers. These are the ones where the legendary currents can be fierce; also there can be downdraft currents that could be potentially dangerous.
My first trip to Palau was in '94. I stayed at Sunrise ViIla, a solid "2 stars" and really very nice and OK. What I found especially good there was the bar and lounge, a very warm and cordial place for plenty of socializing both with guests as well as locals. It's rather remote on a high hillside, and going anywhere requires a van pickup, taxi or rental car.
In '96 I stayed at The Carolines, a series of bungalows made in local dark hardwoods, very beautiful, perched high on a hillside with magnificent view across the steep hillside to the horizon. Unfortunately, there is little social life opportunity because they have no restaurant and only a rudimentary bar. Also remote and vehicle pickup is necessary. The Carolines has an arrangement for its guests to share some of the facilities of the PPR (below).
This time I stayed at the Palau Pacific Resort (PPR), a truly 4 star facility. It's definitely pricey, but definitely worth the money. The restaurant is fine and the outdoor bar is great for gatherings. It has its own dive operation (Splash), although I had always dived with Sam's who picks up at the PPR pier, as do other dive operations. MORE... |
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"First of all, the Sun Dancer is the BEST liveaboard I have been on, in every aspect. The boat is big and spacious. The salon is the size of a small restaurant. Dinner is cloth table clothes and napkins, candles and centerpieces, served at your place. No plastic dishes here - pretty dishware used every meal. The food was fantastic. The rooms are two twin beds (real mattresses), no bunks. Plenty of storage.
The dive deck is roomy, even though you dive from a tender. I was expecting 12' zodiacs; the boat was an inflatable, but was the size of most small day boats. You set up your gear and they load that tank onto the boat in your personal spot for the week; fins are in a rack next to your seat, the rest in a basket under it. Entries are roll offs, but the boat has a real dive boat ladder in the back. No exposed prop to worry about as the boat moves around to pick everyone up. Hot water showers and towels on the deck when you get back, and the hostess staff is waiting with hot brownies or cookies, and even hot chocolate on the cooler days." MORE... |
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