Rebreather Friendly in Palau

Kyza

Hello everyone.
I have an upcoming trip out to Palau and plan to take my Evolution with me. Are there any rebreather friendly shops there. I would like to rent the tanks and buy the Sorb there and not have to worry about shipping from the US. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, knowing that at Blue Hole the profile takes you from around 80 feet on a fast upswell to 50 feet before you hook into the reef is there any advice you can give me on doing this dive on CCR. I have been to Palau before on OC and know most of the regular dive sites and feel comfortable with all of them, but having some advice for Blue Corner before I go would help.
Thanks

orion

fish and fins may have small tanks and sorb now but they didnt when i was there in decemberthey did have OC tech stuff, maybe sams? the blue hole too bluecorner is a nice easy dive i got to 34m at the bottom of the hole and in the cavern at the back...worth having a look in, lots of giant turtle skeletons....the ascent up to the corner is nice and gentle as its a fair drift from the hole. Probably just dont want to miss the corner...as it just goes into blue if you do....

scubanimal

Hey Kyza,
I took my Vision Inspiration there last year and had a great trip. Check with fish & fins, they have lots of 3 litre tanks, but I'm not sure of their stock of 2 litres. Tank rental cost was about avg, the sorb however was sky high. You're much better shipping it there a head of time. I think the cost was $9 a kilo. I just shipped mine USPS and it turned out to be a lot cheaper.

I did one week on the Hunter liveaboard , and another from the daily boats. My experience was that on the Hunter my Rebreather was a great asset and well worth that hassle. On the daily boats that was not the case, just an FYI, they wanted folks to stay on the same profile. And filling was a pain. Your experience will vary depending on your arrangements. For instance we were picked up at the hotel by the dive boat each morning, so getting / returning tanks required a car/taxi.

Having said all that, the folks at Fish&Fins were outstanding in their support of my Rebreather diving, they could not have been nicer. Their requests were reasonable for their operation, even if I did not like the results sometimes.

As far as diving, Pelilu express (sp?) and Blue Corner do have some pretty good currents, I strongly recommend that you replace that plastic waist buckle with a metal one before going. Mine broke while hooked in and taking pictures. Do practice with a reef hook before going, with all the hoses and stuff on our rigs it can get to be a pain. Also if you are diving with a full camera rig pushing that through the water is tough. Now as far as actual diving, the bottom is so bare from all the divers each day that pulling yourself along out to the very edge is easy. Since you're on an Rebreather I would go over the ledge and down a 10-20 feet to get away from the bubble blowers. FYI, being away from bubble makers means the sharks will come close, great for photos, but can be unnerving ( I frequently had 2-3 right behind me (as in touching close). I might also suggest that you find a buddy who is super good on air, found one who could easily do 2+ hrs on an 80, at depth so she buddied with me and we able to get the nice shots after all the other noise makers headed up.

Depending on where your going Sam's tours is also Rebreather friendly. They did not respond to my emails till after I returned so I don't know much about them personally.

I would take my Rebreather back again it was wonderful there.

Kyza

Thanks scubanimal,
A verygood informative reply. In the past I have dived with Neco and Sams. Also I did some work dives with the divemasters from Fish'n'Fins so I'm fairly happy with the logistics of diving from Koror. You didn't seem too concerned with the drop in PPO2 at Blue Corner when you rise up from 80 feet up to the hook in point so I presume that it's not too big a deal so long as normal practces are followed. I'm going to look in to shipping my sorb as you mentioned by USPS, but it's good to know that if there are problems I can get some there. I will get in touch with Fish n fins. However it looks like I can get two 70lbs checked baggage so I'm going to take my tanks with me. That way I know I'm covered.
Once again thanks for the info
Jon