I just finished a 5 day trip that exceeded all expectations. PDA was amazing in each phase of the... read more
I just finished a 5 day trip that exceeded all expectations. PDA was amazing in each phase of the... read more
We just finished 10 days of diving with Palau Dive Adventures and they were the best dive company I... read more
We can't say enough good things about Palau Dive Adventures. We just finished the best week of diving we've ever had, and that's thanks to them. You can dive with any company in Palau, and the diving itself will still be good, but your experience won't be. Where to start...
First and foremost you can immediately tell that this company is based on customer service. Everything they do is to make sure you have the best week possible. Here are some of the main points that we particularly appreciated:
The office staff help: You will get very timely email responses from the team, you will be picked up and dropped off at the airport (even if it's in the middle of the night), and they can help you arrange anything else you would like to do while you are in Palau. Again, they want you to have the best time possible, not just while diving with them. It was also great that you can email them and they will book your hotel for you, and they get a better deal for the hotels. Thank you Grace and Cheryl for all of your help!!
The flexibility: They mostly try to run Monday-Friday, but several people got in late, wanted a day off, etc, and they will accommodate. Even if there is only one person that is wanting to dive, they will take you out. They are there to get you to dive if you want. It's amazing.
The divemasters: They were all amazing. They are extremely knowledgeable of the area, and they know their stuff. We felt extremely comfortable and very very safe with all of them. Thank you Nick, Jason, and Christian for giving us the best diving experience ever!
Here is another big bonus: you are with the same people on the same boat all week. And you are also with the same divemasters. They get to know you, you get to know them, and they know how to get the most of the dives. We had 10 people on our boat, and most companies would only send 2 divemasters for that number of people. We always had 3, plus the captain, Dustin (who is amazing). They knew that some people go through their air faster than others, so that allowed for those people to go up with a divemaster and the rest could stay down and finish the dive. They get to know the group of people you are diving with, and how to maximize the experience. It's wonderful, and also makes you feel safe. There are a few dive sites where the current can be tricky, or you are trying to do the reef hook, and with 3 divemaster's they were always there to help.
The quality: The boat was a unique and awesome set up that we had never had before. Every 2 people have their own bench, which includes your own dry box and wet space. Your equipment is set up right in front of you, and then when they help you get your equipment on, you just sit on your bench then roll off the boat right there. No awkward walking to the back of the boat with all of your gear on, crowding on the boat, etc.
We had to rent equipment from them, and it was all top notch. It was all brand new, we never had any problems.
They valet your gear all week. Get ready to get spoiled.
It's the small things that make this company stand out. They give you a water bottle that they refill with cold water and bring each morning for you, they have towels and rain jackets for you on board with your name on it. From talking to other guests at our hotel who were diving with other companies, they were just a number. We had a personalized diving experience all week, and we wouldn't ever dive with any other company in Palau. If PDA was booked for the week we wanted to dive, we would wait and reschedule our trip and wait to dive with PDA. It's worth it.
Dear "AmyLynn12",
From our hearts THANK YOU! I had to read the review twice and we can't thank you enough for the very detailed review.
We will share it with the entire team this week at our weekly meeting. You hit the nail on the head when we do focus on the customer first. Many of the "small" things you pointed out that made your trip stand out are suggestions we took from our past guests, rain jackets, towels and in 2018 we will be using aluminum water bottles vs. plastic ones per a suggestion of one of our guests.
We know Palau is a bucket list dive location and we want to combine the great diving with exceptional service. We will continue to be the best we can and again, thank you for diving with us and we hope to see you next time your in the neighborhood.
We hope the next time your with us, we will be even better! There is always room to improve!
Have a wonderful 2017.
Warmest regards,
Chris Lubba
Proud Team Member of PDA
Palau Dive Adventures go out of their way to make your stay absolutely fabulous. Nick and Allain were great dive masters, helpfull, knowledgable and great fun to hang around. We had the best dives ever and had fun between dives. PDA offers you raincoates, water, snack and great delicious lunch. They even bought a birthday cake and beers after our last dive celebrating one of the divers birthday. They were also very helpfull arranging a tourist flight over Palau and a cheep room for the last night as our flight was at 3:00 am. Thank you PDA. You guys made our trip to Palau rememberable for ever! We hope to be back and will definitely recommend
you to everbody going to Palau for diving.
