Guam, Palau & Yap FAM- Oct. 4-16, 2007

Lora Clarkson, Trip-N-Tour Fam Leader

Oct. 4: Doris and I departed a day before the rest of our group which meant an extra day in Guam! Upon arrival, a driver from the Fiesta Guam was waiting for us with our names written on a sign. The ride from the airport to the Fiesta Guam was only 5 minutes. Upon arrival they had our keys and information all ready for us. We had an oceanview room with two twin beds, a desk, TV, fridge with bottled water, hair dryer, shower and separate tub. There was also a seating area with table chair and couch. Our balcony had two chairs and a small table. In-room internet is available for $10 for 24-hours and wireless is available in the lobby for $5 for 3 hours.

Oct. 5: GTDS (Guam Tropical Dive Station) picked us up and took us to the dive shop where we filled out all our paperwork. We were then driven to the dive boat; (only 5 minutes to the harbor) and headed out for our first dive; the famous site of the Tokai Maru and Cormoran wrecks where a World War I and World War II ship lie touching at about 70’ on the ocean floor. The wrecks made an interesting dive site – while there wasn’t a lot of coral like you see in Truk, but you can put one hand on one wreck and your other hand on the other wreck from two World Wars. What an awesome feeling!

After our surface interval on the boat, we did our second dive in an area that the underwater submarine visits so they had feeding areas for the fish, the coral was beautiful with lots of eels and clownfish. After our second dive, they served us lunch on the boat and then returned to the dive shop to rinse our gear before heading back to our resort. The rest of our group arrived around 6pm. Once they were checked in we all met by the pool for a barbeque dinner and cultural dance performance. Very nice, you would choose your entree and then cook it at your table in a little pit.

Oct. 6: Today everyone was on their own until 4pm when we all met in the lobby to depart to the airport for our adventure to Palau. Everything ran smoothly at the airport and on arrival in Palau, Josie from Neco Marine was waiting for us. She had a large bus for the group and brought the luggage in another van to the Palau Pacific Resort (about 45 minutes). Bert from Neco Marine was there to greet us as well as Lucy Sugiyama, Resident Manager of the Palau Pacific Resort. We went into the meeting room where Bert reviewed the plans for our diving while everyone filled out the necessary paperwork for the dive shop and placed their lunch orders for the following day. We were then guided to our oceanview rooms (balconies, large bathrooms with shower/tub, safety deposit box, robe, slippers and even chocolates on the pillows).

Oct. 7: Our fam class took place at 7:30am and the dive boat picked us up at 9:30am for a 2-tank dive. Our first dive was at Saies Tunnel, a very beautiful dive with sheer coral drop-offs and lots of sharks! During our surface interval we had lunch on the boat before doing our second dive at New Drop Off, again another beautiful dive. After our second dive we went for a site inspection of:

Eco Explorer Liveaboard
Ocean Hunter I Liveaboard
Ocean Hunter II Liveaboard
Fish ‘n Fins Dive Shop
Landmark Marina Hotel

We returned to the Palau Pacific Resort (PPR) just in time to shower and get ready for dinner. Tonight Bert took us into town to a Thai restaurant. The food was very good and reasonable.

Oct. 8: Fam class again at 7:30am and diving at 9:30am. Our first dive was at Blue Hole. This was a cool dive where you drop down through a hole in the reef into a cavern, and then exit through another hole. There were turtles and beautiful corals. After lunch we dove Blue Corner. This was one of our best dives. Exciting, strong currents, a lot of action on the wall. After the dive we went to Mandarin Fish Lake and snorkeled around looking at the beautiful corals and other reef fish and critters. Once the sun started to go down we were able to see the tiny and brilliantly colored mandarin fish before heading back to PPR. Tonight we had dinner at an Indian restaurant. The food was very good but a little pricier.

Oct. 9: Class at 7:30am and diving at 9:30am. Today we visited Jellyfish Lake, where there are. A short hiking trail (only 5 minutes but moderately strenuous) from the floating dock brings you to an inland lake where over 10 million jellyfish can be found. As you snorkel across the lake from the dock, you begin seeing more and more, and as they become thicker and thicker, you can’t help but touch them as you slowly swim through clouds of jellyfish of all sizes. Amazingly, they don’t sting at all, but are very soft and smooth against your skin. This is an awesome experience and everyone that swims or snorkels needs to experience this at least once.

