pclarke1
Registered
I dove with Captain Lance on the SS Thorfinn in June 2019, and I wanted to share with the Scubaboard community my highly positive experience of this operation. I won't discuss the specifics of diving at Truk, the fact that the location is overwhelmingly incredible is self evident to anyone that has done even a brief web search, so I will leave those stories for others to tell. I felt compelled to write this to provide some balance to some of the reviews I have read on the Thorfinn.
I do not seek to speak for anyone else’s experience on the SS Thorfinn at Truk Lagoon other than my own. To summarize it significantly exceeded my expectations, I would however like to address some of the comments I have seen in other postings and offer my perspective. Going to Truk was a big deal for me and was something I had been planning and preparing for for a long time. Given the limited time I had available and the expense involved I wanted to make sure I got in as much diving as possible in the week I had available. This steered me away from the land based operations to look closely at live aboard options. It then came down largely to price. As you might imagine I also did a lot of research on operators and so when I booked on Thorfinn I was aware of some pretty negative reviews online, which while they gave me some pause, didn’t prevent me from proceeding. I am glad they didn’t. For what you get and the amount of diving you can do, the Thorfinn represents the best value in Truk in my opinion.
The things, I saw mentioned in reviews over and again were, the captain, ship, food, dive tenders and internet and I will address each of these in turn.
Captain Lance has been operating in Truk Lagoon for around 40 years. In that time he seems to have amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of the areas wrecks and their history. He is quite the raconteur and I am not sure I believed all of his stores (sorry Captain), but they were unfailingly interesting and entertaining. His dive briefings were the best I have heard anywhere and added immeasurably to the experience.
The Thorfinn is advertised as a luxury live-aboard and this is something I don’t entirely agree with. The ship was very clean and comfortable, but I would regard it more as comfortably homey rather than luxurious. I saw no real evidence of anything significant being rusted or broken, but this ship is quite old and it shows. However it is well maintained. I had a great cabin, my bunk was comfortable and the lounge and outdoor areas was perfect to relax and recharge between dives. The ship is also a great deal bigger than any of the other liveaboards I have been on, which made it really stable. I barely felt it move the week I was onboard and had no need for the sea sickness medication I brought, just in case.
The food has also been mentioned in many reviews I have read. This is one area that I would rate as only adequate. The breakfast and between dive snacks were really good, lunch and dinner was a little more of a letdown. There were no choices for lunch and dinner, it was a soup or salad, followed by a main and desert. The fish served was quite good, chicken was also ok, but the beef dishes were pretty marginal. This I think is explained by the fact that beef is all imported into Micronesia and is expensive. However despite being a bit of a picky eater I still didn’t go hungry.
In the week I was there Thorfinn didn’t move, we were taken out to the dive sites on one of their 2 dive tenders. There were only 2 of us onboard so while we were there I only saw one in operation. This one was fitted with a single 150HP Yamaha outboard. The second one was missing and we were told would be arriving soon. Despite this in 30 dives over 6 days it reliably go us to and from site which ranged from 0.5-9km from the Thorfinn. Typically in 15-20 minutes or less, but up to 40 for the more distant sites. These boats were pretty stable and were easy to get off and on.
As for the internet. From what I could tell and I am prepared to be corrected on this point, Truk Lagoon has 3G wireless internet service provided by FSM Telecom, so sets a cap on the internet bandwidth available. This connection is shared on board ship with a wifi router. During my week on board internet access was a bit hit and miss. Having said that I could send and receive emails and post photos to Facebook, so it meet my needs. I also had opportunity to spend an evening at Blue Lagoon resort and to be honest the internet speed there was no better. Personally I find it amazing that you can be in the middle of a lagoon on a ship, in the center of a vast ocean, in one of the most remote parts of the world and have any access to the internet at all, so in this area I think people need to manage their expectations.