Dearest "Natascha S",
We can't thank you enough for traveling all the way to Palau to dive with us. We know we are in a remote part of the world and it takes time to visit us, but, please understand how truly thankful we are to have had you as our guests.
Our team works as hard as we can to ensure you have the best possible trip.
We are always looking for an excuse to have a beer or cake at the end of a dive week with us. Glad you enjoyed your group and our team.
As, you know in Palau, we do not say "good bye", but, "See you next time" and we look forward to having you again.
Kindest regards always,
Mary Ann Napil
Manager
I dove in Palau with PDA for a week the first week of Dec. Mantas were feeding in the German Channel and sharks mating in mass. Jason and the team took us to the Blue Corner where there were at least 30 sharks cruising by.
Jason and the PDA team are working hard to ensure everyone has an awesome dive day. Can't say enough about them and the efficiency and comfortable layout of the boats. The atmosphere the guys create is perfect.
If you are looking for a more personable dive experience then look no further... Palau Dive Adventures is the only one.
My Hats off to Cheryl , Grace, Jason, Dustin and all the folks at PDA...
Dear Mitch,
THANK YOU, once again for taking the time to post a review and for coming to Palau to see us for your third trip. You felt like family to us after trip #1 and now with trip #3 we may put to work :)
Thank you again for your loyalty to PDA and we wish you a fantastic 2017.
Kindest regards,
Mary Ann Napil
Dive Shop Manager
You have arrived at your destination if your looking for the best dive package in Palau. Four of us booked a week package with Palau dive adventures . I thought the entire process from start to finish was executed very well with one exception. That was the "convenience" charge to use your credit card. I would prefer to just have the price higher to reflect the cost and not know your being charged to use your CC. With that said Chris, Grace did a fabulous job with the booking and reservation process. On the boat Jason the dive master was awesome, Dustin the boat captain had such a great dry sense of humor. the valet service handling all our gear was really nice. The bento box lunch everyday was really good. You order your lunch the day before so you can mix up what you like everyday. The dive sites were as you expect beautiful favorites were the blue hole the blue corner and the IRO Maru wreck dive. One last observation. When comparing all the other dive boats from other operators PDA had the most comfortable seating and the least number of divers on the boat. It was very obvious we had the best of the best with regard to most comfortable diving boat.
Dear "Traveling_Man",
Thank you for taking the time to review us and thank you for coming all the way to Palau to dive with us. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have wonderful, caring guests like yourselves.
Many of our guests, like yourself offer feedback and we consider this gold. Each and every suggestion like yours, will be evaluated and see if we can implement it.
Glad your trip was great and you and your friends had a great time.
Thank you again for your review!
Mary Ann - Manger
PDA is a very professional diving store, I was very happy to join their signature diving package for one week. They prepared everything for me in my diving, such as tea,fruit,lunch,rain coat and pick-up service. Cheryl was never be late for picking me up everyday, and always with her sweet smile. The diving guider and boat captain are all funny guys, they help me to set up the equipment in my each diving, so what I need to do is just relaxing and enjoy the sea world. I know diving in Palau is a bit expensive, but PDA deserves it. If you come to Palau, highly recommend to choose PDA as your diving store.
Dear "jianjian198710",
Thank you for booking our "signature" 5 day dive package for 5 days. We are glad you enjoyed it and glad to hear "Cheryl" put a big smile on your face everyday as well as our boat crew.
Thank you for traveling all the way to Palau to see us. Thank you so much for taking the time to review us and we look forward to having you as our guest next time.
Kindest regards always,
Mary Ann Napil - Dive Shop Manager
We booked a great week of scuba diving with Chris Lubba and Palau Dive Adventures at the end of our expedition cruise from Darwin to Palau with great diving along the way and especially in Rajah Ampat. Unfortunately, work called and I had to get back to the US and we had to miss our Palau Dive Adventures. Chris came to the rescue and very nicely gave us a future credit for our Palau dive trip. We hope to use it in the next coming years. Chris was super in communicating with us and arranging the trip that we unfortunately had to cut short. We look forward to going back. Pat
Pat,
Your welcome! Glad to hear you will make it back to us and enjoy the world-class diving Palau has to offer.
See you sometime this year!
Kindest regards,
Chris