110,000 Reasons To Go Liveaboard

There are more than 110,000 islands in the world and many pinnacles that rest just below the surface and each and every one of them may be filled with multitudes of critters and creatures that seldom come in contact with humans. Sure, some of these islands may be inhabited, but most require transportation via some sort of marine vessel to get there and it may take a day or two to reach some of these remote destinations. Even destinations that are not remote, but are near other dive sites, may require a liveaboard to maximize your dives as you simultaneously minimize your back and forth to port travel time. Weather, animal migration patterns, multi-nation destinations, and toys/technical gear supplied, are other considerations for choosing liveaboards.

While many of these liveaboards offer first class dinning experiences with remarkable onboard chefs and while many of these vessels are built using iron wood hulls and beautifully hand crafted teak interiors or modern steel designs with the latest in furnishings and electronics, we will restrict this article to dive destinations, as well as mention some of the experiences you may encounter while being a guest on one or many of these luxury liveaboards vessels.

Starting off down under, Mike Ball offers great expeditions to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia for three nights/12 dives, or to the Coral Sea for 4 nights/14dives, or a combination of 7 nights and see both incredible dive destinations on one spectacular trip aboard the specifically designed twin hull Spoilsport. It’s just impossible to do so many dives at so many remote Great Barrier Reef dive sites from a shore-based resort or per day dive charter.

How about diving one nation, but with thousands of islands? The MV Pindito , Msy Seahorse, Komodo Dancer, Raja Ampat Aggressor and the Pelagian are just some of the vessels that cruise though the 15,00 plus island of Indonesia. Indonesia is the epicenter of marine biodiversity. These vessels have different itineraries depending on the time of year to maximize your visit and to view an unforgettable as well as incredible amount of sea life.

How about diving three different nation destinations on one liveaboard trip? The M/V Caribbean Explorer II travels 8 days/ 7 nights to SABA, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten. Perhaps you would prefer one island chain like Turks and Caicos, where the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II and the Turks and Caicos Explorer peruse some 70 miles of reefs, walls, multiple cays and islands, as well as visit when possible the 22 mile long Columbus passage that is 7,000ft deep and right on the migration route for Atlantic humpback whales from January to March and large pelagics the rest of the year.

Speaking of seasons, the Rocio Del Mar is either in the Sea of Cortez around the Midriff Islands or near Revillagigedo-Socorro islands from November to May. The Sea of Cortez also called the Gulf of California; Jacques Cousteau called this area the Galapagos of North America.

The Nautilus Explorer also leads expeditions to Socorro Island as well as Guadalupe Island, San Bernitos Island, and even all the way over to a seldom visited exotic destination of Clipperton Atol. Guadalupe Island gets the most notoriety as these crystal clear waters make it easy to view some 108 different great white sharks each year. Nautilus Explorer uses double decker descending cages to make your experience with these apex predators unobtrusive, and arguably second to none.

The Solmar V is also at Socorro Island from November to May and at Guadalupe Island during great white shark season. They are also part of the Dive Encounters Alliance. All vessels are independently owned and they have eight liveaboard destinations including Galapagos, Cocos Island, Maldives, Indonesia, Palau, and Honduras Bay Islands as well as Guadalupe /Socorro Islands.

For some, the ultimate dive sites are in the Galapagos Islands for this is where Charles Darwin first observed how cormorants had evolved into flightless birds, and Iguanas had evolved into ocean going reptiles. Galapagos penguins and tons of fish, silky and Galapagos sharks round out the rest of the underwater one of a kind marine environment and make this dive adventure so inspiring; the Galapagos Aggressor III and the Humboldt Explorer journey to these enchanted waters.

Now, as they “sea” it, sharks don’t care if it rains, but the time of year you plan your liveaboard trip can greatly effect what you see on your dives. We could be more precise, but generally fish and whale sharks alike rely on the phase of the moon, water temperature, hormonal changes, and Neptune’s will. Then again, you could book the same trip three separate times of the year and end up with three unique diving experiences.

For wreck divers we recommend diving the 50 mile wide Truk Lagoon where you can dive some 60 ships from WW II. This former southern fleet headquarters of the Imperial Japanese fleet is a historical graveyard and with a ghost fleet of submarines, destroyers, cargo ships, Betty bombers and more sunk during two raids in 1944. The Truk Odyssey ventures here. For those that are into tech diving and rebreather diving you might like to journey on the SS Thorfinn.

