jerryn
Contributor
I just got back from Truk (the locals call it Chuuk). I spent a week of diving there. I wanted to do deep wrecks and go some of the places where others don't dive. Also there is a wreck there, the San Francisco Maru. You hit the deck at 165 and there are tanks on the main deck and trucks in the forward hold which is a common place for recreational divers to bounce on air. It is 206' to the sand. I wanted to spend time on the wreck, penetrate and see what was there, have a clear head and be prepared for deco. So I needed a tech outfitter. I have resisted Truk for four years because there really was no one who could support my diving.
The liveaboards, Odyssey (which gets rave reviews), Thorfin (just rebuilt and remodeled -- very nice) and Aggressor (sometimes) don't support tech diving or much variation in the dive program from what the majority of the boat wants to do and the standard set of wrecks. The standard set is pretty awesome and they have plenty of customers who want this so it makes sense. But they were not interested in what I had in mind. So I ended up with the only tech operation in truk, the TrukStop.
The short story is, good food, good rooms, great support, incredible diving, dove my program. Among the dives were three on the San Francisco to 206, 206 and 198 including deep into the cargo holds. I have never seen so much live ordenance. Stacks of mines 20' high, stacks of howitzer shells, a howitzer, depth charges, tank shells all kinds of stuff that goes boom. I also got to the Aikoku 208' which has had half of the wreck blown off and is also incredible, and another seldom dove deep destroyer at 210'. In addition I was able to spend several days on Truk's signature wrecks doing long deco dives and poking around deep into the wreck.
This is an expensive trip, but not too expensive. The land based operations seem to be a little cheaper. I escaped for about $3K with He, O2, sorb, tank rental the diving, room and board. If you are looking for trimix and are on open circuit, you are looking at a lot more money. He is expensive in Truk. But the gases are there and you can dive the mix that you want.
There is a lot in Truk for every level of diver. I only have the experience of one operator but the others seem to have good reputations. I think the local dive guides do not understand the concept of dive within you limits. It is up to you to tell them what you are and are not comfortable with. My friend Sam had to tell his guy a number of times that he was not going in a particular room or passage.
But this is a great trip for anyone who loves wrecks. 6 days, 9 shipwrecks, 3 airplane wrecks, 16 dives == totally awesome.
Jerry
The liveaboards, Odyssey (which gets rave reviews), Thorfin (just rebuilt and remodeled -- very nice) and Aggressor (sometimes) don't support tech diving or much variation in the dive program from what the majority of the boat wants to do and the standard set of wrecks. The standard set is pretty awesome and they have plenty of customers who want this so it makes sense. But they were not interested in what I had in mind. So I ended up with the only tech operation in truk, the TrukStop.
The short story is, good food, good rooms, great support, incredible diving, dove my program. Among the dives were three on the San Francisco to 206, 206 and 198 including deep into the cargo holds. I have never seen so much live ordenance. Stacks of mines 20' high, stacks of howitzer shells, a howitzer, depth charges, tank shells all kinds of stuff that goes boom. I also got to the Aikoku 208' which has had half of the wreck blown off and is also incredible, and another seldom dove deep destroyer at 210'. In addition I was able to spend several days on Truk's signature wrecks doing long deco dives and poking around deep into the wreck.
This is an expensive trip, but not too expensive. The land based operations seem to be a little cheaper. I escaped for about $3K with He, O2, sorb, tank rental the diving, room and board. If you are looking for trimix and are on open circuit, you are looking at a lot more money. He is expensive in Truk. But the gases are there and you can dive the mix that you want.
There is a lot in Truk for every level of diver. I only have the experience of one operator but the others seem to have good reputations. I think the local dive guides do not understand the concept of dive within you limits. It is up to you to tell them what you are and are not comfortable with. My friend Sam had to tell his guy a number of times that he was not going in a particular room or passage.
But this is a great trip for anyone who loves wrecks. 6 days, 9 shipwrecks, 3 airplane wrecks, 16 dives == totally awesome.
Jerry
