"You just gotta come here!"

What to say about Palau? Well, firstly, it’s been a busy season. We have had a lot of trips, which means a lot of diving. And that is no bad thing. The diving here is as you would expect from Palau’s reputation. Exceptional!
So why is the diving here so amazing? Diversity is one of its key features. In a 6 diving day schedule, you can dive wrecks, caverns, reefs, walls and corners. You can swim casually along pristine hard coral gardens, drift through beautiful channels, hook in on strong current corner dives  and so on. It makes for an epic liveaboard because you never get bored. And this is all before you mention the marine life.

"Giving dive briefing"

I have honestly never seen so many sharks. And I’m not just talking about reef sharks. This season so far we have managed to see nine different types of shark. Palau’s status as the world’s first shark sanctuary is well deserved. Having been very lucky in my dive career in being able to dive some of the world’s top dive destinations, Palau has to be number one so far for large marine life. There is something very special about being hooked on a corner in a strong current, surrounded by anywhere up to fifty grey reef sharks.

  Pelagic life here is wonderful, and such a pleasure to see. It is definitely a “big stuff”, “wide angle” dive destination. There are huge schools of fish, hunting tuna, turtles and mantas to name just a few. And thanks to restricted fishing practices, a lot of the fish can be found on the dive sites. Also, because a lot of the marine life doesn’t perceive you as a predator it means if you move slowly and gently, you can almost kiss the fish they get so close.

Palau does lack macro life though. It is here, but there isn’t a lot of it. You can see nudibranchs, ghost pipefish and candy crabs, plus orang-utan crabs and pygmy seahorses. But it isn’t in abundance, and you really have to hunt for it. We also have it on good authority that there used to be a frogfish. There is so much other life to see here though, that the lack of macro doesn’t really affect the diving.

So yeah, the diving is pretty epic. And MV Solitude One has to be the nicest boat I have worked on. With a maximum of twenty two guests, this converted fishing research vessel feels super spacious, even when full. At no point does the full quota of guests, plus twenty crew make the boat feel crowded. And a boat doesn’t run without its crew. All of whom are awesome and so much fun to work with. There is always a lot of laughter.

The huge dive deck will definitely make an impression. There is a comfortable lounge area, spacious digital room for setting up your camera equipment, dining area, sundeck and Jacuzzi. The cabins vary in size depending on your budget, but all are spacious (for a boat), and very comfortable.

So I know this sounds a lot like “sales pitch”, but honestly, it really is worth the trip. The drawbacks (as there always are some) are that it isn’t an easy place to get to. All the flights are red eye, and arrive very early in the morning. The internet connections at present are super slow, but they do work and are an improvement on last year. Everything is imported, so most things are not cheap to buy. But the scenery is beautiful and the people are lovely.

Palau lacks good night dives. Because there is limited macro life, they can’t compete with other top class destinations. The water temperature can vary a lot too. Mostly it is a comfortable 29c, but it can drop as low as 18c at times with cold oceanic currents. That can make hook in dives feels a bit cold, as you aren’t swimming around a lot.

"Commuting for work"

Any of Palau’s drawbacks don’t outweigh its amazing advantages. It really is a little bit of diving heaven. Personally, the season has had its ups and downs. I have had some amazing dives, and ticked some things off the bucket list of what I want to see underwater. But I’ve also broken some toes and had a mistaken case of DCS and recurrent ear issues. But overall, it’s been worth every second!

Written by Scott Lindsay Diveguide & Scuba Instructor

It's not just a SHARK sanctuary......

Mitch and I exploring Peleliu Island

Sharks. Jellyfish. When someone mentioned Palau, those were the first two things I thought about: the iconic photos of snorkellers floating in a sea of golden jellies and divers watching a wall of sharks. Thankfully, since I've been working in Palau, my mental images are secure! Palau had always been a bucket-list place for me to go for diving and so far it’s living up to expectations!