Palau also has sunken WWII wrecks as well as a freshwater jellyfish lake. The reef and manta cleaning stations are a big hit with divers, and night dive spawning trips are coordinated with local marine biologists and tour guides from Palau.

The Aggressor and Dancer Fleet Boasts 22 itineraries from East Flores, Belize, Maldives, Myanmar, and to the Red Sea. Their Kona trip will let you dive sites too remote for most one day charter trips and their Cayman Aggressor IV will allow you to dive, weather permitting, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman all in one trip; Saturday to Saturday.

For something completely different might we suggest one of the 7 trips available by Oceanwide Expeditions to dive the Arctic waters of Spitsbergen using zodiacs to take you close to spider crabs, soft corals, peacock worms, dogfish, and walrus from a safe distance during the warmer summer days when the sun shines 24/7. They also dive in the Antarctic where you’ll see penguins, leopard seals, krill, and fur seals. These dives are for more experienced drysuit trained divers.

We ran out of space before mentioning the Okeanos Aggressor and the hammerheads of Cocos Island off Costa Rica. The M/Y Sun Dancer II is a great way to experience the diving off Belize such as Turneffe Reef and the world famous Blue Hole. The Caribbean Pearl II explores the Honduras Bay Islands. Both the Nai’a liveaboard and the Island Dancer II cruise through Fiji. The M/V Atlantis Azores allows you to dive with ease off Tubbataha Reef and the colorful corals off Anilao in the Philippines. The M/Y Spirit of Niugini lets you tour the muck diving sites of Papua New Guinea. The MV Bilikiki and the MV Spirit of the Solomon Islands let you dive 1500 miles west of Fiji and 1,200 miles northeast of Australia, and just like Fiji, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea, you are still diving within the Coral Triangle. In the Maldives you may like to try an adventure aboard the Carpe Vita Explorer, the Maldives Aggressor, or the MV Emperor Voyager. We just might have to write a book to let you know everything about these spectacular world class dive destinations.

Having mentioned all these destinations and luxury liveaboards, we have to admit, that, one of the best reasons to go on one or all of these diving excursions is a chance to meet and dive with other divers that share your level of enthusiasm and passion for the sport; some of these people may become life long friends. Some of these individuals may be professional underwater videographers, photographers, or marine biologists, while others may be relatively new to the sport, and just fun to be around, talk about diving, share past dive adventures, share good food, and most importantly share incredible experiences on a planet mostly covered by water, yet still called Earth.

To access additional information on these and other dive liveaboards as well as their destinations click here or to view possible exclusive deals click here.

Palau, Historical World Class Diving

Palau

Historical World Class Diving

We are always on the lookout for a dive destination a little out of the ordinary, a location with incredible beauty both above and below water, and if at all possible, an area steeped in some sort of historical significance, and this all leads us to the island Nation of Palau; also pronounced “Belau”.

Palau, Micronesia is a chain of some 200 islands 535 miles east of the Philippines and forms the western edge of Micronesia. The islands are made of uplifted volcanoes and ancient limestone reefs. When the seas were lower during ice ages, the limestone rocks were drilled by fresh water and then the final sculpturing was done by salt water. This activity has left Palau with island structures and formations like no other place on Earth. Palau is awash in mushroom shaped rock islands, caves with stalactites and stalagmites, caverns, tunnels, blue holes, and wall dives. Some 1400 different species of fish have been spotted around the islands and Palau is home to 700 species of coral including 400 different hard corals.

Palau also has 80 saltwater lakes and is the home of the world famous Jellyfish lake, where sting less yellowish colored jellyfish follow millions of years of tradition and rise from the depths and swim across the lake twice each day in order for the algae that they feed on and that at the same time also live within their bodies can absorb the sun’s rays and grow.

An interesting creature that ascends nightly around Palau and descends back down to a maximum depth of 2600ft without imploding before dawn is the shelled cephalopod Nautilus that has changed relatively little in the past 500 million years.

Palau is also home to the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009 to help support the 130 known species of sharks around the islands. A rare species of dugongs make their home in Palau as well as saltwater crocodiles in the marsh regions. Many dive sites have specific fish seen at these locations, and many more fish, dolphins, porpoises, and whales cruise by these sites on their way towards their migratory destinations between the Philippine Sea and Pacific Ocean, but before we get into the specific dive sites, there is one more factor that has made Palau one of the top places in the world to dive.