So for those of you considering the Thorfinn I hope this has given you some additional perspective. In the end I think it comes down a little to expectations. The Thorfinn is not luxurious by modern standards and if you go there expecting that you will probably be disappointed. I however was highly satisfied by my experience and found it the perfect base if you are looking to dive intensively and immerse yourself in the history of Truk Lagoon. I would have no hesitation in booking a return trip on Thorfinn.
I do not seek to speak for anyone else’s experience on the SS Thorfinn at Truk Lagoon other than my own. To summarize it significantly exceeded my expectations, I would however like to address some of the comments I have seen in other postings and offer my perspective. Going to Truk was a big deal for me and was something I had been planning and preparing for for a long time. Given the limited time I had available and the expense involved I wanted to make sure I got in as much diving as possible in the week I had available. This steered me away from the land based operations to look closely at live aboard options. It then came down largely to price. As you might imagine I also did a lot of research on operators and so when I booked on Thorfinn I was aware of some pretty negative reviews online, which while they gave me some pause, didn’t prevent me from proceeding. I am glad they didn’t. For what you get and the amount of diving you can do, the Thorfinn represents the best value in Truk in my opinion.
The things, I saw mentioned in reviews over and again were, the captain, ship, food, dive tenders and internet and I will address each of these in turn.
Captain Lance has been operating in Truk Lagoon for around 40 years. In that time he seems to have amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of the areas wrecks and their history. He is quite the raconteur and I am not sure I believed all of his stores (sorry Captain), but they were unfailingly interesting and entertaining. His dive briefings were the best I have heard anywhere and added immeasurably to the experience.
The Thorfinn is advertised as a luxury live-aboard and this is something I don’t entirely agree with. The ship was very clean and comfortable, but I would regard it more as comfortably homey rather than luxurious. I saw no real evidence of anything significant being rusted or broken, but this ship is quite old and it shows. However it is well maintained. I had a great cabin, my bunk was comfortable and the lounge and outdoor areas was perfect to relax and recharge between dives. The ship is also a great deal bigger than any of the other liveaboards I have been on, which made it really stable. I barely felt it move the week I was onboard and had no need for the sea sickness medication I brought, just in case.
The food has also been mentioned in many reviews I have read. This is one area that I would rate as only adequate. The breakfast and between dive snacks were really good, lunch and dinner was a little more of a letdown. There were no choices for lunch and dinner, it was a soup or salad, followed by a main and desert. The fish served was quite good, chicken was also ok, but the beef dishes were pretty marginal. This I think is explained by the fact that beef is all imported into Micronesia and is expensive. However despite being a bit of a picky eater I still didn’t go hungry.
In the week I was there Thorfinn didn’t move, we were taken out to the dive sites on one of their 2 dive tenders. There were only 2 of us onboard so while we were there I only saw one in operation. This one was fitted with a single 150HP Yamaha outboard. The second one was missing and we were told would be arriving soon. Despite this in 30 dives over 6 days it reliably go us to and from site which ranged from 0.5-9km from the Thorfinn. Typically in 15-20 minutes or less, but up to 40 for the more distant sites. These boats were pretty stable and were easy to get off and on.
As for the internet. From what I could tell and I am prepared to be corrected on this point, Truk Lagoon has 3G wireless internet service provided by FSM Telecom, so sets a cap on the internet bandwidth available. This connection is shared on board ship with a wifi router. During my week on board internet access was a bit hit and miss. Having said that I could send and receive emails and post photos to Facebook, so it meet my needs. I also had opportunity to spend an evening at Blue Lagoon resort and to be honest the internet speed there was no better. Personally I find it amazing that you can be in the middle of a lagoon on a ship, in the center of a vast ocean, in one of the most remote parts of the world and have any access to the internet at all, so in this area I think people need to manage their expectations.
So for those of you considering the Thorfinn I hope this has given you some additional perspective. In the end I think it comes down a little to expectations. The Thorfinn is not luxurious by modern standards and if you go there expecting that you will probably be disappointed. I however was highly satisfied by my experience and found it the perfect base if you are looking to dive intensively and immerse yourself in the history of Truk Lagoon. I would have no hesitation in booking a return trip on Thorfinn.