The diving can be challenging, with fierce currents rushing over the tops of the reef corners, but the fish life that comes hand in hand with those currents is spectacular. I’d done a lot of diving in currents before arriving in Palau, but the feeling of floating in the current whilst hooked in, with sharks patrolling just a few feet in front of you, is really amazing and like nothing I’ve experienced before.

One of the main reasons I’d wanted to work in Palau was due to its distinction of being the world’s first shark sanctuary – anywhere that marine and eco-friendly surely has to be a great place to dive! The government efforts have paid off, you really notice the difference in pelagic life compared to places with slightly more relaxed fishing rules. I was lucky enough to see my first tiger shark this season, a very exciting encounter!

There’s not as much macro life as I’d have expected, especially being so close to the coral triangle, but I suppose the strong oceanic currents have discouraged the little things! Having said that, our finds of pygmy seahorses, ghost pipefish and orang-utan crabs are all the more welcome when you’re not used to seeing them all of the time J

Me @ Jelly Fish Lake

One of the nicest things about Palau, for me, is the variety. From caves and wrecks to walls and reefs, it’s difficult to be bored! The trips have a great variety of dives so it’s brilliant to be able to show the guests the range of things Palau has to offer. My favourite dive sites are Blue Corner and Chandelier Caves (it’s impossible to just pick one!). Blue Corner is just one of those dive sites you can dive over and over and it’s always fantastic – depending on the strength and direction of the current, the dive changes each time with different marine life to see, even a bad Blue Corner dive is always a good dive! Apart from the sharks, I love the schooling jacks we find there, they’re beautiful to watch shimmering together as they swim against the current. Chandelier Cave is just a seriously iconic dive site – it’s not really a ‘dive’ in that you spend most of the time above the water, but the caverns are stunning with so many different stalactites and helictites to see, plus the reflections that are cast from the daylight coming in through the entrance are awesome.

Palau itself is a lovely place, albeit a little small! Once you escape the port it becomes beautiful lush countryside full of flowers and tropical plants – a day off exploring showed the more tropical side of the island. It’s hard sometimes being so remote, the internet connection is pretty dismal (thank goodness for the satellite internet on board to be able to send Christmas messages back home!), but the perks of tropical island life (sand, sea, sun!) plus the great diving makes it all worthwhile. 

They do say that all good things must come to an end – we have only a couple of trips left of the season before we head off to the Philippines and Tubbataha (which should prove to be some equally epic diving!).  However, good things also come to those who wait - I'm looking forward to being back in Palau next season!

Written by Amanda Jayne Bond - Dive Guide & Scuba Instructor

DIVE SHOWS......

As part of the diving industry we are, our assistance to the Dive Shows is  a MUST and we are pleased and super excited to do that.

For us it is really important to attend them in order to know  at first hand more details of  which are the likes, dislikes, food preferences, suggestions, additional information required from our agencies, customers, followers, friends……. 

We spend part of the year travelling all over the world to enjoy the time with all of you in the Dive Shows and meet personally some of you or to have a nice chat with the ones that we have already met personally in previous Shows.

Whatever it  is the situation ….we love to be there.... in the main stage to keep going our path of our well-known outstanding service, hospitality, safe diving…in summary  to provide you  unforgettable moments and experiences on board!.

If you would like to know when it will be the next Dive Show….we happily invite you  to follow us in our facebook page: Solitude Liveaboards …latest news are posted there!

As you know, we operate in Palau and Philippines (Tubbataha, Malapascua Island, Visayas, Cebu) and we have chosen these destinations because there are AWESOME places to be & dive but we should not forget that we are all linked to the oceans.

The oceans are the world’s great caretakers. We all need to do our part to keep the oceans clean and free of pollutants; we must leave it in a pristine state if we expect to go and enjoying its natural beauty.

For us, as divers the oceans may be playgrounds clean and well maintained!

THANKS ALL FOR YOUR UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT! See you in the PARADISE..