Unique Dive Expeditions unveils Palau’s best kept secrets

Koror/Dusseldorf, January 19, 2013 – Unique Dive Expeditions offers the chance to experience a different type of diving in Palau, one that is structured around the moon phases and the tides. The moon has one of the biggest influences on the oceans and can trigger some rare and unique biological events such as spawning aggregations.

The “Full Moon Expedition” offers three dives a day for six days taking in the best of the famous dive sites in Palau. Three days are spent at Peleliu in the South of the Rock Islands, where participants witness the aggregation of the red snapper (lutjanus bohar). It is a unique experience to watch thousands and thousands of red snapper coming together with the added bonus of the larger predators that come to feed on the unsuspecting fish. Grey reef sharks (carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) are in abundance looking for an easy meal and the resident bull sharks (carcharhinus leucas) are seen stalking the red snapper which is a jaw dropping sight.

The “New Moon Expedition” is similar in structure but this expedition offers divers the chance to witness the bumphead parrot fish (bolbometopon muricatum) come together in their thousands for a very brief period, only for a couple of hours a day, to spawn. In addition, other aggregations that the team believes to happen only once a year such as the moorish idols (zanclus cornutus), the orange spine unicorn fish (naso lituratus), the sailfin snapper (symphorichthys spilurus) and a number of different species of grouper, may also be part of the unique dive experience.

The drive behind Unique Dive Expeditions comes from two vastly experienced veterans of Palau diving, Paul Collins and Richard Barnden. Both have worked for more than five years as guides in Palau. Collins is an active marine researcher with a masters’ degree in marine sciences. Both have been studying the aggregations for a number of years and have been recording and analysing the environmental variables so that they can almost guarantee a once in a lifetime experience. In order to give guests the maximum experience, the expeditions wil be offered exclusively to small groups of no more than seven people, guided by the two veterans.

Marc Bauman, Sales & Marketing Director of Sam’s Tours Palau, says: “Palau is well established as a top notch dive destination and has recently been voted again as the top dive destination in the Pacific & Indian Ocean category by readers of the US magazine Scuba Diving. Yet, there are still many underwater wonders that remain to be discovered by a larger audience. With Unique Dive Expeditions, we have a great offer to make to our repeater guests who are ready for new adventures as well as for the affluent diver who is seeking exclusive and advanced dive experiences which are not a common sight.”

For more information or to make a reservation, please contact
Mail: reservations [at] samstours.com
Phone: +680-488 1062
Web: www.samstours.com/specialty-diving