It’s hard to believe that a group of islands with a current population less than Ashland, Oregon and a GDP less than the amount in revenue that the City of Boston loses during a snow day, would be the location of not one, but two major Pacific military operations during World War II. During Operation Desecrate One, March 30-31^st, 1944, US warplanes from a fleet of eleven aircraft carriers destroyed or damaged 36 Empire of Japan ships. The 502ft long oil tanker Amatsu Maru is the largest wreck in Micronesia. Some of the ships sunk have not been identified, and so Palau has dive sites called Buoy 6, which is the resting site of a 100ft long submarine chaser. Helmet Wreck is the site of a 189ft long cargo steamer where you will see Japanese war helmets, gas masks, ceramic sake bottles, carbine riffles, machine guns, and stacks of ammunition. Local guides will warn you, “Do Not Pick Up Any Ammunition”. If you have read any article on Palau in the last 20 Years or more, you have probably already seen pictures of the ever-popular 272ft long army cargo ship the Chuyo Maru. Also wrecks of note are Jake’s Sea Plane: an Aichi E13A1-1 Navy Float plane at 45ft deep, and the almost intact Zeke Fighter zero at just a few feet of depth and great for snorklers at high tide. There are at least another 13 unlucky Japanese shipwrecks to peruse from this operation.

The second operation started September 15, 1944, was the Battle of Peleliu and this barely reported battle was bloodiest battle in the Pacific and was poorly named Operation Stalemate II. The Japanese had an airfield here that could accommodate up 300 planes and General MacArthur wanted to take the island to cover his right flank before he retook the Philippines. General Rupertus said that taking Peleliu would take three days, but the Japanese had changed their tactics and instead of fighting on the beach and forming banzai charge attacks, Colonel Kunio Nakagawa was to fortify the hills and dig an extensive tunnel system and lead the Americans into a war of attrition. This would be the first of many battles using flamethrower tanks in conjunction with napalm bombs. By the third day of fighting, the airfields were captured with heavy casualties on both sides, but by October 20^th when MacAuther entered Leyte, Phillipines, the Peleliu battle had lost it’s strategic significance yet even with casualties running over 60%, the battle of attrition continued until November 27^th, 1944. The 79-day battle left 2,000 men killed and 6,000 wounded on the U.S. side and 10,900 men killed and 200 captured or wounded on the Japanese side. This battle, like the next two battles at Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, raised great concern for the probable high degree of attrition casualties on both sides during the eventual battles to come on the Japanese mainland and was one of the deciding factors in using atomic bombs on Japan. On Aug 6^th and Aug 9^th, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and six days later Emperor Hirohito declared unconditional surrender.

Today, on Peleliu you can take a full day history tour of the Japanese headquarters, the thousand man cave, and view World War II artifacts from both sides, or you can do two dives and a half day tour of the historical sites. The 314ft long destroyer U.S.S. Perry was sunk by a mine off Anguar and was found on May 1^st, 2000 at 238-257ft deep; the wreck has only been seen by a few and is one of many technical dives around the islands and caves.

In addition to all this, Palau is known for its nighttime pelagic offshore blackwater dives where you may see unique creatures glowing in the dark. Inshore night dives are done at full moon and new moon each month to witness the spawning of various fish and corals. In fact, you can plan the season you come to dive according to what you would like to see, so for watching mantas breeding, come from December to March, Coral reefs spawn four times a year. Turtles mate and lay eggs from April to July, groupers and snappers spawn in June and July, and giant cuttlefish lag eggs from May to August, just to name a few. There are many nurseries around the islands for fish and sharks including grey reef sharks. One popular style of diving in Palau is Reef Hook diving. With a hook attached to a rock you can hold onto a line and remain in one spot above the corals in upstream currents to watch a never-ending procession of fish, sharks, and mantas that may pass by you.

Palau has several resorts, hotels, and liveaboard vessels to choose from. You may even join the Royal Belau Yacht Club and sail around yourself. Getting here is easy via Guam and United Airlines or on foreign airlines from Japan or the Philippines. The main question to ask yourself about diving a one of a kind bucket list dive destinations like Palau is: why haven’t you already dropped your dive gear in the rinse bucket and booked your trip?

110,000 Reasons to Go Liveaboard

Palau, Historical World Class Diving

Palau

Historical World Class Diving

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