Dive Review of Neco Marine/Palau Central Hotel in
Micronesia/Palau

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Neco Marine/Palau Central Hotel: "1st Trip to Palau", Jan, 2019, by Francis Loncar, WI, US ( Contributor 15 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 11237 has 1 Helpful vote.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
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	[NIn January 2019 I spent 2 weeks in Palau diving with Neco Marine, which for many American divers is probably not as well known as Sam’s Tours. This is due to the way both go to market. Sam’s advertises to consumers and has an active Facebook Page, while Neco works through travel agents, generally bringing in dive groups, such as a group of 14 Italian divers that checked in to my hotel from my flight. This group had a separate boat and were transported together on a bus. My time was spent with various divers from around the world, mainly from Europe, 2 Americans from Guam, Canadians and Japanese. Neco provided transport from the hotel to the dive center. They provide concierge service, I delivered my gear on the first day to the shop, it was set up on the boat every day and then cleaned and dried for me to pack up at the end of the trip. One can get spoiled by the service. As far as facilities, Neco has a modern fully equipped dive shop with prices for gear that seemed very fair for anything you forgot or broke during the trip. They have their own docks right outside the door, a bar and grill for the decompression stop, and a fresh water pool to cool off in the afternoon. Free WiFi allows you to catch up with home and show off your latest dive pictures. Food and drink were great with prices similar to back home in WI. The boats were Japanese Yamaha Hulls 40 x 8 feet, modified by Neco marine for diving with seating for 16 divers on padded bench seats that doubled as a storage box for personal gear. Tanks were available for both yoke and DIN setups. The boats were powered by twin 250Hp Yamaha outboards and the boat was equipped with a full cover for protection from the sun and rain. A large water tank for cameras was located at the stern, where the boat movement was at a minimum. Entry was by back roll, with enough room for all divers to enter simultaneously when we had a strong current. Getting back into the boat was via a very sturdy side ladder. Bottled water was provided on-board, and lunch was included as part of the dive package in Bento boxes, which contained huge portions. We had lunch after the second dive either on the boat or a beach depending on our location, and then made our return trek to the dock. The lunches were so filling that rarely did I have more than a snack for dinner. What about the diving? First, the trip from Koror to the dive sites averaged about 45 minutes each way, through the picturesque Rock Islands. Being January, the lagoon can get quite choppy as it is 10 by 40 miles in size, plus there was at least one rain shower each way. Temperature was in the high 70s to low 80s, comfortable but rarely hot. Water temp was right around 82F, for me I just had a rash guard on, but most others wore a 3mm suit. The only time I regretted my choice was a few instances when the current brought cold water from the deep, but usually a depth change of 10 feet could remedy the problem. Diving consisted of a loose group of 8 to 10 of us with 2 dive guides due to the fact that the current can vary in strength greatly and change direction in less than a minute. On one dive the current pushed us out into the blue into 3 widely scattered groups; at least I learned my SMB does work. Most of the diving occurs 60 to 80 feet and the dives lasted 50 to 60 minutes, by which time most of us were low on air due to coping with the current. On a typical trip, the first dive was on a coral point to see sharks or in a channel for mantas, and the second dive was a reef or wall dive with less current. On a few occasions we had a 3rd dive in the lagoon on a wreck or a cave, but the visibility was poor enough as to make this a rarely requested option. Watching the sharks at the cleaning stations was the highlight of diving on sites such as Blue Corner but required reef hooks in order to not get blown away like a tumbleweed. Don’t make the mistake I made in buying a reef hook with a coiled steel cable, which I thought would be one less thing to get tangled. Big mistake unless you want to be a human paddleball and get smacked into the reef. I quickly switched out for one with a rope which was safer for me and the reef. In using the hooks, the dive guides are good at finding spots where your hook won’t cause damage and spacing out the divers so we each had a good view. In looking at reviews of diving at Palau, several them complained about not seeing sharks which I find surprising since there were sharks everywhere, rare is the photo that did not have a shark somewhere in the background. Action at the cleaning stations can change quickly, in one case the current died out and the sharks were gone in seconds; we caught up with them on the other side of the point where the current was still flowing. On another dive, the guide had us stop and deploy our hooks even though there was no current. He had anticipated the current change and for the next several minutes sharks came from all compass directions, including two from behind me close enough to brush my arm. One quickly realizes that as a diver you are a clumsy, slow moving piece of bait. Mantas were more elusive, they were in the passes in the reef between the lagoon and the open sea, such as German and Ulong channels, but only with an incoming tide. Thus, on many days the current was not suitable for manta sightings, but when we found them, they stuck around, completely unconcerned with the divers. My favorite sighting was a juvenile manta who put on a show of barrel rolls, loops and dives among the rocks at the bottom of the channel. Since all Mantas are identified by the markings on their belly and cataloged, a few of my photos were given to the database for help in their ID efforts. Beyond the sharks and mantas, many dives were done on what appeared to me to very healthy reefs with abundant fish life. Huge spreads of lettuce coral, giant clams and Napolean Wrasses were certainly a highlight, but paled in comparison to the rivers of fish that could only be compared to the sidewalks of NYC at rushhour. These dives alone were worth the trip. One specialty dive was actually a snorkel trip to Jellyfish Lake, which is in the middle of one of the Rock Islands. The lake is full of mainly non-stinging jellyfish that is just one of those trips you need to do once. A special permit is required that is checked, and all divers and gear must be washed with fresh water before ascending a series of rock steps built into the hillside. Not an arduous climb if you take your time and rest your knees occasionally. The view was fascinating to watch jellyfish swim along without the fear of getting stung. As far as the travel details, the diving was $160/ 2 tank dive which included a great lunch. An extra dive was an additional $40. Considering you were out on the boat for 5 to 6 hours, I don’t consider the charges to be excessive. All dives included 2 Dive Guides. I stayed at the Palau Central Hotel for approximately $140/night, which has been beautifully renovated and was in the middle of town so only a short walk to restaurants and shops. Included unlimited fresh water and a hot, made to order breakfast that kept me going through 2 dives. Airfare was $2200 for a Delta flight in Comfort+, from MSP via SEA to Seoul. From there it was a connection via Korean Air in a 737 for the last 5 hours. The only unexpected expense was from the fact that the flight arrives at 1:30 am and departs at 2:30am, thus necessitating 2 extra nights of hotel stay. one]
Websites	Neco Marine Palau Central Hotel
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Kauai, Cozumel, Fla Keys, Wisconsin, Palau, Maui, Grand Cayman
Closest Airport	Palau Intl - ROR	Getting There	Connect through, Incheon
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, rainy, cloudy	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	75-82°F / 24-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Needed to stay in a loose group due to currents
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Since this was a dayboat, the only accommodation for Cameras was a very large fresh water tank.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Neco Marine/Palau Central Hotel in Micronesia/Palau

Neco Marine/Palau Central Hotel: "1st Trip to Palau", Jan, 2019,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Neco Marine/Palau Central Hotel in
Micronesia/Palau