Dive Review of Aggressor and Traders Ridge in
Micronesia/Palau and Yap

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Aggressor and Traders Ridge, Apr, 2008, by Lin Gitterman, ON, canada ( Reviewer 5 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 3991.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We flew Continental from Toronto through Newark to Honolulu with one overnight at The Best Western (would FOR SURE stay elsewhere next time) and then on to Palau with the first night at Palau Pacific Resort. Very nice resort to help with the jet lag! Aggressor picked us up on time as promised and took us to the boat and we were immediately shown our room which was very spacious and clean with a good sized window. Gear briefing was done immediately and was friendly and professional. Rules of the dives and the boat were outlined to everyone and all staff was introduced. The boat was well run and all staff except for Leta (kitchen help and chambermaid) and Chad (chef) were divers who took turns diving with the guests. There were 8 staff and in total.Three dive guides were on every dive and dives are generally for 60 minutes or 500 psi. Mike, the Captain, runs a very comfortable, easy ship. Food was good, healthy and plentiful although the between dive snacks could have used a bit of an upgrade. This is really a quality operation and the dive team are great.I was a bit concerned about hook in because we had never done it before and the dive guide actually held my hand to the hook in! My computer flooded on day one and Mike gave me one of theirs to use - not "rent", to use free of charge. We saw sharks on most dives, a few people saw a whaleshark and there was lots of small stuff. Some current which was fun to ride with and the hook in was a great experience. I really can't say enough about Mike and his whole team. After the week finished we felt like we were leaving good friends. The only thing we were not crazy about was the land trip to Peleliu - it was not very well organized but this is the fault of the land tour person not the Aggressor. Jelly fish lake is an unbelievable experience. Traders Ridge in Yap was next. Really pretty resort with wonderful rooms, a nice pool and again, a great dive operation. Mike Kuiper is the instructor/guide and he knows where the mantas are and, once you find them, he knows where they are going. He was very friendly, very helpful and found some really interesting stuff for us. Food-wise - it's best to eat elsewhere. There are two restaurants at Traders with the food coming out of the same kitchen. The cafe food is fine but the "high end" food is not - we ate there twice, hoping the second time would be better, and it was not. When we spoke to management about it they were very nice but, basically, unless they are there to check the food and the service, things seem to fall apart a bit. One morning we waited 20 minutes for tea and toast and we were the only people in the place! There are three other places to eat and Oasis is very good and much more reasonably priced. We would not hesitate to recommend the Palau Aggressor or Traders Ridge to anyone.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Bali, Belize, St. Lucia, Little Cayman, Roatan
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy	Seas	choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	10-100 Ft/ 3-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	60 minutes on the Aggressor. To 500 psi at Traders
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The Aggressor has buckets on the skiff and large tubs on the boat. There is a dedicated photography area. Well set up. No set up at Traders except for bucket on the dive boat.

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Dive Review of Aggressor and Traders Ridge in Micronesia/Palau and Yap

Aggressor and Traders Ridge, Apr, 2008,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Aggressor and Traders Ridge in
Micronesia/Palau and Yap