Truk advice

[mikesbucky]

I'm looking for some advice on Truk lagoon. Is there a good or bad time of year to go? Advantages and disadvantages of Blue Lagoon and Truk Stop. I'd like to do the Odyssey, but can't make the timing work.

I'll also be going alone, are dive buddies hard to find or do the guides take that role.

Lastly, I'm looking for advice on whether I'm experienced enough to make the trip worthwhile. I'm a PADI AOW with Nitrox cert. I'm just short of 100 dives with over 45 wreck dives including the Oriskany, Spiegel Grove, Vandenberg and U352 amongst others. I have 25 dives over 100' including the rec max of 130 and over 40 dives below 80'. I've also have experience in the region with dives in Fiji, French Polynesia and Australia.

Any advice offered will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Doubler]

I dove Truk last March and the diving is awesome. You should have no problem with the diving. There is a BIG difference between the wrecks you have dove and the ones in the lagoon, just stick with the guide and you'll do fine. We were on the Odyssea, great boat. IMPO I would stay at the Blue Lagoon JUST so I didn't have to ride on that sad excuse for a road. Kidney crusher for sure. Other than that the Truk Stop would be fine.

 

[bamafan]

I dove Truk this past December. Stayed at Blue Lagoon for a couple of days before boarding the Odyssey. I did a few dives at Blue Lagoon dive shop as well as 1 dive on the Oite with the Truk Stop. The Odyssey is the way to go to get the most diving in as there is nothing else really to do in Truk except dive. But since you said your schedule does not work I would recommend the Truk Stop. It is in town close to the airport so it saves the long kidney busting ride to Blue Lagoon and Rob will take good care of you. As said above no problem going solo as the guide will take care of you. I do recommend the Odyssey as I stated above though.

 

[Scared Silly]

Did you read this thread?

Diving Truk

 

[mikesbucky]

I did, but that thread is more specific to diving aboard the Odyssey and I can't make that work.

 

[clownfishsydney]

I have been to Chuuk six times. I have dived on the liveaboards as well as the two land based operations. Blue Lagoon is by far the preferred land based operator for many reasons (accommodation, many dive boats, more reliable, closer to most wrecks, better dive day plan and more). I also think that land based is better than liveaboard for the following reason. For the cost of one week on the liveaboard, you can do three weeks shore based. This lets you dive only twice a day (safer) and also visit more than twice as many off the really deep (>50 m - say 175 ft) wrecks. There are plenty of them.You get to see many more wrecks than a one week liveaboard trip. On my most recent trip we did about 33 dives.

As to experience, you can dive the shallower (30 m - 110 ft) wrecks easily. You should also be able to do the ones to 40 or so metres. On most trips I have used singles but last trip used doubles. However, for these two dives I only used these two tanks, that is, less than an average of 50% on each dive. My wife used a single with a smaller sling tank. We also had a hang tank of 40% or so under the boat.

As to buddies, they will put you on a boat with a person of similar experience but they will also provide a boat for your own use if you want (probably have to pay a little bit for this). All boats have a guide, but you do not have to use them if you are in a group. In my view, you should as they will show you all the best things that you would otherwise miss.

See my web site for more information about the accommodation, dive operators and most of the wrecks: Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site.

Happy to answer any questions on this site of via the contact page on my web site.

 

[RJP]

The main thing I ask of anyone diving Truk who is not technically trained/proficient... please don't dive Truk until/unless you have your buoyancy/trim/propulsion skills dialed in. As mentioned above, these are actual wrecks, not "boats that have been sanitized and placed on the bottom." They are rusty, silty, wrecks that were put on the bottom by torpedo and bombs. They have been on the bottom for 70 years. Further, many/most of them are war graves. They need to be dived with care and respect.

I have see recreational vacation divers roto-till the decks, silt up engine rooms, and otherwise render sites undiveable. People pay a lot of money to get there and then pay even more to dive there. Don't be the guy that ruins a "once in a lifetime dive" for yourself and everyone else.

[/soapbox]

 

[Deep Water Dan]

I have see recreational vacation divers roto-till the decks, silt up engine rooms, and otherwise render sites undiveable. People pay a lot of money to get there and then pay even more to dive there. Don't be the guy that ruins a "once in a lifetime dive" for yourself and everyone else.

[/soapbox]

Last time I was in Truk, it was the tech divers who silted up the wrecks and made them undiveable for everybody else. It was so bad that in planning my next trip for this year, I have contacted some of the operators that run tech diver trips there to make sure I'll be there when they're not. Other folks have had the same problem. Rule of thumb out here for Truk is if you see a boat full of tech divers or the Odyssey moored at a wreck, go somewhere else until the silt clears.

 

[RJP]

Last time I was in Truk, it was the tech divers who silted up the wrecks and made them undiveable for everybody else. It was so bad that in planning my next trip for this year, I have contacted some of the operators that run tech diver trips there to make sure I'll be there when they're not. Other folks have had the same problem. Rule of thumb out here for Truk is if you see a boat full of tech divers or the Odyssey moored at a wreck, go somewhere else until the silt clears.

Guess it's "crappy, thoughtless divers irrespective of certification" that one needs to look out for. I was on the Odyssey for two weeks last time in Truk. First week there were only 8 of us on the boat. All 8 were proficient cave/tech trained divers and the week was phenomenal. The second week three of us were still on the boat, which was otherwise full. The other passengers were all recreational divers who, for the most part, were nice people but all "crappy, thoughtless divers." Looked as if they were actually Operation Hailstone Re-Enactors as they bombed every wreck in the lagoon. They literally rendered most sites un-diveable. Ironically several complained about the lack of visibility.

After the first day, the other three of us spoke with the captain and agreed that we could jump in and start our dives when the others began their briefings.

I can certainly see that avoiding a wreck where the Odyssey was moored makes sense. Even if everyone on the boat was exquisitely skilled... you're still looking at 18 divers dropped on the same wreck.

 

[Hintermann]

Just got back from Truk Lagoon. January-February is an excellent time to go. The weather was sunny most of the time and despite a few surface swells on occasion, the visibility good to the point of eeriness at times. I stayed at Blue Lagoon and did 6 dives with them - including a hair-raising night penetration of the Heian Maru - before boarding the Truk Odyssey. Great dives if you like wrecks and the only problem is that you can become too involved in exploring the ships and lose track of the dive profile. I did just that on my last dive of the San Francisco Maru and ended up with DCS.