vjongene
Contributor
Rongelap Atoll lies about 100 miles east of Bikini in the Marshall Islands. Its inhabitants were heavily contaminated by radioactive fallout during the 1954 Bravo test (the first "deliverable" H-bomb), and to a lesser extent by several subsequent atmospheric tests on Bikini. The island was evacuated for the first time a few days after Bravo, and the inhabitants returned in 1957. Concerns about the health effects of remaining radioactive contaminants forced a second evacuation in 1985. While officially plans are being made for a return of the locals in 2004, there are no visible signs that this may be happening any time soon. The opening of a small tourist resort has been announced for the end of the year, but there is no sign of any construction going on. For the time being, the only way to visit the atoll is on a live-aboard partially owned by the Rongelap government and operated by a New Zealand couple (Darryl and Julie Hudson), the MV Oleanda. The boat and its operators are based in Majuro, but they are planning regular trips to Rongelap as well as other outlying atolls in the Marshalls. Since there are no tour operators at present offering cruises on the Oleanda, the only way to book is to contact Julie and Darryl directly (see www.rongelapexpeditions.com).
For all of these reasons, Rongelap is an essentially unexplored dive destination. We (a group of five Swiss and one American from Guam) were Julie and Darryl's first customers on the Oleanda. Most of the dives we did were on spots that had never been dived before. Not for the faint of heart, but probably among the dreams of many divers!
We arrived on Rongelap from Bikini by the Air Marshall Islands weekly milk run, a Dash 8 serving the northern islands of the archipelago. It has a pretty air terminal, flanked by an incongruous parking lot. The only running motor vehicle on the island, a totally rusted pick-up truck, was there to transport guests and luggage to the boat, which was tied up to the dock about half a mile away. And what a boat! The Oleanda was built for VIP dinner and fishing cruises in Fiji, and while it is not brand new it is still luxuriously appointed and very spacious. The entire crew was dressed in spiffy uniforms, and Darryl greeted us decked out in a hula and matching coconut bra. Quite a sight!
For the next week, we were treated to total luxury, really unexpected in such an isolated setting. Fantastic food, tasty snacks after the dives, an excellent choice of beers, wines and spirits for post-dive entertainment, fresh towels after the dives, comfortable air-conditioned cabins, etc. A total contrast to Bikini, which prides itself in military rigor and discipline, and frowns on alcohol consumption. I have to specially mention the chef, Tomasi from Tonga, who is nothing short of a culinary artist. Every meal he served was a treat to the eyes as well as to the palate.
Diving is done from a fiberglass tender, since the Oleanda is not maneuverable enough to safely approach the reefs and passes where we dive. The crew was very helpful in getting the gear on and off the tender, even a bit too much for my taste, as they insisted on putting the gear together, and managed to ruin the DIN fittings on my son's reg... Lee, the tender's pilot, is very experienced at estimating currents and following divers, and he was always right on the spot when we surfaced.
The dives themselves are like a dream. The reefs are pristine and untouched. The fish have never seen a diver before. We kept running into species that we had never seen before. We saw hundreds of sharks (mostly grey reef, but also white-tips, silky, nurse), many huge dog-tooth tuna, some of the largest groupers I have ever run across (bigger than the Cod Hole potato cods), schools of barracuda and jacks, lots of turtles, and so on. Of the 20 dives we did during the week, only one was a little disappointing.
Because Rongelap has been dived so little, there were no briefings to speak of. Essentially, is was "here is the water, we believe the current must be running this way, don't do anything stupid". Darryl and Julie accompanied us on some dives, but since we are pretty independent we often just went any way that looked interesting, and followed whatever critters tickled our fancy.
The atoll is quite large, with a diameter of about 30 miles. So there is a huge choice of spots to explore, most of which have no names yet. We dove mostly through passes between the lagoon and the ocean, with currents either incoming or outgoing. My favorites were the West Pass, one of the main passes into the lagoon, deep and with sheer walls, and the Aquarium, a shallow pass on the north side. The West Pass provided us with some memorable drift dives, currents running around three knots, being whisked through incredible masses of fish and accompanied by hunting sharks. In the Aquarium, we saw a "shark nursery", a school of about 50 juveniles being watched over by a few adults; plus a huge school of barracuda, and snappers by the thousands. Absolutely amazing.
