The Palau Siren Liveaboard offers a floating hotel type experience in Palau with some notable highlights and areas for improvement.

The Palau Siren is a beautifully presented traditional Phinisi. One of her best features is undoubtedly the a la carte plus buffet breakfast served after the first dive, providing guests with a delightful start to their day. The liveaboard, owned by Master Liveaboards, boasts a large lounge, dining area, and well-appointed cabins.

The cabins are equipped with modern showers, toilets, and daily housekeeping services, including fresh towels. However, some guests may find the air conditioning to be noisy and prone to temperature fluctuations. Additionally, there is no onboard WiFi, but guests can purchase local SIM cards for internet access, although coverage may vary depending on the location.

Meals onboard are of very good quality and plentiful, with a wide selection of breakfast options cooked to order plus a generous hot buffet of side items. Delicious lunches and dinners are served buffet-style as well. The onboard bar offers a selection of local light beer on tap, cocktails, and some spirits to enjoy after diving is completed for the day.

The dive team on the Palau Siren Liveaboard comprises the Cruise Director/instructor, assistant CD, and two experienced guides, maintaining an overall ratio of approximately four guests to one guide, although this ratio may vary slightly on different dives. Dive briefings were engaging and informative, featuring rotations among the team and supplemented by humorous anecdotes and visually appealing graphics displayed on a large screen in common areas. However, there were instances where the dive plan did not achieve its objective due to misjudged current conditions.

Diving activities are conducted from banana boat skiffs, with travel times ranging from 20 to 40 minutes. While the dive boats are comfortable and covered, the open sides can lead to exposure to wet and windy conditions, especially during rough weather. It's important to note that there is no provision for water onboard the dive boats, but the ever cheerful hospitality team always serves water or juice before and after the dive.

Equipment handling is primarily self-setup, and equipment stays on your allocated skiff. Tanks are filled in situ, and the crew ensures wetsuits are rinsed after each dive. Guests should be self-sufficient in terms of camera handling, although the crew is supportive in passing equipment as needed.

Nitrox at 31% is available, with guests required to sign for each tank, although an on-site O2 analyzer is not provided. The compressors onboard are essential for dive operations but can be noisy.

The itinerary is collaboratively decided with input from the Cruise Director, boat captain, and skiff drivers, taking into account prevailing conditions and a routine itinerary. However, there may be room for improvement in optimizing the itinerary for the best diving experiences throughout the trip.

During our 10-night trip, we found the itinerary somewhat disappointing as we spent 4 nights in Malakal Harbor (2 at the beginning and 2 at the end), 2 nights at Ulong, and just 4 nights in the Ngemelis area. The diving experience was notably better in the Ngemelis area, which hosts premier dive sites like Blue Corner and German Channel. The Ulong area was also good, but Malakal Harbor had poor visibility and lacked marine life. Pelileu dives were conducted using the skiffs, with one boat remaining behind for guests opting for a land tour at Pelileu instead of a second dive.

For non-divers, the liveaboard offers snorkeling and kayaking options, adding to the variety of activities available during the trip.

Overall, the Palau Siren Liveaboard offers a memorable diving experience with excellent meals, comfortable accommodations, and knowledgeable guides. However, improvements in air conditioning stability, WiFi availability, and itinerary. The Palau Siren Liveaboard offers a floating hotel type experience in Palau with some notable highlights and areas for improvement.

