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Dive Review of Fish 'n Fins Ocean Hunter III in
Micronesia/Palau

Fish 'n Fins Ocean Hunter III: "Good Diving in Palau", Aug, 2019,

by David Marchese, PA, US (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 20 reports with 27 Helpful votes). Report 11085.

Photos Submitted with this Report


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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 2 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We returned to Palau after our last visit in 2002, and the diving was better this time around. The reefs are generally quite healthy with some being the healthiest we've seen in a long time. While not like Indonesia, there were quite colorful soft corals and large fans on most wall dives. Fish density was generally very good. We saw sharks and 3-6 turtles on every dive. The sharks generally kept their distance except for a couple of sites where the currents were strong and we hooked in. On those sites, multiple sharks (mostly gray reef) came in quite close and made dozens of passes. The variety of diving was quite good from shark dives (natural - no feeding), to coral gardens, to wrecks, to caverns. We saw large schools of jacks, barracuda, and reef fish. We only saw two mantas and both encounters were fleeting. We also saw two eagle rays, but they too kept their distance. We had great bumphead and Neapolitan wrasse encounters too. We did not spend much time looking for little critters and the guides didn't point many out, but we went with the understanding that this would be a wide angle trip, so that wasn't a problem. As good as the day dives were, the night dives were very disappointing with virtually nothing happening.

We sailed with Captain Kenneth and Dive Master Troy in 2002, and they are still on the OHIII! I can't imagine anyone knowing the sites better than these two. After all those years, they are still enthusiastic and made this trip great (as did the rest of the crew). Chef Arlee had to leave for a family emergency, but assistant chef Sourav did a great job. We thoroughly enjoyed every meal.

With all the reports of Palau being over run with divers and dive boats, we were very happy to be able to avoid other divers throughout this trip. We passed some sites with up to 11 boats moored, but we always found a great site where we were the only divers. We had rough seas on a few days and strong currents on several dives. Perhaps that is why we were able to avoid other divers since the day boats didn't venture out into the chop or to the more advance sites.

We were in an upper level Master cabin, which was one of the best rooms we've had on a liveaboard. The ship is clean and in great shape throughout.
Websites Fish 'n Fins Ocean Hunter III   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Caymans, Turks & Caicos, Bay Islands, Bahamas, Fiji, Saba, Maldives, California, Revillagigedo, Cozumel, Midway, Kona, Galapagos, Panama, Palau, Tahiti, Cocos, Malpelo, Tonga, PNG, Komodo, Sulawesi, Holbox, Solomon Islands, Belize, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Wakitobi, Alor, Marquesas, GBR
Closest Airport Koror Getting There San Francisco to Taipei to Koror

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 83-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions We were asked to dive in a group and limit dives to 60 minutes, but that wasn't strictly enforced
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments There is a whole room dedicated to cameras. It's probably the best camera set up I've seen on a ship.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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