Trip Report Bikini Atoll (June 2023)

[broncobowsher]

Nice write up! This will be my playbook for next year. I first learned of Bikini sometime around 2000. Just a blundering open water diver who had barely seen the ocean ever in my life. I made (an extremely unrealistic) goal of going there before I turned 30. Never a chance of that happening. Life went one, the next goal of doing it before 40 never happened. But in my 40's I finally learned what it would take. Got the rebreather, a trip to Truk. It was on, I will be there before I turn 50. Stupid Covid. I am still on the books for August of 24. I turned 50 in June of 23. I didn't make the goal of going to Bikini before I turned 50. It was planned, just didn't happen. By the time I make it, I will have been trying to make it happen for nearly 25 years.

I have a year to get myself back into diving proficiently enough to be in Bikini. During that time I will probably run into you again sometime on a trip to California.

 

[Heat Miser]

I recently returned from an epic trip to Bikini Atoll. I just published the overall trip report which coves the history of Bikini and the wrecks, the logistics of getting there and back, the liveaboard boat, dive operations, etc. It is very detailed so I hope it serves as a reference for anybody else planning to dive there.

Thanks,

I'm departing in 10 days .... (and lucky to be going via Truk /Chuuk) .... me and the rEvo cant wait.

 

[beldridg]

Nice write up! This will be my playbook for next year. I first learned of Bikini sometime around 2000. Just a blundering open water diver who had barely seen the ocean ever in my life. I made (an extremely unrealistic) goal of going there before I turned 30. Never a chance of that happening. Life went one, the next goal of doing it before 40 never happened. But in my 40's I finally learned what it would take. Got the rebreather, a trip to Truk. It was on, I will be there before I turn 50. Stupid Covid. I am still on the books for August of 24. I turned 50 in June of 23. I didn't make the goal of going to Bikini before I turned 50. It was planned, just didn't happen. By the time I make it, I will have been trying to make it happen for nearly 25 years.

I have a year to get myself back into diving proficiently enough to be in Bikini. During that time I will probably run into you again sometime on a trip to California.

Good luck and I hope you get there. I'll be on the lookout for you on the SoCal boats!

- brett

 

[ACHiPo]

I recently returned from an epic trip to Bikini Atoll. I just published the overall trip report which coves the history of Bikini and the wrecks, the logistics of getting there and back, the liveaboard boat, dive operations, etc. It is very detailed so I hope it serves as a reference for anybody else planning to dive there.

I plan to publish individual posts for each wreck. I did some pretty unique dives and visited each of the airplanes that surround the USS Saratoga and I am working on building photogrammetry models of them all. Most divers do not know about these airplanes or have not visited them. Stay tuned...

Here is a link to the full trip report:

Trip Report : Bikini Atoll (Jun 2023)

Intro This trip has been a long time coming. A really long time. A brief history of my journey to dive the historic wrecks in Bikini Atoll: Approx 2014/2015 : Read about the wrecks in Bikini Atoll …

wreckedinmyrevo.com

I've got a pretty big backlog of posts about Bikini but also a few about some new and interesting things we have found in So Cal so interested readers might want to sign up on the site to get email updates when we publish.

Regards,

- brett

Wow!

 

[azstinger11]

Good luck and I hope you get there. I'll be on the lookout for you on the SoCal boats!

- brett

There are dozens of us, dozens I say! Lol

 

[Joe K.]

Thanks for posting this great report. I just got back from Bikini. The main issue I would also emphasize is the lack of reliability with United. This was by far the most challenging part of the trip. we took the island hopper route originating in Honolulu. Aside from the issues you already mentioned (i.e. arriving at a US military base) there is the issue of reliability. At the time of writing this I believe the route runs in either direction 3 times a week. However, the schedule is regularly delayed, stops are cancelled with minimal warning, luggage is left behind at various stops, etc.

As an example, on the day we arrived from HNL 10 divers came in. 5 of the 10 divers had their luggage removed from the plane just before departure. With the United schedule being what it is, the delayed bags could only be delivered until 3 days later, after the boat already departs to Bikini Atoll. Consequently, these divers had to decide whether they are willing to dive with rental gear or, as was the case with 2 rebreather divers, turn around and go back home. In another example, United Airlines decided last minute to cancel the KWA stop on the island hopper from GUAM to HNL. This left 10 divers stranded with no options to fly out that day. Luckily we were able to catch the route in the other direction the next day and make it to Guam. From there we could fly direct to HNL or NRT. The other option was to wait for 2 days and catch the island hopper from KWA to MAJ and the HNL. With out getting into much detail, the reason UA cancelled the stop in KWA was crew time, not weather or equipment.

My take aways from the logistics of getting to and from KWA: 1. Have your essential gear in your carry on (whatever you consider that to be). There is a good chance your luggage won’t make it. 2. Use AirTags in each checked bag. That way you will always know where your bag is even when the airline doesn’t. 3. Plan on random flight cancellations and make sure your schedule is flexible enough to account for this.

 

[kensuf]

Thanks for posting this great report. I just got back from Bikini. The main issue I would also emphasize is the lack of reliability with United. This was by far the most challenging part of the trip. we took the island hopper route originating in Honolulu. Aside from the issues you already mentioned (i.e. arriving at a US military base) there is the issue of reliability. At the time of writing this I believe the route runs in either direction 3 times a week. However, the schedule is regularly delayed, stops are cancelled with minimal warning, luggage is left behind at various stops, etc.

