Customer Name: Denise Kendall
Date of travel: November 2015
Destination: Micronesia - Palau and Yap
Holiday description: Palau Aggressor and Manta Ray Bay Hotel
Our trip was for two people, one diver and one snorkeller. It was also a two centre trip. We spent ten days on the Palau Aggressor II liveaboard, followed by seven days on Yap, also for diving. It took three days to get there, but was definitely worth the trip. The diving was fabulous, as was the snorkelling, There were mantas, sharks, eagle rays, endless smaller fish and critters and the coral was excellent. There was an opportunity for a land tour of Peleliu during the Aggressor trip, which was well worth it, and of course there was Jellyfish Lake, which was amazing. I am not usually given to superlatives, but this trip was definitely worth them!
We moved to Yap for the second part of the holiday, to the Manta Ray Bay hotel. The welcome was lovely, especially as it was a middle of the night transfer. The diving started late on the first day, to accommodate us, which was a nice touch. The crew were fab, and very responsive to my needs as a snorkeller as well as the divers. We had plenty of time after the diving to explore the land, if we wanted, and the hotel organised a morning tour for us, which was very informative. As you can probably guess, we really enjoyed it.
I was surprised about a couple of things, which you may want to tell any other people who go to Palau.
1. It didn’t spoil anything at all, but it would have been nice to know before hand that cell phone coverage was only possible if you buy a Palauan sim card. We were not aware of this, and assumed that there was something amiss with our equipment until we got to the boat, by which time it was too late to do anything about it. It wasn’t a problem, but I had told our pregnant daughter that she could call us when the baby was born. Oops! (It was a girl, by the way). There was free wifi in some places, but it was a bit hit and miss.
2. The transfer from the hotel to the boat at Palau was charged at $10, but was such a short journey; I could hold my breath for the entire time! With the wheels on our bags, it would have been easy to walk. Again, it didn’t spoil anything, but was a bit off. I would definitely like to do this again!
