Micronesia's "Truk" WWII wreck Paradise...

[Carribeandiver]

using Trip-N-Tour, which usually has the best prices around, 8 days aboard the Odyssey Adventures starts at $2495 USD; 8 days aboard the S.S. Thorfinn starts at $1790 USD. Includes accommodations, meals, air or nitrox, snacks, airport transfers, unlimited diving.
7 days at Truk Stop Hotel starts at $777, Blue Lagoon Resort starts at $934. I dont think this includes meals but does include 5 dive days, airport transfers.
Check out Trip-n-tour.com. Obviously, there are other trip agents so shop around.

 

[Carribeandiver]

that was once my goal - hit Truk lagoon and make a serious number of dives. a LDS here in New Orleans has a trip to Truk and Palau set for Jan '08. Two weeks, includes a night in Guam, airfare from Houston to Honolulu, to Guam to Truk then to Palau and back. One week in Truk, one week in Palau. Staying on the Odyssey liveaboard in Truk. Staying at the Palau Pacific Resort in Palau. I forget the hotel in Guam but it is for only 8 hours anyway. I know I priced it out and I couldnt beat the LDS price. $6495 USD.
If interested PM and I will give you the LDS contact info.
Now, I have found way too many dive sites I want to visit and have put Truk down my list. That $2500 airfare killed it for me.
I figure for 6500, I can see 3 or 4 spots for a week each.

 

[DiveMaven]

We're booked on the Odyssey for 2008 and can't wait! Truk is definitely a dream destination for the history, the wrecks, and the living reefs ON the wrecks.

 

[Warren_L]

Warren, you'll love it! I dove through Blue Lagoon last time and will do so again on this coming trip but I hear the Odyssey is excellent. Not sure who your companions will be, but communicate your skill level and diving expectations (in terms of depth) ahead of time since they probably get a varied mix of experience levels on the Odyssey. Also, I hear the Oite Destroyer at 220 ft is spectacular... not sure if you have a line on some trimix there, everyone I talked with dove it deep air.

Yah, I'm really looking forward to it. Our group booked this trip back in 2005, more than 2 years in advance. For the most part, we will be diving rebreathers (a few open circuit folks will be there too) and would like to arrange for trimix for the deeper dives. Logistically, there's a bit more to plan for as we need to arrange for scrubber to be shipped directly to our destinations, as well as ensuring oxygen fills (at a minimum) are available. Helium would be an added bonus for sure.

 

[Scuba-Jay]

Scuba-Jay , the BP/w is probably looking better and better now.

Terra I know you bp/w folks cant get enough of that system :blinking: and yes, were i to get the oppertunity to make this treck and/or train as a tech diver, id pick one up for sure...but for my day to day diving ill stick to my jacket style BC!!

Jay

 

[Spectre]

I'm assuming having technical certifications is a big plus for this one, as many of the wrecks are in depths past the normal recreational limits?

You'll actually find you prefer the shallower ones; the wrecks are absolutely spectacular, and you'll like being able to have more time on them then the deeper wrecks. Not to mention that deco gases were a little on the pricey side; IIRC it was $1/cuft for 50%.

 

[joewr]

Hi, Jay,

I dove Truk about 5 years ago and it was fabulous. Most of the dives are not below rec diver limits, so do not let that stop you.

That said, there are a couple below 120' that are just wonderful, including a sub, a cargo ship with tanks on deck, and a cruiser. The sub is at about 130' and so it could be very tempting for a rec diver.

There are also some very shallow dives that need some planning. These are warplane wrecks. I "invented" a neat way to do them. We ended a "regular" dive with 500 lbs of air in our tanks. Then we went to the warplane wrecks that were at about 25'-35' and dove them. Of course, at those depths the air lasted forever. Some folks free dive them or snorkle them, but for us uw photographers, what I suggest was perfect.

Another thing that you have to do there is a night dive. The soft corals just become a wild riot of color at night. And the clown anenomes are spectacular.

We stayed at the resort, but the live aboard is an excellent option, too.

Do not miss Truk if at all possible.

One more thing...the shop normally offers a book on the history of Operation Hailstorm, the WWII operation that led to the sinking of all these ships. It is worth purchasing the night you arrive--and reading it in a hurry to get a full picture.

And yet one more thing--if you do your homework, the DM's will take you darn near anywhere you want to go!

Unfortunately, back then I used a housed Nikon F100 and do not have any scanned photos. I will try to scan a few and post them.

joewr

 

[Leadking]

Just finished checking out the photos from a board members trip to "truk" and I'm so jealous i could just....GEES!! Has anyone else had the chance to dive this gem? I'm assuming having technical certifications is a big plus for this one, as many of the wrecks are in depths past the normal recreational limits? If anyone has any stories id love to hear them. This will be my "dream dive" goal until i dive it.....WOW

Scuba-Jay

I did the trip in 2005 and 2006 using trimix rebeather. We would do the San Francisco at 190' for a 2-3 hour runtime and have lunch then do a shallow water (<150') in the afternoon with a 1.5 hour runtime. You can read about the trip in Advanced Diver magazine http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/NMBackIssues/ADMIssHeader.asp?Iss=23

Rob from the trip posted this http://www.rebreatherworld.com/trip...cr-truk-expedition-2006-a.html?highlight=truk

 

[Spectre]

Another thing that you have to do there is a night dive. The soft corals just become a wild riot of color at night. And the clown anenomes are spectacular.

I was fascinated with this one piece of coral. It was in a very obvious place and I checked it out on the start of the dive. At the end of the dive, after dusk, I was just blown away by the difference (rest of the pics are here:

 

[MoonWrasse]

I'm going to Truk/Chuuk and Yap in March. Truk has long been a dream destination for me since I first got certified. A great book on Truk is Dan E. Bailey's "World War II Wrecks of Truk Lagoon." It's colorful and nicely bound. Lindeman's book, while informative, was a bit dull in comparison and duplicated all the info in Bailey's book. If you're on a budget get Lindeman's book becuase it is cheaper.

I wish I was going