SCUBA TOURS WORLDWIDE - Representing the world's finest diving

Palau, Micronesia

Palau | Accommodation | Liveaboards | Sample Itinerary | Truk Lagoon or Yap Add-ons |

Introduction to Palau

At the centre of the Micronesian Archipelago, half way between Guam and the Philippines, lies the tiny island nation of Palau. Palau is a string of 340 or so islands stretching across 325 miles of ocean and surrounded by a considerable barrier reef. Just eight of these islands are inhabited, the largest of these being Babeldaob.

 

Famous for its scenic beauty above and below the water, Palau is a diver's paradise offering a tremendous variety of dives including World War II wrecks, schooling sharks at 'Blue Corner', and the stunning coral formations that make up the 'Blue Holes'.

 

Palau is situated just a few degrees north of the Equator, outside of the typhoon belt, and so offers superb diving all year round, with water temperatures averaging 28C and in generally excellent visibility.

 

Accommodation

Palau has a wide range of hotel accommodations, from full-service first class luxury resorts and moderately priced bungalows, to economical motels and native style thatched huts. We can recommend a hotel to suit your needs and most are based in southern Koror, just a few minutes drive away from the dive base and where you can find many restaurants and shops. Getting to and from the dive centre is perfectly easy, as the dive base offers a free shuttle service from hotel to dive centre from 7.30am to 9pm daily. The dive boats set off for a full day's diving of two or three dives per day, with a packed lunch served on a beautiful rock island beach, and normally returns to shore around 4pm.

 

The excellent Fish n Fins dive centre has a fleet of very comfortable and fast boats that will whisk you off on an exhilerating journey through the lush green limestone rock formations to a wealth of glorious dive sites and drop offs. The dive guides are extremely experienced and Nitrox and technical diving is available.

Liveaboard - Ocean Hunter I

The Ocean Hunter I has been specifically designed by divers, for divers and is perfect for friends and small groups looking for a personalised dive itinerary. The liveaboard has just three cabins with private bath and a/c, and accommodates up to 6 guests. This means uncrowded reefs, ease of entry into the water, personal attention and maximized bottom time. The liveaboard is superbly designed throughout and for underwater photographers there is a large working area with more than 60 electrical outlets (110 and 220 volt) and extra storage space. NITROX is available on board and there is support for technical divers.

 

With just 6 divers maximum the Ocean Hunter I offers flexible itineraries of up to 6 dives per day available, all conducted off the stern of the boat. The Ocean Hunter I provides a high-class, unrivalled liveaboard experience and visits the very best areas that Palau has to offer.

Liveaboard - Ocean Hunter III

The newly built Ocean Hunter III is a superb vessel offering an excellent standard of service and comfort for a maximum of 16 guests. Accommodation is in 3 standard cabins, 3 deluxe cabins and 2 master staterooms all with private bath and a/c. There is a large dining room, a comfortable salon with sofas, entertainment system and high quality espresso machine, and on the upper sundeck there are two jacuzzis.

 

Ocean Hunter III is designed to support underwater photograpers and videographers and has a sizeable working area, with 110, 220 and 415 volt electrical outlets and extra storage space. Also available are powerful PC’s for movie and video editing with download, email and cd burning services.

Sample Itinerary

To get to Palau we recommend flying from the UK via Manila, with a one-night stop over there en-route. From Manila Continental Micronesia airlines operate direct flights to Palau on certain days of the week. Continental Micronesia flight schedules are notorious for schedule changes so please call us for a firm itinerary to match your dates. The following is a sample itinerary travelling on Emirates from Heathrow to Manila:
Day 1 Depart London Heathrow at 1345hrs for overnight flight to Manila via Dubai
Day 2 Arrive Manila at 1545hrs and transfer to hotel for 1 night
Day 3 Depart Manila at 2210hrs for flight to Palau, arriving at 0150hrs and transfer to hotel for 9nts
Day 4 Begin 8 days of superb diving on the wonderful reefs of Palau
Day 12 Depart Palau at 1935hrs for flight to Manila, arriving Manila at 2110hrs.
Day 13 Depart Manila at 0020hrs for flight to UK via Dubai, arriving Heathrow at 1135hrs.

Combine your trip with Truk Lagoon or Yap

Just over two hours flight time from Palau is the island of Guam, one of the main hubs for the Continental Micronesia flights that travel on to Truk Lagoon and Yap. Air passes are available for two or more destinations and it is therefore quite easy to incorporate more than one destination. From Guam, Truk Lagoon is less than three hours flight away, while Yap is just over 2 hours. For Yap add-ons you may need to take a Day Room at Guam, which we can arrange for you, as the transit times can be quite long.

We are very experienced in putting together itinereraies for trips to Micronesia and we have first-hand knowledge of each of the destinations so please give us a call to find out more and to get a personalised itinerary and quote to suit your requirements.