Oct. 10: Class at 7:30am and diving at 9:00am. We left a little early in hopes of visiting Peleliu today but it is very weather dependant as it is a bit farther away across open seas and it is just too rough. We dove Dexter’s and then Big Drop Off, two great dives – lots of beautiful corals and spectacular fans. We do a third tank at Chandelier Cave - a swallow but incredible dive in which you visit 3 inner chambers in which you can surface into air pockets with beautiful cave formations.

Tonight the Palau Pacific Resort hosted a dinner for us. We enjoyed the seafood buffet and the lobster was delicious. You cannot go wrong putting a customer at the Palau Pacific Resort. It definitely guarantees you success.

Oct. 11: Today is classroom on wheels! I had some requests for storyboards and arranged a visit to the jail… yes, the jail is the best place to buy storyboards and you can also wheel and deal with them on the prices. We also visited several hotels:
-The Desekel: nice clean, AC, safe budget hotel downtown, closes to shopping and restaurants.
-The West Plaza by the Sea: a standard hotel, very clean nice size rooms with AC, some with oceanview, Red Rooster Café on the premises
-The Rose Garden Resort: bungalows with beautiful oceanviews, reasonable priced rooms are nice size very basic inside, restaurant on the premises with a gorgeous view of the ocean
-The Carolines Resort: 7 bungalows with beautiful ocean views (one family bungalow) located on top of a hill and access to most is an uphill hike including a number of stairs but the views are spectacular. No restaurant but meals can be ordered and delivered from local restaurants which you can then enjoy dining on your balcony. Pool and beach privileges are also available at the nearby Palau Pacific Resort.
-The Palau Pacific Resort: This is the most luxurious property on Palau. It is also the only property with a beautiful white sand beach. They have a new spa, fine dining as well as casual dining, swimming pool, exercise room, Jacuzzi, dive shop, dock where the dives shops and tour operators pick you up, an orchid garden and pond with marine life including turtles, rays and other reef fish. You can choose from gardenview, oceanview, jr suite and luxury suites.

We also did a site inspection at Neco Marine. They have a swimming pool for classes, rental gear, compressor, and store for all the divers needs. They also have a small open restaurant called the Drop Off where we had an excellent lunch.

Late that evening we returned to the airport for our flight to Yap.

Oct. 12: Upon arrival in Yap (3am), we were met by the representatives from Manta Ray Bay Resort. They took our luggage and directed us to the bus. They were very organized. They had our keys ready for us when we arrived at the hotel and we were able to go straight to our rooms and get some sleep. Our diving (with Yap Divers) started after lunch that day and we managed to do three tanks since our time is very short here. The diving was very good - no Mantas but plenty of little creatures to look at. Our third dive was a mandarin fish dive at dusk and they were very active and not shy at all.

Oct. 13: Today was test day followed by a site inspection of the Manta Ray Bay Resort. The new wing is beautiful and they have put in a beautiful pool. The Mnuw restaurant is actually an interesting large wooden ship located over the water. It is very nice and has a great ambience. The dive shop at the Manta Ray Bay is first class, your own locker, very roomy, camera area, rinse tanks.

We also visited O’Keefe’s Waterfront Inn, a very small but adorable hotel, great for couples located right next door to the Manta Ray Bay Resort so very convenient for diving with Yap Divers as well.

We also did a site inspection of the Traders’ Ridge Resort. The property is upscale and very nice – not quite as convenient for diving as Manta Ray Bay but the rooms were very large and stylish. They had a nice size pool, an open air restaurant with great gourmet food. The small dive shop was located down the mountain across the street from the resort.

Tonight we actually had dinner with another TNT fam group that will be heading from here to Truk - a historical moment!

We had our luggage outside our doors at midnight for the staff to pick up. We left for the airport at 1am where we were able to use Traders’ Ridge lounge in the Yap airport until our 3am departure.

Oct. 14: We arrived back at the Guam Fiesta Resort early that morning and caught a few hours of sleep before heading out for an island tour with Discover Guam at 2pm. We went to some of the World War II sites and then they dropped us off at the Micronesia fair. We had dinner that night at the Lone Star Restaurant. They will actually come pick you up at your hotel if you don’t have your own transportation.

Oct. 15: Everyone except Doris and I left for home today. Doris and I had another tour with Discover Guam Tours. Today we went to the museum, two lover’s point scenic overviews of the island and several other World War II sites - very interesting and informative tours run by knowledgeable guides.

Oct. 16: Today Doris and I finally headed for home – a long day through Japan but it was a great fam with a great group of people.