Dive Review of Splash/Palau Pacific Resort in
Micronesia/Palau

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Splash/Palau Pacific Resort: "Crystal Clear", Apr, 2017, by Rose Mueller , TX, US ( Sr. Contributor 27 reports with 13 Helpful votes). Report 9564 has 1 Helpful vote.
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Perhaps I will bore long time readers with our 26th visit to Palau. There were obvious changes this year over the last two. The country decided to limit the junkets from mainland China, hence PPR was void of the masses of Chinese tourists. It is again the Europeans, Japanese and Americans. I read in the paper that tourism is down 26% to Palau in the first quarter of this year. I think much was brought on by greed along with the obvious downturn in the economy worldwide. PPR left much to be desired. They eliminated several key employees that affected the quality of this stay. Their main concern seems to be for the rich and famous with their 1K a night bungalows. They are even building more in lieu of refurbishing the rooms in dire need. The grounds remain meticulously kept. Splash is busier than we've seen it. They are so good about SMALL groups divided into ability. Steven is still our guide. The waters had a clarity I haven't witnessed before. There were also interesting thermoclines. The reefs are beautiful and healthy. There is some obvious damage of coral from careless divers, but not as much as one would expect. The sharks sadly are still fewer in numbers. I only saw 6 gray reef sharks at one time on one dive. The finning continues even with the aggressive watching of the waters. They have a mother ship outside of the protected waters that sends rafts with a fisherman. Steven pointed one out to us against one of the Rock Islands. There are also fewer Napoleon Wrasse. The Blue Corner has too many divers at one time. It's okay in that most hang only on the corner and miss the activity back on the reef. There are 3 eagle rays that find their home. They are actually friendly and curious. Our last dive there was amazing. The sheer abundance of fish life is astounding at times-schools of sweetlips, Moorish idols, jacks, barracuda, snapper, spadefish, African pompano. Yes, I miss the 50 or more gray reef shark; but I won't complain about the eye candy that exists. One dive at German Channel gave us a leopard shark and cuttlefish. We had good fortune to see the cuttlefish as they are being poached. Ulong remains my favorite dive. It is now a go-to for many of the live aboard boats; but gladly many divers don't reach the cut. The cabbage coral is intact and quite healthy. The number of grouper is not less. They were breeding and quite busy. I found one in a hole that bared its teeth at me and I felt somewhat intimidated. I got the message, "don't mess with me!" The two Tridacna clams are still at the end of the cut. For the macro photographers, the Helfrick and Decorated Dartfish have increased their colonies. They are very plentiful. I captured 8 Decorated in one shot. It is difficult to find the nudibranch but with patience they can be found. They are usually quite small in size. This visit did, sadly, remind me of "The Edge of Paradise" by Kluge. We will never be totally accepted by the Palauans. We remain guests in their land.
Websites	Palau Pacific Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Most places it's warm
Closest Airport	Koror	Getting There	Houston, Narita; Houston, Hawaii, Guam; Houston, Manila; Houston, Hong Kong, Taipei.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp	80-°F / 27-°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	The divemasters at Splash are very astute and aware of a given diver's abilities. They carefully monitor the depths as needed.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Splash doesn't have the accommodations for photographers. They do bring a cooler of fresh water on the boat in which to put the cameras. We use our room for repair and cleaning.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Splash/Palau Pacific Resort in Micronesia/Palau

Splash/Palau Pacific Resort: "Crystal Clear", Apr, 2017,

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 Splash/Palau Pacific Resort in
Micronesia/Palau