Palau Dive Diary Part Tre'

Day three of our Palau Diving Expedition and it just keeps getting better. The past two days we were praying very hard for some sun and boy, did we get it! 

 

What's better than waking up from your bed to a view of the lagoon like this? Diving on warm water!!!

Naturally the dive group was happier than ever, showing a little more skin so we can get the tan that proves we were outdoors. Everyday, we pass by the numerous Palau islands on our way to the different dive sites. Here's us trying to catch some sun while enjoying the view.

Our sunny boat trip to Siaes Corner

 Upon heading down, we were greeted by this sight of a rock formation with a nice entrance. Can you believe our boat was able to pass through this?

First off on our roster? Dive #7: Siaes Corner. Action, lots of it.

 

Amazing school of Barracudas towards the middle of the clip

We thought there could be nothing better than Blue Corner during yesterday's dive, but Siaes Corner did not disappoint either. We were also more equipped to handle ourselves during the current breaks because Joedyn and Shirley, our Dive Masters, gave us longer reef hooks, more string to pull us by so we don't crouch and bang ourselves on the corals.

Dive #8: Siaes Tunnel

After our first dive we immediately prepared for the second one, more amped than ever. We ended up  at Siaes Tunnel, which began with a cave at 111ft.

Inside the cave, there was a big school of jacks, or was it? I almost reached my limit of 111 feet! That's probably why everyone was looking down at me, not in a bad way.

While coasting along, we saw a superfriendly Turtle who would not leave us alone. After he left my side, he was coasting in front of us, as if to say, follow meeeee...

I loved the school of black fishies. Can anyone name them?

After 2 successfully heartracing dives, we settle along a sandy beach to have our lunch.

It was close to perfection, like Boracay Sand with absolutely no people.

Since I've been a little Fail on the lunch department, I ordered the Fish Bento this time, which had fish sticks, pickled veggies, macaroni salad and a TON of rice. Don't worry guys, scuba diving burns about 500 Calories an hour. I'm a caloric machine, or so I kept telling myself as I was munching along.

Dive #9: Ulong Channel

This was pretty amazing also, because of the giant school of fish which were battling with the sharkies who were probably out for some lunch themselves.

And because we were bracing for some currents, we used our new and elongated reef hooks!

The coral formation at Ulong was pretty spectacular. Here's more coral sighting + Schools & Sharks

After another fantastic day of diving, we were famished! So as usual we headed back to Sam's Tours and chilled at Bottom Time for a bit.

Since BL had a disaster with her cocktail, she had like the Island Girl or something really fruitcakey like that. I decided to concoct my own version of the Seabreeze: Vodka, Cranberry, Lime Juice, Syrup. I had three. Hey, the day was over anyways. 

Michelle, the very able and Filipina Bartender, knew what I was talking about immediately. She knows how to make a strong one. Of course not only were we thirsty for some drink, we were hungraaaaay... So we got:

Calamari (not battered the way I wanted)

For some reason, their fries tasted unbelievably good to us. Either that, or we were just getting too much residual nitrogen.

Check me out hoarding the grub

 Finally, the sun came out, and we were able to enjoy an awesome sunset by the dock with all of Sam's boats.

 

 At that point, we were pretty sure we did not want to eat at Sam's for another meal, so we stayed in our hotel, Sea Passions Resort, and ordered off their Menu and the Japanese Resto above. WE ate at the little floating bar by the lagoon that had mood lighting similar to that of beer houses. To cap the ambiance, the Filipino bartender was playing acoustic senti (sentimental) songs. How homesick they must be!

I didn't order the Nachos, but I had some of the chips and cheese. Guys, you'll be proud, I've been good with my Lenten Sacrifice!

I decide to order from the hotel's Japanese restaurant. I got the Japanese Sushi Menu, which they said came with 2 pcs. Tempura, a small Chawan Mushi (Egg Custard), 4pcs Sashimi and some tempura. I thought that was enough, but boy was I wrong.  The Chawan Mushi above came in a little iron pot! The server said, they decided to upgrade my order because we were Filipino. The LOVE.

 This was my order. Gluttony at its finest. They decided to up the Tempura to 4pcs, 8 slices of fresh Hamachi Sashimi, 8 assorted Sushi rolls and 6 maki rolls PLUS! A side of Miso. I had to attempt to share because I didn't know how my stomach could ingest so much raw fish.

The others ordered from the regular menu, and all of us were stuffed silly! Apparently in Palau, a regular order is good for 4 people. So we should've learned our lesson.

Here's the happy group with their Beers

To cap the night, was an amazing starry sky by the lagoon. Had to take manual setting for this shot, but you can see the stars!!!

I can't believe we're almost on the last day of our diving! More to come + the exciting non diving day!

My Roommate JP also wrote about our experience. Very informative indeed. I guess I was just too flabbergasted to be as concise as her!
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