Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kangnam mafioso]

Anyone been to Palau (Micronesia -- near Guam, Saipan, etc.)?

Any tips, advice, stories?

I've heard the rock islands offer the best snorkelling/diving in the world and the wildlife on the island is great too. It seems a little expensive -- hard to find rooms under $40 a night and the cheapest flight from Manila is around $550. It would be cool to take a 3-4 day trip from Manila.

[Bulsajo]

Must go before I die. Bear in mind that most flights require a transfer at Guam (as far as I know this is still the case) and don't forget to factor in a decompression time after diving.

Can you go direct from Manila? What about Yap?

[kangnam mafioso]

continental airlines offers several flights a week from manila -koror. you can also go from taipei. not sure about others.

[Tiger Beer]

[J.B. Clamence]

Just went. The diving there is unreal. I saw sharks and turtles just about every single day. The Philippines was OK but does not compare to Palau. The Rock Islands are a nice place to see scenery topside (and have good snorkelling), but it's not where the best dive sites are. The best dive sites are on the outer reef. The best one is the Blue Corner. I saw tons of sharks, giant mantas, eagle rays, tuna, huge schools of barracudas and trevallies. And that's standard fare. Because of the undersea geography and currents in Palau, you never know what's going to come out of the deep sea at the outer reef. All kinds of things have been seen there from time to time, but you have to be lucky to see that stuff.

It is hard to get there because not many people go there. Seriously, there is absolutely nothing (and I mean NOTHING) to do there except diving. There are some WWII tours and kayaking, but that's it. There's not much infrastructure or development. So not many airlines bother to fly there. Continental flies there from Manila only twice a week. You can also get there from Guam and Taipei. Other than that I'm not sure. Because it's so expensive to get there, and the diving is so amazing, I don't think 3 days is enough. I think a week is a good amount of time to spend there. That gives you 5 days of diving.

I would warn you though that you have to be serious about concentrating on diving when you go there. If you're looking for a cool place to spend some time, hit the clubs and the beach, and meet some people, this is not the place. There is absolutely nothing going on there. But if you can accept just the diving by itself, I guarantee you will be impressed.

Most of the tourism are package tourists from Taiwan and Japan, and a few from Korea. It's hilarious because there are Chinese, Japanese, and Korean restaurants all over town, and every night the package tourists get bussed to their respective national restaurants, because God forbid they should try to eat something new while on vacation to another country. There aren't many good restaurants because of this, but there are a few good places.

And yes, despite the fact that the place looks like a totally run-down hick town, it is certainly not cheap. A two tank boat dive runs a little over $100 US (compared to less than $50 in the Philippines), and the cheapest hotels (with roaches) are about $40. However, you can get packages that include diving, hotel, and even a discount on the flight. I've heard that it's not too expensive to go from Manila to Palau, then on to Yap, and back to Manila. A lot of people there were either coming from Yap or on their way there.

[Bulsajo]

[J.B. Clamence]

I can understand that. I wasn't going to say anything about it, but then when the question was posed, I couldn't resist.

[Bulsajo]

I appreciate the fact that you didn't start a
"HA! I'VE JUST COME BACK FROM PALAU, YOU UNLUCKY BASTARDS!" thread
(I know I certainly would have, but I guess that's just one more reason why you'll always be the better man... )




BTW did you do the trek up to Jellyfish lake? I've heard there are two such lakes and I've heard conflicting info about the present jellyfish population...

[J.B. Clamence]

Yes, the dive operators often stop by Jellyfish Lake on the boat's way back to town after a two-tank dive if the people on the boat want to go. I went once. I think it cost me an addition $25 or $30 added to the diving cost for the day.

Basically it is a marine lake which used to be connected to the sea, but the connection got closed off thousands of years ago. As it turned out, when the lake got shut off from the ocean, there was a resident population of jellyfish, but none of the jellyfish's predators was in the lake, so with no natural predators, the jellyfish population exploded, and so when you snorkel through the lake, you are totally surrounded by thousands of jellyfish. It's pretty bizarre.

Another result of them going thousands of years with no natural predators is that they have almost completely lost their stinging ability. I brushed up against many, but was never stung. However, our guide said that they do have a very weak sting, but you can only feel it faintly on very sensitive places on your body, like your lips. Also, some people have skin which is overly sensitive to those kinds of things, and they might get marks by the jellyfish, but might not feel it.

Only thing is you can't scuba dive there because the water is chemically hazardous beyond a certain depth, and the bubbles hurt the jellyfish, so it's snorkelling only. The only thing I didn't like about it was the 50 or so Taiwanese package tourists on a rampage, looking like they had never gone swimming in their lives.

As for there being two, I only know of one. However, there is another place called Mandarinfish Lake, which is home to the tiny and bizarre-colored mandarinfish.

[Bulsajo]

[kangnam mafioso]

i actually don't scuba -- i just skin dive/snorkel and have done so at many cool places around the world. do you think palau is worth it just to snorkel. do you think snorkelling is a lot less exciting than scuba?

[Bulsajo]

I think if you like snorkelling, scuba will blow your mind.
To go to Palau without a diver's certificate and then say "wow, I went to Palau and never dove!" will be something you will regret later, I think.

You can't snorkel wrecks and pelagics like mantas, at least not well.
If you're snorkelling then why not go to some place like Phi phi or Guam, places which aren't solely diver's meccas?

Just a suggestion.


On the other hand, if it's your chance to go to Palau, then go to Palau. Better to regret going without certification than to regret not having gone at all.

[canuckistan]

[J.B. Clamence]

The Mandarinfish / Mandarin Goby / Mandarin Dragonet, whatever you want to call it, can be found in many places from the Philippines to Australia. Palau isn't the only place they live, but there are a few places in Palau where they can be seen relatively easily. The problem is they don't like the sunlight and usually don't come out of their coral heads until after the sun goes down.

km, as for snorkelling, a lot of people enjoy snorkelling with no interest in diving, and that's fine. As a diver, I personally find snorkelling quite boring compared to diving, but that's just me. I can accept that some people are perfectly content with snorkelling, and that snorkelling is not necessarily a stepping stone to scuba. If you really like snorkelling, then by all means visit Palau, but you should realize that Palau is a pretty boring place, and when you're not snorkelling, I guarantee you will be bored. The same is true with diving, but a dive trip usually takes up the whole day.

If you want to know more about scuba and whether it's right for you, there is a special program called "Discover Scuba Diving." It's not a certification course. It just takes one day and it teaches you a bit about the basics of scuba, and then your instructor takes you on a shallow dive. He handles all your controls, so you don't have to worry about anything. Next time you take a trip to a beach destination, you may want to do it. It will give you an idea whether or not you want to do the certification course, which usually takes about 4 days.

[weatherman]

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