And for some this was the main attraction whether they did Truk or just Palau.
John aka BJMathpro, Catherine aka Cmaz, Tom aka SpaceDiver, Cindy aka SunDanceDiver and Diana aka sharkb8 all joined the Truk gang (sans Bill aka ScubaTex who went at the last minute in lieu of KellyDiver) to finish out this TRIP OF A LIFETIME!
We stayed at the Sea Passion Hotel which was beautiful, fairly close to the dive operator and centrally located to other restaurants and services. Parts of Palau are quite developed and others are truly reflective of an island that caters heavily to divers.
We dove with Fish N Fins...one of three major dive operators in Palau. The boats were by far the best set up with padded seats, dry boxes and personal diving spaces not found on traditional dive boats. It did not have a head which made for a long day at times...but at this time no operator has heads on its boats. The dive guides at Fish & Fins are all trained by Francis the founder of the first dive operation in Palau which was later sold to the current owners Tova and her husband. Many of the guides are cousins to each other and they share a love and knowledge of the local sites that exceed that of most of all the international dive guides. Our personal guides were Jade (Palauian) and Rick (American). We also had Rick and Eddie on our first day and Tom and Cindy had Chris and other guide on the last day since they stayed a bit longer than the rest of us. We watched many dive guides lead groups and saw them 'miss the action' because they dropped them in the wrong place or at the wrong time. With no formal training only the local guides know the ropes and they are found mostly at Fish & Fins and Sam's. They then teach the other guides how to lead the dives safely, effectively and enjoyably.
And while this is not a new divers destination...the right guide can help you compensate for less than robust skills. I would not plan to do Palau unless you have at least 40 dives under your belt and at least your AOW or equivilent. And speaking of diving...
The Palau Only gang got in one day of diving before our Truk buddies joined us and then we had 5 more amazing days of diving the Blue Corner, Blue Hole, several wrecks including the Helmet Wreck and the plane and a number of beautiful walls and scenic dives. All of them left you wanting more and none disappointed giving something for everyone!
We had a number of divers on this(these) trips celebrate special milestones including Dive #40 by Cindy, #50 by Barbara, #200 by Mike, #500 by Stephane and a VERY SPECIAL
by Fred. (Please forgive me if I forgot someone's special dive/day!)The water was not as clear at it can be in Palau but it shows the amount of nutrients in the water which makes the reefs so healthy and of course the diving so beautiful. We just missed Manta season but saw other rays, and LOADS OF SHARKS to make up for it.
I was able to film short clips of many of the cleaning stations and will get the guys to help me upload them on the site so you can see them.
More later...kamala
