WRECK LOVERS.....

We dive in Channels, Blue Holes, Walls, Corners, Caves and of course in HISTORY....

It is well known that Palau offers a big spectrum of wrecks and Solitude we would like to introduce you all of them little by little, you will dive in some of them....or if you wish in all of them...

TESHIO MARU WRECK ….. lies at 25m

The Teshio is a Japanese army cargo ship. It is 100m long and was sunk on March 30, 1944 as it was trying to escape from an inner lagoon. Its lies on its starboard side with a hole in the hull just between the two forward holes caused by a torpedo dropped by a fighter plane from the USS Bunker Hill.
Both anchors are still in stow position at the bow. A small gun is mounted at the bow but it is barely recognizable due to the heavy marine growth of oysters, black coral and sponges.  The two forward holds are empty but it is possible to swim through the torpedo hole to get to the hull.

Few artefacts are found within the superstructure and much of the engine room is damaged from salvaging. The rudder and the shaft are easily seen.
Large sea whips and sponges drip off the hull.

More wrecks history and specifications are coming soon…keep posted!

Solitude Philippines Dive Team Leader - Bo Mancao!

Bo in Action! Photo by Ryan Alegre

Solitude Liveaboards warmly welcomes Bo Mancao, our Philippines Dive Team Leader! A dive connoisseur who knows the Philippine waters intimately and extensively, he is also a great supporter of Solitude and a personal friend. 

He is internationally known for proudly promoting the amazing dive experiences of his native Philippines and empowering local dive guides through The Dive Local Network, a Scuba and Adventure tours company. 

Photo courtesy of Bo

In addition, Bo is an award-winning underwater photographer and has been published in newspapers, books and publications like Asian Diver and EZ Dive that have a huge international following.

Together with cruise director Alfonso Ribote, Bo will ensure our guests have the best, most memorable Solitude Liveaboards experience. Bo will also announce his team of guides closer to the Tubbataha season in 2016!

Cruises are getting booked steadily but there are still some available cruises available for Tubbataha! For more information, please emailus@solitude-liveaboards.com

Tubbataha, Visayas, Leyte... Solitude One adding Philippines to their Destinations!

Dear Solitude Fans!

Photos Courtesy of DaveHarasti.Com

It is with great excitement that I announce my decision to add the Philippines to our Solitude One's liveaboard diving service! This will be an annual practice beginning in 2016. Solitude One will now be serving Palau and the Philippines!

The first cruise schedule is on the 19 April (to 28 April) 2016 leaving from Mactan and diving our way towards Tubbataha. Besides Tubbataha, We will be offering the itineraries of the south and northern visayas. With the tremendous support Solitude has with the who's who of the local diving in the philippines, we will be working with them on coming up with the various itineraries and exploratory plans too! 

I know what everyone thinks about when a liveaboard goes to a new destination, but even the most experienced had a first day at work. That is why the support is not all academics, but with the local diving aficionados being on board to assist in cruise directing and guide in tandem with our team!

Fresh off my desk is the updated schedule (and format) PDF file with the availability and rates. On page 3, you will find the inclusions/exclusions of the rates for our Philippines' itineraries. I will make available the other essential literature of Itineraries and FAQs as soon as I can and also be updating the website to add the pages with those essential information.  

As many of you know, this has been in the plans and we are extremely excited and looking forward to this new destination in addition to Palau! I want to thank all the support and encouragement to help make this decision easier!

Have a great week ahead and please feel free to let me know if you need specific information with regards to this latest added destination to welcome and host our guests!

Cheers!

Andrew Lok

MARINE LAKES

Jellyfish Lake in Mecherchar Island 

Palau has  around 57 marine lakes and each is unique. There are two different types of lakes in Palau. Mixed and Stratified lakes. Most of them are very difficult to reach. The largest one has 2000 m long and 60 m deep with small island inside the lake.

The Mixed lakes have tunnels connected to the ocean so they have coral reef animal live at all depths.

The stratified lakes are poorly connected to the ocean only trough small cracks and crevices and stratified from top to bottom with bottom layers lacking oxygen, do not have corals and usually surrounded by mangroves. Instead  ,they have colorful sponges, anemone….  At least 12  lakes in Palau are stratified including the famous Jellyfish Lake with high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide bellow.