As an example, on the day we arrived from HNL 10 divers came in. 5 of the 10 divers had their luggage removed from the plane just before departure. With the United schedule being what it is, the delayed bags could only be delivered until 3 days later, after the boat already departs to Bikini Atoll. Consequently, these divers had to decide whether they are willing to dive with rental gear or, as was the case with 2 rebreather divers, turn around and go back home. In another example, United Airlines decided last minute to cancel the KWA stop on the island hopper from GUAM to HNL. This left 10 divers stranded with no options to fly out that day. Luckily we were able to catch the route in the other direction the next day and make it to Guam. From there we could fly direct to HNL or NRT. The other option was to wait for 2 days and catch the island hopper from KWA to MAJ and the HNL. With out getting into much detail, the reason UA cancelled the stop in KWA was crew time, not weather or equipment.

My take aways from the logistics of getting to and from KWA: 1. Have your essential gear in your carry on (whatever you consider that to be). There is a good chance your luggage won’t make it. 2. Use AirTags in each checked bag. That way you will always know where your bag is even when the airline doesn’t. 3. Plan on random flight cancellations and make sure your schedule is flexible enough to account for this.

Were you on Taka (Pacific Master)? I was the guy on Brett's trip that didn't get his luggage until your boat brought it to me five days after my arrival. We had heard five of your group didn't get their bags and that two opted to go home.

Arriving in KWA with nothing except my carry-on and a boat departure scheduled for later that day was disenchanting to say the least. Especially since I had been planning this trip for several years *AND* my original plan was to fly in two days earlier so that my bags could catch up, but United canceled the mid-week flight and option A was arrive a week in advance (not really an option for me) with option B gambling that my bags would arrive when I did.

I chose option B and lost that gamble, I only have vague recollections of the conversation I had with everyone on the trip, but it went something like "I need to go buy some underwear, shorts, and a toothbrush and then we can figure it out from there." Thankfully for me, I was the only person on our trip that was missing my bags and between everyone else we had more than enough spares on the boat to get me in the water.

I think part of the problem is there's a lot of pressure on the Island Hopper right now with people returning to their home country for the first time in several years and United hasn't resumed their pre-pandemic route schedule of 3 days per week. Currently, the Island Hopper runs east to west on Monday and Friday, but it looks like United will be adding the third day back into the loop sometime in October. Obviously, United also had an epic few days around July 1st that had a ripple effect throughout the system.

 

[broncobowsher]

You are really having me think about getting there a flight before the boat leaves. Sitting around a hotel playing solitaire for a few days sure sounds better than not having all the gear. At least I have a year until that happens.

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

I was on the May 2 2023 trip. (Delayed from 2020) I had my ccr (meg) and everything i needed to dive my ccr in my carry on. If my checked bag was lost i would have needed backplate, wing, mask, fins, wetsuit. I had a bathing suit, rash guard and a multi purpose dress stuff in my carry on.

The hassle factor getting to Bikini is not to be underestimated. We had 10’ seas in bound and out bound from Ebey. I didn’t get sea sick. I was not impressed with the food I was served. It was terrible. I suggest taking the 5 min walk from the dock to the grocery store to buy yourself a stash of snacks.

Captain Ferg was the highlight, best dive i had was with him! He’s so good. He dove circles around his DM’s.. I feel like I was manhandled a bit too much by staff. I did speak out (don’t take my fins off before i get my bailouts off to pass up, freediver “helper” was a bit too helpful)

I don’t know if I would go again. I wanted to go since i saw super 8 videos in 2000 on a local charter. I made it before turning 50. There were some glorious WOW moments while diving, but the travel, logistics, the storm, the food and dive deck were a downer.

 

[Joe K.]

Were you on Taka (Pacific Master)? I was the guy on Brett's trip that didn't get his luggage until your boat brought it to me five days after my arrival. We had heard five of your group didn't get their bags and that two opted to go home.

Arriving in KWA with nothing except my carry-on and a boat departure scheduled for later that day was disenchanting to say the least. Especially since I had been planning this trip for several years *AND* my original plan was to fly in two days earlier so that my bags could catch up, but United canceled the mid-week flight and option A was arrive a week in advance (not really an option for me) with option B gambling that my bags would arrive when I did.

I chose option B and lost that gamble, I only have vague recollections of the conversation I had with everyone on the trip, but it went something like "I need to go buy some underwear, shorts, and a toothbrush and then we can figure it out from there." Thankfully for me, I was the only person on our trip that was missing my bags and between everyone else we had more than enough spares on the boat to get me in the water.

I think part of the problem is there's a lot of pressure on the Island Hopper right now with people returning to their home country for the first time in several years and United hasn't resumed their pre-pandemic route schedule of 3 days per week. Currently, the Island Hopper runs east to west on Monday and Friday, but it looks like United will be adding the third day back into the loop sometime in October. Obviously, United also had an epic few days around July 1st that had a ripple effect throughout the system.

Yes, I was on the Pacific Master.
My situation was very similar to yours, shopping for clothes, etc. Based on the current flight schedule you would really need to arrive several days in advance if your luggage was not loaded on your flight. My bag left the next day on a cargo flight to Guam and then on to Island hopper route. So it took 3 days for the bags to arrive in KWA. From talking to some of the flight crew this is pretty standard performance for this route as far as luggage and schedule delays/cancellations. My sense is this route is probably low priority for United. Combine that with an airline that already has a poor reputation for service and you get the outcome we experienced.