Dive Review of Sam's Tours/Caroline's Resort and Sea Passion in
Micronesia/Palau

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Sam's Tours/Caroline's Resort and Sea Passion, Dec, 2011, by Mary Herndon, MA, US ( Reviewer 5 reports). Report 6407.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We dove with SAMs for 8 days. For the first week, our family of five was the only group on the boat. Daniel was our dive master and did a great job to make sure we had fun, saw the best Palau has to offer, and had safe dives. They really took care of us, rinsing our gear and changing tanks. We were so pleased that we cancelled our dive reservation of three days at another charter the following week and went with Sam's instead. We were not nearly as happy the next week. We were on three different boats with three different dive masters each day. On one day there were 14 divers, making the boat and dives too crowded and chaotic. Dive masters Neil and Nicole tried vary hard to keep us happy, but I left with the impression that SAMs management was not interested in catering to our wishes and it felt more like a cattle boat operation. That said, even those days were not bad, but it was definitely a big disappointment compared to the service we had received earlier. To be fair, this was over Christmas-New Year's holiday, so the fact that they fit us in with a last minute reservation is probably part of the reason we were bounced around between crowded boats. Underwater Photography class offered through SAMs was excellent and instructor Nick went above and beyond to accommodate us. We also went on the Sam's kayak tour. Be careful as this is not fully representative of the day- after a 745am pickup, we didn't actually get into a kayak until about 11am. We were on a tour of the rock islands - seeing lots of interesting and beautiful sites, as well as snorkeling in peaceful lagoons. We paddled a bit before lunch, then more customers joined our group. We definitely got the impression they were stalling so the other guests could catch up before we ventured too far on the kayak tour. After being told we would be back by 330 or 4, we didn't get back to the dock until almost 5. Between that and the latter dive experience, I left Palau feeling a bit sour on SAMs, but even with these criticisms, they were still quite good overall. While in Koror, we stayed at Caroline's resort the first week and Sea Passion hotel the last 5 days. Caroline's is beautiful and secluded, and you really get the sense of being away from it all. Their staff is extremely friendly and the bungalows are beautiful. Sea Passion is much more accessible - walking distance to stores, Sam's and other Koror sights. Its a standard hotel, but the rooms are very nice and include a huge breakfast buffet. Regardless of where you stay, Sam's will pick you up and drop you off each day, and the drivers are always happy to make a stop at a convenience store for groceries, ATM, etc. Between our visits to Caroline's and Sea Passion, we spent 4 days on the island of Peleliu and dove with MAML divers. Their office in Koror is a total mess of an operation, and they are completely unprofessional and disorganized. But once we got to Peleliu, we only dealt with our divemaster, Bernard, and he was great. Bernard is a very excellent guide, nice to talk to and excited about the sights and wildlife. And when our group had equipment failures he was right there to handle the situation. Diving felt safe but low stress. Boats never had more than 7 divers and we were grouped with other English speakers. However, we noticed that their boats that catered to Asian divers typically looked more crowded. Spending a few days on Peleliu is well worth it. It allows you to dive the Peleliu sights, which are very beautiful and not to be missed, but with <15 minute boat rides (they would be an hour trip from Koror). The famous Peleliu currents were not very strong while we were there, so that was a nice relief. However, when diving sights on the outer side of the island we experienced really rough seas, which is apparently typical for Dec-Jan, and a rude awakening compared to the mirror flat seas we had on the more northern sights. We stayed at Storyboard Inn on Peleliu. The owners were great and very accommodating. Transfers between the hotel and diving or other activities were always taken care of for us, and they went out of their way to arrange tours and extra dives for us. The bungalows at Storyboard are not deluxe like Caroline's. Storyboard is more of a cabin-type feel, but they do have bathrooms and window AC, so you're not exactly roughing it. But they definitely feel very basic. They are right on the water and have a beautiful, remote, relaxing feel. In summary, the Palau trip was the best diving we ever experienced. Mantas, sharks, healthy coral and lots of fish highlighted the dives. And the boat rides through the beautiful rock islands, and surface intervals on gorgeous beaches, were an amazing part of the whole experience.
Websites	Sam's Tours
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Hawaii, Sea of Cortez
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	84-87°F / 29-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-80 Ft/ 9-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth limits, No deco
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
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
UW Photo Comments	Camera rinse on the boat, captain was always happy to hand the camera on and off the boat for us. Sam's has underwater photography and video expert on site, and offers classes.

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Dive Review of Sam's Tours/Caroline's Resort and Sea Passion in Micronesia/Palau

Sam's Tours/Caroline's Resort and Sea Passion, Dec, 2011,

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 Sam's Tours/Caroline's Resort and Sea Passion in
Micronesia/Palau