Sam's Tours, located at their own boat dock on Malakal Island, offers a well-organized and spacious environment for both divers and snorkelers.
The dive boats at Sam's Tours are comfortable, covered, and provide side seating, ensuring a drier experience compared to other operators. Convenient walk-up ladders and a dry box under the driver's seat for personal items add to the convenience on board.
Gear handling is efficiently managed by the boat crew, although divers are reminded to retrieve their own wetsuits from the rack. Certified divers can enjoy complimentary Nitrox with 80cf/11l tanks filled with 32% Nitrox.
Camera handling is well organized, with a crate immediately provided for cameras. Refreshments such as water and punch are available on board, and lunch is served between dives. While boat towels and toilets are not provided, the overall comfort and functionality of the boats are acceptable.
Additionally, Sam's Tours facilitates access and transfers to/from hotels, ensuring convenience for their guests.
The diving experience with Sam's Tours relies heavily on the teamwork of the boat captain and the dive guides, who vary each day and ultimately decide on the dive site based on prevailing conditions. They also set the direction and pace of the dives.
During our two dive days, we noticed a significant difference in approach. The first day was characterized by a relaxed and non-prescriptive style from the guides. Dive times typically lasted around 60 minutes, including a safety stop. As photographers, we appreciated this unhurried pace, as it allowed us ample time to focus on interesting subjects without feeling rushed or losing sight of our group.
However, our experience on the second day was quite different. Our guide set a very fast pace for the first dive, which was unsatisfactory for photography. We expressed our desire for a slower pace during the surface interval, but unfortunately, the second dive followed a similar hurried pattern. We were even scolded for lagging behind the group, which was frustrating.
Overall, while the first day provided a positive experience with its relaxed approach, the second day's fast pace and lack of flexibility for photography detracted from our enjoyment.

Sea Passion Hotel situated just over the bridge on Malakal Island in Palau, offers a waterfront experience at a reasonable price.

One of the best features of Sea Passion is its proximity to the dive operators and other resorts and restaurants on Malakal Island adds to its appeal, allowing guests to explore the local dining scene easily.

The environment at Sea Passion is charming, with a waterside location and a small pool and sandy beach for relaxing by the sea. The rooms are modern and recently renovated, featuring open bathrooms, water or green wall views, and essential amenities like housekeeping, toiletries (shampoo, shower gel, soap), WiFi access, and slippers for added comfort.

Meal options at Sea Passion include a hearty breakfast with both Western and Asian choices, including a cook-to-order egg station. For lunch and dinner, the menu leans towards simple American fare, offering items like hamburgers, hotdogs, and pizza. However, it's worth noting that the beverage selection is limited to beer only, with no wine or mixed drinks available.

The resort's bar operates on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays after 7 pm, mixing pretty good margaritas, making it a favourite spot for evening drinks.

Overall, Sea Passion Hotel offers a comfortable and enjoyable stay with its waterfront location, modern rooms, and delicious margaritas. While the meal options are straightforward, the proximity to other dining options on Malakal Island adds variety to the dining experience.

Located conveniently on the main road in the center of Palau, Palasia Hotel offers a mid-town experience with some notable strengths and areas for improvement.

The hotel is easily accessible by pre-arranged 30 minute shuttle from Palau/Roman Tmetuchi International Airport (ROR) in Koror. There is an excellent range of well priced restaurants within walking distance.

The urban environment of Palasia Hotel features a multi-storey structure, with public areas recently renovated but rooms showing signs of age. The hotel boasts two large pools, including a lap-sized pool, and a well-equipped gym. However, amenities like the sauna, steam room, and laundry facilities were reported as not working during my stay. It's worth noting that rooms facing the road can be noisy due to traffic, especially with a bar across the road open until 2 am.

In terms of accommodations, the hotel provides daily housekeeping and new towels, along with essential toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and body lotion. WiFi access is available, and guests are provided with slippers and robes for added comfort.

Meals at Palasia Hotel are budget-friendly, with a focus on Asian cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the cafe. Options also include egg and sausage for breakfast, and burgers are available for lunch and dinner.

The hotel's bar serves espresso coffee, an elusive treat to find in Palau.

Overall, Palasia Hotel stands out for its friendly service and convenient location. However, improvements can be made in noise management for rooms facing the road and ensuring that all amenities, including the sauna, steam room, and laundry facilities, are in working condition for guests' comfort.

Bunaken Oasis Resort provided possibly the best dive resort experience I have had in 15 years of diving in Indonesia. From the luxury vehicle 30-minute airport transfer, and another 30 minutes on a lovely timber-trimmed boat (interestingly named after the owners’ horses) to arriving at the resort pier, I felt like a cherished guest.

Warmly welcomed by the management team, I was given a brief tour, deposited my camera into the huge camera room, and then escorted up a few flights of stairs to my standalone bungalow, where I had a great view of the lushly landscaped hillside of the Oasis, over the infinity pool and beyond to the sea from the comfortable deck chairs.

My room had everything one could desire, a beautiful fruit basket, a Nespresso coffee maker, lots of teas, hot & cold water, a mini-bar, wine, waffle robes or silky kimonos, lots of towels, organic body wash, soaps, shampoo and conditioner and a magic basket, where your laundry goes in and returns clean and folded. Importantly for me, WIFI was available in the room and throughout the resort.

I left the cocoon of my room to venture up to the spa for a blissful massage before wandering down to the impressively designed bar and lounge over 3 levels. As one looks around you can’t help but notice the many detailed design elements of the resort that are beautifully maintained. One morning I noticed a loose paving stone, but on my way back from breakfast one of the groundskeepers was already repairing it and inspecting others.

Meals were all ordered a la carte from an extensive menu for breakfast and lunch and a menu of the day for dinner. Fresh squeezed juices, baked pastries and fancy egg dishes and espresso coffees for breakfast; lunch ranged from salads, grilled fish, curries to burgers and exceptional house-made ice creams.

With a small number of guests, we all had dinner together with the resort owners and management team. One night we had a 7-course tasting menu where the chefs were flexing their creativity and impressive presentation skills, which occurs almost weekly. On the last night for some guests, we were presented with a concert of local and pop songs by some of the talented F & B team as a farewell.

The Bunaken Marine Park dives were a surprising treat, featuring wall diving, at times a comfortable drift and one for advanced divers with more challenging currents but all with very clear water and lots of marine life, both macro and pelagic. I had a tip to dive at Manado Tua, at the base of the volcano, and on request that was easily added to the itinerary.

The dive operation was top-notch too, with everything fastidiously managed, from the boats, to the dive prep area, camera room and even the compressor room. Two of the dive team were being certified to teach tech/rebreather diving, so they will have that option there by now too. I was lucky to be one of the only divers in a lull between 2 busy periods and I dived with the owners and one of the managers. But my dive guide and buddy Hentje Pontoh is a legend in Bunaken, having discovered a new pygmy seahorse species in 2008: Hippocampus pontohi. We had a lot of fun.