For the last eight years Sam’s Tours has pioneered the concept of chartering your own live aboard dive boat in Palau. Eclipse, our 48 ft sailing yacht has proven that offering an exclusive dive trip for a small party of friends and family can provide the best dive experience most have ever experienced. But Eclipse has been fully booked for the last three seasons, and routinely has to turn away potential guests enchanted by the idea of having their own boat and dive agenda, crewed by John and Charlie McCready, in Palau, yet, the best of all possible worlds! Clearly, an additional boat is in order.
While Eclipse has a particular charm for adventurous out door types, it is undoubtedly not to everyone’s taste. Fairly Spartan in accommodations, without air conditioning or even indoor showers, many guests have compared our dive trips with the best camping trip they have ever had. So we thought that with a different kind of boat we could offer a dive trip more in keeping with the kind of luxury the big liveaboards offer, but with the advantages we pioneered aboard Eclipse, that is a trip totally dedicated to the guest’s desires, with their own exclusive group, diving when other boats and divers are absent from the most celebrated dive sites.
While Eclipse has a particular charm for adventurous out door types, it is undoubtedly not to everyone’s taste. Fairly Spartan in accommodations, without air conditioning or even indoor showers, many guests have compared our dive trips with the best camping trip they have ever had. So we thought that with a different kind of boat we could offer a dive trip more in keeping with the kind of luxury the big liveaboards offer, but with the advantages we pioneered aboard Eclipse, that is a trip totally dedicated to the guest’s desires, with their own exclusive group, diving when other boats and divers are absent from the most celebrated dive sites.
So we have acquired a 36 foot trawler style power yacht with air conditioning, hot indoor showers and wow, even an indoor dining room! We have found that having a high performance sail boat was hardly noticed by many of our guests. Most are dedicated divers overjoyed to find a program that allows them the freedom to dive days on end, at their choice of dive spots as if they had piloted their own crewed yacht to Palau. The new boat has other advantages, too, particularly shallow draft that allows passage through German Channel even during low tide, so no waiting to start diving on the first day, as occasionally happens on Eclipse when low tide coincides with our arrival at the gateway to the best diving in Palau. Perhaps most impressive is a beautiful aft cabin with king sized bed, windows all around and attached toilet and shower. So this boat is ideally suited to offer a deluxe custom dive adventure for just one couple.
Interested? Unfortunately, the new boat is not yet ready this season, needing some modifications and additions to become a full fledged live aboard dive boat. We are aiming for August, 2009, while Eclipse is getting her yearly up grades and maintenance.
This promises to become Palau’s premier dive offering, a private deluxe yacht for two, with John and Charlie demonstrating their years of boating expertise, dive experience and culinary arts.
Taking reservations now! saildive@palaunet.com
Find out more about us at: http://www.palau-divensail.com/