I recently returned from a wonderful trip aboard the Solomons Master, exploring the Russell and Florida Islands and the Marova area of the Solomon Islands. The overall experience was great, and I’d recommend it to anyone seeking a diverse diving adventure.
The Crew & Boat:
The crew were polished, friendly, and very attentive. Food was excellent, and they maintained high safety standards throughout the trip. The boat itself is showing its age, but it's impeccably clean with no musty or engine smells often associated with older vessels. A refit is scheduled for early 2025, which will likely enhance its appeal further.
The Diving:
The Best of Solomons itinerary dive sites were well chosen, offering a mix of WWII wrecks, coral seamounts, walls, caverns, and more. We started with a surprisingly interesting check-out dive at White Beach, featuring well-encrusted WWII debris, and continued on with fish-rich seamounts, soft and hard coral reefs, caverns and a few thrilling drift dives.
Highlights included:
• Barracuda Point at Mary Island: teeming with fish and vibrant coral life.
• Cathedral Caverns: fun swim-throughs and a jungle-like surface area.
• Lava Tube Dive: unique topography, featuring camouflaged crocodile fish.
The variety of marine life was impressive, though pelagics were somewhat limited, with only a few sharks, turtles, and one manta. A blue-ringed octopus made an appearance during a night dive, and we spotted a good range of nudibranchs and other macro critters.
Boat & Diving Logistics:
Most dives were "live drops," meaning we entered the water from the main boat and were picked up at the end of the dive by the dingies. Towing us back to the boat via tender was a novel and gentle approach that worked well. Our dive had compatible air consumption, ensuring everyone had a safe and enjoyable experience.
Accommodations & Food:
The rooms were clean and tidied daily. Meals were served buffet-style, with a variety of vegetables, meats, and fresh cakes or cookies each day. Alcohol was available via an honesty tab system. Breakfast consisted of fruit and toast before the first dive, followed by a full cooked breakfast afterward.
Service
The crew consistently went above and beyond to ensure all guests had a comfortable and enjoyable experience, catering to individual needs with great care and attention. This level of dedication speaks volumes about their commitment to delivering outstanding service.
Final Thoughts:
This was an excellent dive trip with an experienced crew, diverse dive sites, and great service. The boat may be older, but it remains a top option for exploring the Solomon Islands’ rich underwater offerings.

Ambiance and Arrival: Arriving by an incredibly scenic one hour charter flight over the mountains and fjords from Port Moresby, Tufi Resort is enveloped in a lush, tropical setting along Papua New Guinea’s northern coast, offering guests a warm welcome in an organized and secure environment. We appreciated the welcoming orientation, as well as the early breakfast upon arrival, which set a positive tone for our stay.

Management and Service: The management at Tufi balances professionalism with a welcoming demeanor, fostering a friendly and hospitable atmosphere. Staff members were consistently kind, well-trained, and attentive, embodying a high standard of guest service.

Rooms: The rooms were comfortably furnished and offered beautiful views, complemented by effective air conditioning. While room aesthetics were pleasing, maintenance in the tropics is a challenge, with continual renovations in progress. Additionally, camera setup in the room was difficult due to low light levels, and indoor WiFi access would be beneficial, particularly to avoid mosquito exposure outdoors.

Dining: The resort’s dining experience had positives but could be enhanced to meet the resort’s standard.

Breakfast: Early coffee availability and lighter breakfast options suited divers well.
Lunch: A good variety of meals were offered over the week, but an option for multiple choices would be a welcome addition.
Dinner: We felt that dinner service was often rushed. Menu choices would be a nice addition to allow flexibility, and the quality and consistency of meals need improvement to match the resort’s premium feel.
Bar Service: The bar service was generally good, offering a cocktail of the day. Mango Daiquiri's in mango season - yum.

Diving is a highlight at Tufi, with impressive sites such as Jack Daniels, Bills, and Kasa. While some dives, like Cyclone, lacked marine life, others revealed rich biodiversity and stunning fish schools, particularly the middle reefs. The house reef and fjord diving offered a good habitat for macro subjects including the elusive Mandarin Fish.

Dive planning would benefit from greater flexibility based on weather conditions to enhance the diving experience. The boat operations were well-organized, featuring thoughtful provisions such as fresh snacks, water, and towels. However, adding a safety line from the bow to the ladder on the monohull would improve safety during exits, particularly in rough conditions.

Environmental Impact: The resort’s anchoring practices raised some concerns about coral damage. Adding moorings could help reduce this impact while preserving the reef’s health.

