Palau Islands (8 Days / 7 Nights - 23 Dives)
Trip highlights: shark action, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics
Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, wall diving, wreck diving
Dive sites and activities: Helmet Wreck, Chandelier Cave, Jake Seaplane, Teshio Maru, German Channel, Blue Corner, Big Drop Off, Blue Holes, Peleliu Wall/Cut/Express/Corner, Turtle Cove, Ulong Channel, Iro Maru, Sandy Paradise, Siaes Corner, Siaes Tunnel, New Drop-Off, Orange Beach, Ngedbus Corner
Day 1
Embarkation and airport or hotel pick up transfers will begin early evening. If you arrive after midnight you will still be picked up and transferred to the boat which is only 20 minutes away from the airport. The Solitude One crew will welcome you and give you a boat orientation and briefing as well as ask you to sign the liability release forms. Dinner will then follow, depending on the time you board. The boat leaves port at 10:00 hrs on the following day and divers will make 2 or 3 dives around Palau.
Core Days
The diving safari on Solitude One has scheduled 4 dives per day: wake up with a light breakfast of hot drinks (they have a fully automatic (self-service) pressed coffee machine that delivers great latte, cappuccino, espresso or 'long black') and cookies, do the 1st morning dive followed by a full breakfast. A 2nd morning dive will be followed by lunch. Relax for a couple of hours in the indoor lounge, on the partially shaded sun deck which is also great for watching playful dolphins or mantas near the sea surface, or in the digital darkroom for safe stowing of camera and video equipment, and charging batteries. The afternoon dive is followed by homemade snacks, while dinner is scheduled after the 4th (night) dive. Main meals are carefully planned by the chef in order to meet the tastes of everyone on board with buffet style Asian and Western entrees.
Diving in Palau will be incredible, as it is home to over 1,500 fish species and 700 species of coral and sea anemones, thanks to the nutrients brought by rushing currents. One of the dives you will want to make more than once is German Channel which is visited by manta rays at the cleaning stations attended by wrasses, grey reef and blacktip reef sharks, and also huge schools of trevallies, runners and tuna. You will also dive inside a large cavern with an entrance patrolled by barracuda and snappers. Once inside, you will be in awe of the incredible sight of sunlight filtering through the holes and how they refract against the stunning azure waters.
Day 8
After a big breakfast, join one of the optional complimentary speedboat tours of Jellfish Lake or Milky Way Lagoon. Check out after a late lunch and be transferred to the airport.
[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].