Palau/ Yap advice needed

[dolt]

We are going to be going to palau and yap next march or feb. I was just wondeing if anyone here had any advice on anything to do with either place. Palau is easier to find info on, so I am especially interested in what people say about Yap. In Yap we are trying to decide between traders ridge and turtle bay resort (the latter was supposed to have just put a lot of money into upgrades and remodeling, so info from folks who have ben there since this would be especially useful) - we are going to dive but we are not hardcore about this so topside as well as snorkelling info is also useful - thanks in advance
Matt

 

[Tombsy]

If your still looking for info about Palau, I was there last year. Glad to help, it was incredible.

 

[dawnskaybug]

I havent been but know about 25 who have and I might go next month.. For Palua all Ive heard was Sams tours is the best.

 

[Tombsy]

We used Sam's tours for everything, they were awesome. If your looking for a place to stay, try to get into Carolines Resort. They were incredible as well and you get to use all the facilities at the Palau Pacific just down the hill. It has one of the best beaches and snorkling right out front.
Here's my link to Photobucket if you want to see some pics.

 

[dawnskaybug]

Is this the guy who is named and I believe you can "play" with him

 

[Tombsy]

Yeah that's him, a Napolean Wrasse, must have been 50-70lbs. He followed us around for about an hour looking for hardboiled eggs. Sam's was trying to educate the locals not to eat them, I guess they are pretty tasty.

 

[dolt]

thanks you guys - is carolines nicer than palau pacific? we were thinking of staying at palau pacific at this point but would like to hear more - how was the diving? lots of SPS? we dive but also love great snorkeling - I am more interested in the small stuff and SPS and a lot of that type of stuff is shallow and amenable to snokeling and you can snorkel and explore all day long at your own pace rather than dives that seem so short by comparison

 

[Tombsy]

Palau Pacific is an amazing resort, it was just a lot more expensive than Carolines and just for a place to sleep it seemed like too much. Carolines has a magnificent view (kind of romantic) and gives you a pass and a ride down to all of the Palau Pacific's facilities just 5 min down the hill.

Out in front of the Palau Pacific is fantastic, an empty beach, acres of SPS, fish and clams more suited to snorkeling than diving.
When we weren't touring that's where we were hanging out.

We did a drift, snorkeling along the big drop off that was wild and the coral was shallow like you say. I did wish I was diving to see the mantas lined up at cleaning stations at about 60'.
There is so much life in the water even under the dock at the marina was full of soft coral and 2' clams.
The war wreck diving is right up there with Truk if you're a buff.
And you have to do Jelly Fish Lake


You might want to check out FAT Airways (Far Asian Transport).
We flew direct to Palau from Taiwan for cheap and I think FAT also flies into Seoul so that's the way I would go next time.
Vancouver-Seoul-Taiwan-Palau.
It was way faster and cheaper than the other flights I was checking out on US carriers.

 

[corbyjames]

My wife and I did Micronesia a couple of years ago. We stayed at Manta Ray in Yap and Palau Pacific in Palau. I would recommend both outfits. We dove with Neco in Palau based on recommendations and really liked them. I have some pictures on my web site . Enjoy!http://www.maurbies.com/traveljournal.htm

 

[dolt]

great - thanks you guys - the pics were great corbyjames - one thing I was wondering was relative time on each island - at this point we were thinking of 8 days on palau and four on yap - does that sound about right? the only other option was six on yap and eight on palau but that would make our trip longer than we would really like, but could possibly do it if it would be worth it - how is the diving on yap relative to palau? is there that much to see or can we do a fair job in four days?

 

[corbyjames]

I would spend as much time as you can at both places. The number of diving spots is phenomenal and there are multiple sites that I dove twice like Blue Corner in Palau.