Amenities: WiFi access, limited to the main building and operational only between 6 am and 8 pm, was slow, and uploading media was challenging. While this could restrict those requiring constant connectivity, it did encourage a digital detox. Additionally, the conference room could be an ideal camera setup area for groups, with good lighting and workspace layout.

Final Impressions: Tufi Resort has substantial strengths, including its hospitable ambiance, well-trained staff, and overall organization. A few improvements in room maintenance, food quality, dining pacing, and dive planning flexibility would elevate the experience to match the resort’s promising setting and scenic dive offerings.

Tawali Resort clings to the rainforest, sloping to the sea, like a sprawling treehouse on the outer peninsula of Milne Bay. We previously dived this area by liveaboard as it was hard to access otherwise. Arriving is via a 45-minute flight from Port Moresby to Alatau, then a 90-min ride in a new mini-bus and finally a 20-minute boat trip to the resort.

The main jetty, wrapped around the house reef and mandarin fish dive, leads to some stairs past rinse tanks and then a sloping walkway and then some more stairs to reach the accommodations level. The main complex is fan-cooled and houses reception, WIFI access, lounge, bar, indoor dining area and large outdoor decks with views through the rainforest to the sea below, where devil rays (Mobula rays) could be seen on the house reef.

The 19 timber bungalows perched on the hillside are connected by a timber walkway through the tree canopy. Some are in a duplex arrangement which can be connected internally. Further along the walkway, the resort also has a 2-bedroom Ocean villa, a large conference room with 3 attached single rooms, and eventually meanders down to beach level with a nice pool.

The air-conditioned rooms are large with 2 queen beds, a mini fridge, tea and coffee station (in future a smart TV and WIFI are planned) and a long bench good for cameras but lacking convenient electric outlets. There was a great view from the balcony seating area and an outdoor drying rack.

The included meals were a mix of buffet and cook to order depending on the number of guests or the plan of the day. Most days, eggs were cooked to order, lunches were western-style plate of the day and dinners were usually a buffet of a good selection of dishes including plenty of seafood and crab. Fresh tropical fruit was offered at each meal. The most unexpected was the best lunch on a 3-dive day boat that we have had. They put a food warmer on board and were able to serve up hot dishes of rice, curry, vegetables and crumbed shrimp as well as cold salad and fruit from the cooler.

The meal and bar server was excellent, attentive and thoughtful, and made pretty good cocktails. In fact, the whole resort and dive operation was well run by the long serving team, with no apparent supervision.

Tawali has a small but well-coordinated and experienced dive team lead by Alfred, who have been diving this area for over 10 years. There were 2 guides for our group of 4 or 6 experience divers, all were good with their air and bottom times averaged 70 minutes, with no rush to surface if there was something interesting to see which the guides were enthusiastic to find. Several divers using Nitrox found the readings inconsistent day to day.

They have a large new dive boat which is comfortable but with a ramp at the front like a landing barge that lowers for divers to walk into the water with a giant stride. In rough weather, they use the side exit, which means stepping up onto a narrow ledge before stepping off. The ladder is attached here for getting back on board and is going to be better adapted for divers as it can be a bit slippery in bare feet.

We were happy to find the boat was strictly non-smoking. Amenities on board included, towels, water, tea, coffee, fruit and cookies and the best banana cake, until the kitchen ran out of ripe bananas. Cameras were well handled and a rinse bucket was provided on board.

The resort is well located to some great walls close to the resort and is an hour to the mouth of Milne Bay where the reefs are colourful and host amazing numbers of fish. Albert came to the dining room each evening to confirm the next days’ dive plan and we alternated days between closer and farther dive sites. Tawali and Milne Bay are well known for muck diving, however our group had an appetite for the walls and reefs with some current, which had plenty of seasonal pelagic and fish action and as one diver exclaimed after a great dive at Tania’s Reef, “With a dive like that who would want to do muck diving?”