Dive Review of Fish 'n Fins/Rose Garden Resort in
Micronesia/Palau

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Fish 'n Fins/Rose Garden Resort: "Stunning biodiversity, pristine reefs, many large pelagics and turtles", Aug, 2018, by Marshall Kirk McKusick, CA, US ( Reviewer 3 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 10382 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We chose to dive Palau due to its rave reviews on Undercurrent, and were not disappointed. We had a truly magical 8 days of diving with Fish N' Fins. We booked a package with them in advance, including 2 dives per day, accommodation at the Palau-owned Rose Garden Resort (with fully-cooked breakfast), airport transfers, dive shop transfers each morning and evening, and packed lunches on the boat. NITROX certified divers can get NITROX for no extra cost. The total cost of the 10-day package was $3,500 for two. If there were enough divers who wanted to do a third dive (which occurred on 6 of 8 dive days) this is added for $65 per person extra. With the extra dives, a land tour, and all our dinners came to $5,500 for the two of us. ------- Fish N’ Fins: One of the larger tourist operations on the island, and also run land tours, liveaboards, and even skydiving. Do not let the size of the operation put you off. Even on the largest dive boats, our dive group was typically 5-6 and never exceeded 8. On the day with 8 divers, two divemasters were brought so that the group was split into beginners (30 min dives due to air consumption) and advanced (60 min dives). An advantage of Fish N’ Fins being a larger operation is that they can be relied upon to go come-what-may, even in rainy weather. Most of the crew were excellent, especially the local Palauan guides. Only a few seemed to be going through the motions of their job. We had several different dive guides, each of whom had a different perspective on what to highlight which kept the diving interesting, even when we returned to the same dive site. Fish N’ Fins operate a fleet of small fast boats, holding up to 12 (including crew). The fast boats got us to the dive sites in about 45 minutes, whereas we observed slower boats from other operators who took 60-90 minutes to get to the same sites. Lunches were delicious, and there are close to 20 items on the menu to choose from. ------- Ecosystem: Palau has been a marine sanctuary since 1959, and began instituting fishing restrictions in 1963, which have become ever more strict over time. They are currently in the process of ending all commercial fishing, apart from local fisherman, who are limited to the lesser of 5 fish or 10lb of fish per day. The result is a thriving reef with huge numbers of fish which then supports many turtles, sharks, and other pelagics. The coral is practically pristine due to the ocean currents protecting the island (so far) from the worst of global warming. Sharks are particularly prolific, being observed on every single dive. Water visibility was variable with weather, but at times exceeded 120 feet. Numerous pelagic cleaning stations dot the barrier reef, to which Mantas were regularly observed in the day time. On one dive we had two giant 16ft+ wingtip Mantas to a station. Giant anemone are everywhere, in which live many critters including families of clown fish. ------- Dive sites: Most of the dive sites we visited were technically in the Philippine sea, with very warm waters and long drift dives along walls. The one dive we did on the South Pacific side had noticeably colder and deeper water. Palau’s signature dive site is The Blue Corner, which has very large schools of fish and giant pelagics. The current can be quite unpredictable and strong at tide changes, and a reef anchor is required. After tethering yourself to a rock, you float like a kite in the current, watching all the fish and sharks swim by. Another popular dive site is German Channel, due to its sheltered nature inside the lagoon. While visibility is poorer on German Channel, this is a prime site for spotting Mantas, as we did on both of our dives there. Another great site is the Ulong Wall, where great shoals of Spanish Mackeral wheel about, and we saw mantis shrimp, scorpionfish, and yet more giant Mantas. ------- Rose Garden Resort: We cannot recommend the Rose Garden Resort strongly enough. The place is a beautiful old-fashioned wooden shangri-la with immaculately maintained gardens. Since the restaurant prides itself on its gigantic burger “man-vs-food” challenge, we weren’t expecting gourmet food. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find their chef excellent, and the menu had a wide array of delicious local and international delicacies. We were particular fans of the fresh local-caught fish, which we chose to have steamed with garlic-rice in the Palauan way. The restaurant is usually packed with locals, an excellent sign. Unlike the other foreign-owned resorts where cocktails are $15, all their cocktails are $6, and liters of draft beer are also $6. Thus, a dinner for 2, including tip and a couple drinks each, rarely exceeded $50. ------- Summary: We highly recommend a visit to Palau and its pristine reefs, and would recommend both Fish N' Fins and its Rose Garden Resort package.
Websites	Fish 'n Fins
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Grand Cayman, Belize, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Curacao, Hawaii, California
Closest Airport	Koror International Airport (ROR)	Getting There	From the continental USA, all flights to Palau go through Guam. You can get to Guam either via Honolulu, or Tokyo Narita
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, surge, currents, no currents
Water Temp	84-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	45-120 Ft/ 14-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	On drift dives, especially with the strong currents that can be found in Palau, very sensibly all divers have to stick together. Depth limits are not strictly enforced for experienced divers, and you may dive your own profile.
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	A separate camera rinse tub is provided on the dock, but there are no provisions at all on the boats for cameras. We took to rinsing off our lenses as best we could with the drinking water and stowing the camera under the benches wrapped in a towel in the ample space provided

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Fish 'n Fins/Rose Garden Resort in Micronesia/Palau

Fish 'n Fins/Rose Garden Resort: "Stunning biodiversity, pristine reefs, many large pelagics and turtles", Aug, 2018,

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 Fish 'n Fins/Rose Garden Resort in
Micronesia/Palau