Many marine lakes in Palau have Jellyfish of various species, “ Jellyfish Lake” is the only one open for tourist for conservational and ecological reasons. The lake is 400 m long , 150 m wide and 30 m deep. Because of the layer of poisons  hydrogen sulfide bellow 15 m there is no marine life. Scuba Diving is no allowed but yes the snorkeling.

In Jellyfish Lake are found around 5 million of a unique  subspecie of Golgen Mastigian Papua and nowhere else in the world. The lake used to be home for another kind of Jellies, the Aurelia Moon usually they were found deeper or below the Golden Mastigias but it appears that this Jellies no longer exists in the lake since the strongest El Niño recorded in 1999 and after this event the Aurelia Moon Jelly slowly disappear from the lake.

The Jellies have adapted to live in this lake, as the sun rises they swim in a migratory pattern towards the sun heading the east   and as the sun passes overhead around noon the jellies turn and swim back towards the sun  heading  to the west.

The Jellyfish swim   this way to avoid the edge of the lake where their real and natural predators wait for them, an endemic sea anemone, who will brush up against their tentacles.

Definitely a visit to the Jellyfish Lake is a must when you come to Palau, be able to swim surrounded by millions of harmless jellies is a unique experience and Palau is one little places in the world that you can do it.

That’s way we have to have to keep the lake healthy with simple guidelines like minimize the amount of sunscreen protection used, do not through trash into the lake, so not disturb, kick, handle or disturb the jellies, the are very fragile and can be easily torn apart…etc!

Golden Mastigias Papua Jellyfish 

LET’S ENJOY THE UNIQUE & NATURAL HERITAGE OF PALAU………!

LIFE in Palau....

Ngerchong Beach 

Since arriving in Palau 6 months ago, I have been treated to many amazing experiences and seen things I never thought possible. I have seen orange spine unicorn fish spawning, up to 30 grey reef sharks hunting, schools of trevally, snapper and barracuda larger than a football pitch and more manta encounters than you can imagine. As a dive guide and someone that has a connection with the sea that I cannot put into words, living in Palau has fulfilled many dreams. 

As a child I was always fascinated with water. Having said that, I learnt to swim quite late in my childhood; I think I was around 10 years old. I was never a strong swimmer. 

But I immediately had an affinity with water. 

Living on a boat is something I always wanted to do but I never imagined I would be able to do it. We have a multinational crew on board and like any big family we have our ups and downs. But we work really well as a team and we have great leadership which is essential in any successful business or on any boat.

We have a vast mixture of guests and nationalities that come on board. Every guest is unique and it is always so nice to show them the jewels of Palau. And hopefully to send them away with memories that will last a lifetime. 

There are however a few things that make life in Palau a little difficult. One of those things is the lack of internet and lack of connection with the outside world. Imagine going back in time 15 or 20 years and dealing with slow dial up connections or holding your phone in the air to maintain a hotspot. That’s what the internet is like here. But you do get used to it. Like everything in life I try to look for the positives in the negatives. It makes you appreciate the world that is before your eyes rather than the world that is in front of you on a screen.

The other thing is the rain. Having lived in a Egypt for the past 3 years previous to my arrival in Palau; nothing could have prepared me for the amount of rain that falls here. One can count on 1 hand the amount of times it rains in the area where I was based in Egypt. Having been born in the UK, and having grown up in Ireland, I never imagined I would find a country that experiences more rain annually than either of my home countries put together. But I certainly found it in Palau. When I arrived here at the beginning of the season, it rained for a whole month. I didn’t see the sun shine at all in that month. But then when it did shine, and the wind died down it was like being in paradise. I almost completely forgot about the month of rain that I had just experienced.

So, all in all, living in Palau is a positive experience. I have seen many wondrous creatures and met some amazing people. I have formed friendships that will last for a long time and learnt many life lessons. I am sure I will continue to learn more as my journey continues……..

Written by Colette Greene, Dive Guide

One Year..........

9th of December 2014……, for most of the people is a normal date but for the CREW of MV Solitude One is a really special day.
That day, early morning, flat sea, sunny day ……. MV Solitude One FINALLY  made her entry in the Republic of Palau from Philippines , that day MV Solitude One started its operations in Palau.