I hope that Rongelap manages to maintain its "end of the world" feeling and that the locals to not become too adept at attracting tourists. As it is now, it qualifies as a dream destination by my standards - unspoiled, uncrowded, and still very comfortable. My only warning would be to beginners: this is not tame diving. The currents are strong. The sharks are very curious. The sites are uncharted. This is "diving wilderness"!
For all of these reasons, Rongelap is an essentially unexplored dive destination. We (a group of five Swiss and one American from Guam) were Julie and Darryl's first customers on the Oleanda. Most of the dives we did were on spots that had never been dived before. Not for the faint of heart, but probably among the dreams of many divers!
We arrived on Rongelap from Bikini by the Air Marshall Islands weekly milk run, a Dash 8 serving the northern islands of the archipelago. It has a pretty air terminal, flanked by an incongruous parking lot. The only running motor vehicle on the island, a totally rusted pick-up truck, was there to transport guests and luggage to the boat, which was tied up to the dock about half a mile away. And what a boat! The Oleanda was built for VIP dinner and fishing cruises in Fiji, and while it is not brand new it is still luxuriously appointed and very spacious. The entire crew was dressed in spiffy uniforms, and Darryl greeted us decked out in a hula and matching coconut bra. Quite a sight!
For the next week, we were treated to total luxury, really unexpected in such an isolated setting. Fantastic food, tasty snacks after the dives, an excellent choice of beers, wines and spirits for post-dive entertainment, fresh towels after the dives, comfortable air-conditioned cabins, etc. A total contrast to Bikini, which prides itself in military rigor and discipline, and frowns on alcohol consumption. I have to specially mention the chef, Tomasi from Tonga, who is nothing short of a culinary artist. Every meal he served was a treat to the eyes as well as to the palate.
Diving is done from a fiberglass tender, since the Oleanda is not maneuverable enough to safely approach the reefs and passes where we dive. The crew was very helpful in getting the gear on and off the tender, even a bit too much for my taste, as they insisted on putting the gear together, and managed to ruin the DIN fittings on my son's reg... Lee, the tender's pilot, is very experienced at estimating currents and following divers, and he was always right on the spot when we surfaced.
The dives themselves are like a dream. The reefs are pristine and untouched. The fish have never seen a diver before. We kept running into species that we had never seen before. We saw hundreds of sharks (mostly grey reef, but also white-tips, silky, nurse), many huge dog-tooth tuna, some of the largest groupers I have ever run across (bigger than the Cod Hole potato cods), schools of barracuda and jacks, lots of turtles, and so on. Of the 20 dives we did during the week, only one was a little disappointing.
Because Rongelap has been dived so little, there were no briefings to speak of. Essentially, is was "here is the water, we believe the current must be running this way, don't do anything stupid". Darryl and Julie accompanied us on some dives, but since we are pretty independent we often just went any way that looked interesting, and followed whatever critters tickled our fancy.
The atoll is quite large, with a diameter of about 30 miles. So there is a huge choice of spots to explore, most of which have no names yet. We dove mostly through passes between the lagoon and the ocean, with currents either incoming or outgoing. My favorites were the West Pass, one of the main passes into the lagoon, deep and with sheer walls, and the Aquarium, a shallow pass on the north side. The West Pass provided us with some memorable drift dives, currents running around three knots, being whisked through incredible masses of fish and accompanied by hunting sharks. In the Aquarium, we saw a "shark nursery", a school of about 50 juveniles being watched over by a few adults; plus a huge school of barracuda, and snappers by the thousands. Absolutely amazing.
I hope that Rongelap manages to maintain its "end of the world" feeling and that the locals to not become too adept at attracting tourists. As it is now, it qualifies as a dream destination by my standards - unspoiled, uncrowded, and still very comfortable. My only warning would be to beginners: this is not tame diving. The currents are strong. The sharks are very curious. The sites are uncharted. This is "diving wilderness"!
