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

A Conservation Area made permanent

Threats from overexploited fisheries, non-sustainable forest practices and increasing development  Palauans to recognize that action must be taken to protect their environment for future generations due to a critical balance between the need to use their natural resources today and the need to sustain those for future.

Palau’s government has taken towards to protect their natural resources with the creation of a comprehensive Protected Areas.

One of the last MADE PERMANENT has been: The Ngederrak Conservation Area, which includes a inner lagoon, sea grass beds, coral reef, channels, and a critical nursery habitat for many kinds of juvenile reef fish and provides a very important feeding place for the endangered and vulnerable species of dugong.

In Palau we have the world’s most isolated population of this relative of the manatee.

An Adult Dugong

Protecting this area will mean juvenile fish can grow and move to other areas outside the conservation area.

The legal restrictions are no fishing, no disturbance, no boats in approximately 5.8 square km in size. It is located to the southeast of Malakal Harbour in Koror

Our help is really important, for example being a volunteer to take part in conversations activities, report violations, respect the boundaries of the area.

Others Conservation Areas are: Ngerukewid,  Ngerumekaol, Ngemelis.

Palau thanks to his biodiversity and beauty is name as one of the  “Seven underwater wonders of the wold” 

Taking care of the ocean, we are taking care of us!

A Spanish affair about Life in Palau and Solitude One!

Our Cruise Director, Silvia Perez has been blogging on her life in Palau! It's in Spanish but I am sure non-spanish readers will find a way to enjoy it as well! - http://palauybuceo.blogspot.sg/

English Blog.. will soon follow!

See you at DEMA 2014!

Solitude will be attending and presenting its flagship Solitude One at DEMA this year which will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada USA (19 to 22 Nov 2014) ! You can find us at Booth 423. Andrew and Sol will be there to promote Solitude and diving in Palau!

If you would like to make prior appointment to meet them, please do not hesitate to write to andrew [at] solitude-liveaboards. com

More more information on DEMA Show - www.demashow.com

New Deposit/Payment Terms! You have been heard!

Jelly Fish Lake Photo by Nu Parnupong

We hear you! We have had a few consistent feedback with regards to our deposit and payment terms especially for Charters and we have decided to alter our payment terms to facilitate more advanced bookings. 

With effect from 1st September 2014, All bookings (Individual or charters) will have the new payment terms for deposit as follow

• Minimum deposit of 15% of the total cruise fare payable must be received by Solitude within 14 days from the invoice date to confirm your reservation.
• Additional 20% of the total cruise fare must be paid no later than 300 days (total of 35% is required if departure date is less than 300 days) and 
• the remaining balance must be paid no later than 60 days before the embarkation/departure date of your cruise (full payment is required if departure date is less than 60 days).

Cancellation Terms have also been changed to reflect the deposit payment terms. For the complete Booking Terms and Conditions, download a copy here

The new payment/cancellatino terms will not affect current bookings with deposits paid. These bookings will have their final balance due no later than 60 days before the embarkation/departure date.

For further clarification and/or information, please emailus [at] solitude-liveaboards.com