We have already spent  a year in Palau, we have learnt a lot from all of us and from all of our guest that we have been hosting  on board  and we have enjoy even more the beauty of these pristine waters of the Pacific with turquoise lagoons and coral reefs full of life.
Also during the first year, MV Solitude One has become partner of Divencounters  Alliance , 7 different boats in 6 different destinations offering to all of our guest several  benefits , after this Alliance we feel so proud of her.

Life in the paradise is a gift, every morning wake up and observe such an awesome landscape through our porthole is priceless.
The Rock Islands Southern Lagoon of Palau has been inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2012 “ Seventy Islands” , as a mixed cultural and natural site into the UNESCO. There is also the highest concentration of marine lakes anywhere, an example is The Jellyfish Lake in Macharchar Island with the Golden Mastigias  and Aurilia Mon Jellyfish.

Every single day is a challenge for us, we feel so fortunate of being part of Solitude Family, we are 1 year old , pretty new in PALAU but not new in the diving & hospitality Industry!
Diving, kayaking, Snorkeling……everyone is welcome……….it is just amazing!

Many, many many years to come!
Congratulations for your FIRST Anniversary MV Solitude One!

MV Solitude One Crew 

German Channel, Siaes Corner..... we LOVE them!

It’s been a few months now since I arrived in the paradise of Palau!

Paradise here meaning one ship, Solitude One. A big family including Asians, Europeans and Africans.

The diving compared to most of the world is unbeatable, with all sorts of things to see.

Turtle Cove, one of the dive sites........... you enter a hole at 2 m then descend and pop out at around 25 m. As you wonder on through you come across giant gorgonians and sea fans. These are bursting with colour and inhabit many schools of shy trevally.

Following the wall back to the plateau there are many large schools of fish from jacks to snappers to barracudas. And when looking to the blue anything is possible. This time a family of reef sharks decided to grace us with their presence. We had the mummy, daddy and around 10 babies no bigger than 50cm. The parents where protective circling around with the babies following.

After that excitement it was on to the plateau where the first thing we came across was a hawksbill turtle, gently gliding past. Closely followed by a napoleon wrasse which seemed curious by us divers. The coral maybe the best Palau has to offer at this site, with every type of hard coral being possible to see. And with the coral comes the reef fish, the plateau is like your own personal aquarium with every turn you take seeing a different species.

It’s an easy slow dive but with many things to see, everyone on the surface had a big smile on their face.

German Channel is exactly that, a channel created by Germans so they could transport phosphorus and other minerals across the world. This happened many many years ago and has now become a blooming reef. Due to the current which flows through, it’s an ideal place for mantas to get a clean from the small wrasses.

Down the mooring we went and waiting for us there was a green turtle that was the perfect model for photos. Then approaching the cleaning station, all of us praying, we sat and waited. After 10 minutes or so two angelic but humongous creatures came swooping over, the wait had ended, we had two mantas!

They glided around for everyone to see, going high, low and wide. Then one went off track behind the group, which conveniently was where I had placed myself. Over it came, straight above my head. The closest I had ever been to an ocean giant, almost hugging me with it’s fins.

After this breath taking experience they swam away and it was off to the sharks whilst flying through the channel. Sharks here where plentiful and of quite some size, the biggest being around 3m. Mainly grey reefs with some white and black tips too. The white tips would cruise low around the flourishing reef and would not be shy to say hello at a close distance.

Towards the end, the flight kept going and reef fish kept appearing. The dive was like a dream, floating through the ocean being met by these amazing creatures. All divers were ecstatic.

Written by Sian Williams, Dive Guide


I have been working and diving in Palau for a couple of months already! We are a big family on board MV Solitude One.

Blue Holes is definitely my favorite dive site, when you first look down into the hole you feel like you are going into a completed darkness, and all of a sudden you are floating inside of a massive chamber as you were in the space  bring it  us a feeling of peace.

The corners and small cracks hold electrical clams, nudibranch, and occasionally white tip reef sharks sleeping on the sandy bottom. When you exit the huge chamber you should keep an eye out into the blue for big schools of jacks, red snapper, barracudas and sharks.

This dive holds exciting and beauty in the same sense.

A very unique dive site for me is Siaes Corner, facing the Philippines Sea. As soon as you start your descend and check out the visibility you know that is going to be a very awesome dive….drifting along the wall until you reach the corner where we look for a place to hook and start enjoying the show! Grey reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, black fin barracuda, turtles, blue fin tuna….every second is full of action!

Written by Cesar Portocarrero, Dive Guide