Palau

OCEAN HUNTER III

Sam’s Tours
Sam’s Tours is a privately owned and managed PADI 5-Star IDC dive centre, which started its operation in Palau in 1990. The spacious area with its excellent infrastructure is located next to the private yacht club of Palau and is also home of Planet Blue Kayak Tours, a local provider of kayak tours.

Sam’s Tours has 9 boats that can each take between 8-12 divers (max 8 per guide) and daily dive trips are scheduled to the best dive sites around Palau. Each boat has twin engines, VHF radio, cell phone, DAN Emergency Oxygen & full canopy for sun protection. The dive centre has 12 ltr aluminium tanks with US/INT valves and DIN adapters are provided free of charge. Nitrox 32% is also free for certified divers.

Sam’s Tours offers complimentary transfers to and from your hotel to the dive centre on dive days.

Diving with Sam’s Tours
Sam’s Tours offers diving to all levels, including technical diving and the very best dive sites around Palau can easily be reached in one of their fast fleet of 9 boats. Dive groups are kept small, to a maximum of 8 divers per guide. 

Sam’s Tours offers diving 365 dives per year, setting off for 2 day dives, with a lunch served in between. A third dive can be added in the afternoon if desired.All dive packages booked include a free snorkel stop at the legendary Jellyfish Lake and a complimentary third dive on one of the dive days in Chandelier Cave. Sam’s Tours also offers unlimited diving on ‘Sam’s Macro Wall’, right in front of the dive centre, where resident mandarin fish can be seen.

Sam’s Tours can also arrange guided land tours on non-dive days to see local culture and historic sites, including World War II wrecks scattered around the island.

Unique Expeditions
With “Unique Dive Expeditions”, Sam’s Tours offers extraordinary dives for divers who are experienced with currents and night dives. Twice a month, around full moon and new moon, large groups of fish gather for mass spawning. At full moon, there are snapper aggregations and at new moon, bumphead parrot fish get together for their mating rituals. Marine biologists working for Sam’s Tours and conducting their studies in Palau, take a small group of no more than 7 divers on their research trips and are a great source of knowledge about the aggregations.

In the weeks without spawning activity, black water diving, a very unique type of a night dive, is offered. The dive boat is several miles/kilometers away from the reef and about 1,000 meters above the sea bottom. A bar with strong light is tied at a depth of 12 meters under the boat, attracting tiny critters and creatures from the depth, such as baby pufferfish, luminescent jellyfish, invertebrates and many more, that. A photographer’s dream.

Cove Resort Palau

The Cove Resort Palau opened in July 2016 and is conveniently located within a short walk of Sam’s Tours. It is a waterfront oasis with a nautical theme, from its Hungry Marlin restaurant down to the rustic boat wood furniture.

Cove Resort Palau also is home to the largest lagoon swimming pool in Palau, complete with a pool bar that invites to relax after a day of diving. All 71 rooms have ocean view, the rooms on the ground and first floor have a terrace or balcony.

Palau Royal Resort

The Palau Royal Resort is close to the city centre of Palau and only a few minutes away from the dive centre of Sam’s Tours. The resort features 157 guestrooms and suites overlooking the seascape of Malakal harbour.

The hotel offers several leisure facilities. Guests can use the hotel’s own fitness centre, play tennis, relax at the pool area or have a drink at the beach bar. In addition, the resort includes a private white sand beach, two restaurants, a children’s play area, a spa area and several shops.

The Palau Royal Resort is part of the international hotel chain of Nikko hotels.

Palau Pacific Resort

The Palau Pacific Resort is the most luxurious Resort in Palau. The location could not be better; the guests find themselves surrounded by a 250.000 square meter garden with the famous orchid nursery and the exclusive private sand beach is only a few meters away. Koror city centre is only a few minutes away.

The 5* Resort features 160 rooms and 5 luxurious water bungalows with traditional island décor and offers all kind of imaginable comfort. The Hotel has two tennis courts, a hotel’s own beauty salon and a well-equipped spa area. Both restaurants offer traditional and national dishes.

Rose Garden Resort

The Rose Garden Resort offers 20 Garden View and Scenic View rooms which are only five minutes away from Koror downtown. Each bungalow style setting has its own private balcony.

The resort is located on a hilltop overlooking the ocean and the Rock Islands. The room types range from family size to single room. Each room features air conditioning, flat screen TV and laundry services.

The Rose Garden Resort is commendable for guests who prefer quiet and cosy lodging. The Rose Garden Bar & Grill offers its guests a variety of cuisines and dishes.

West Plaza Hotels

There are four West Plaza Hotels conveniently located in Koror; West Plaza’s By-The-Sea, Desekel, Malakal and Downtown.

All four of them offer clean, standard accommodation. For guests who wish to dive with Sam’s Tours it’s recommendable to stay at the West Plaza Malakal as it is only a 10 minutes’ walk from the hotel to the diving centre.

All rooms feature air conditioning, TV and a small fridge.