Truk Lagoon (Chuuk), Micronesia

Date: April 1996

Diving: For years, we really wanted to go to Palau. We had seen numerous slide presentations and drooled over pictures of soft corals that we had never seen before, became enchanted with the picturesque Rock Islands, and wondered if the fish life was really as prolific as described. When we finally got it organized for a small group of six Sundivers, Truk Lagoon was one of those stops along the way that we needed to see...as long as we were in the neighborhood. Of course getting to the neighborhood was a challenge. It took a full 22 hours and four flights to get to Guam, our first overnight stop. Getting there was child’s play compared to the 40 hours with three red-eye flights to get back, but I digress...

We planned three days of diving off the live-aboard ship Thorfinn arranged through Micronesia Trip ’n Tours, and I still remember the Captain Lance Higgs saying, "I wish they wouldn’t do that! You need a full week to see this place." Now, I’m a believer.

First of all, we have never been fanatic wreck divers, so that wasn’t the pull. In fact, the only wrecks we have ever dived have been intentionally put there. Well...I supposed you can say the wrecks at the bottom of Truk Lagoon were intentionally put there, too, by the US Navy! Once in the water, the diving blew us away. The soft corals that Sandy dreamed of, grew like dandelions back home. I’m still not sure she ever saw the wrecks! The five of us guys, however, were drawn to the sunken ships with all their armaments like...well, like guys would be. Point is, there is something—almost too much—for everyone. At every depth, too. Yes, many of the wrecks are deep, but there is plenty to see at shallow depths on some of the sites, too.

Including the afternoon of our arrival, the following two full days, and a partial 4th day, we got in 15 dives repeating only one wreck, the Fujikawa Maru. Some of us accumulated just over 12 hours of bottom time—that was a lot of diving.

The Thorfinn and Dive Operation: The reason you stay on a live-aboard is so the boat can take you to the sites, right? Well, the Thorfinn pretty well stayed parked where we found it, and 24’ twin 80hp dive tenders taxied us to sites from 5-30 minutes away. Actually, this worked fairly well. Depending on the number of resident divers, up to four small dive groups could go in different directions.

The other alternative for a live-aboard is the Truk Aggressor. The Aggressor does move from site to site, and I suppose it would have been our first choice just based on the reputation of the company, but given our allocated three days, the Aggressor was not an option. However, the Thorfinn turned out to be a great place to stay, with the only possible exception of the food. An old converted whaling ship with steam engines, it is unique and was very comfortable. We lucked out during our stay; there were so few divers that everyone in our group got a cabin to themselves (well...Sandy and I chose to stay together).

There was a comfortable lounge area with a large aquarium, library, and TV & VCR. A hot tub was on the upper deck. Because the engine room took up almost the entire middle of the ship, it was a bit awkward to get to the dining area, but not bad. Dive equipment storage was ample, and the crew transferred equipment to the chase boats.

Five dives a day are possible, but tiring, even for the gung-ho. Because many dives are deep — 80 - 100’ or so, the operation follows a rigorous 3-level safety stop procedure (2 minutes at 60’, 3 minutes at 30’, and 10 minutes at 15’). Although we had never heard of this procedure, the Captain said the DAN had tested their procedure and found it to be very safe. It worked well for us!

The dive masters were locals and knew the area well, finding the wrecks by sighting on the islands. "We don’t need no stinking GPS!" After one dive, however, we surfaced in a fog so thick, you could barely see the end of our boat, let alone any of the islands. It was at this point, that I saw our divemaster take surreptitious peeks on a compass. Yes, we did find the Thorfinn without too much trouble. Not only were the divemasters experts at finding the wrecks, they knew they way around and through the wrecks, as well. Our divemaster had his usual "tours" with hidden stashes of things to see, for example a skull, currency, unopened wine bottles, etc. After showing the items to us, he carefully replaced them so they would be there for the next group to see.

Meals: Not much to say here. The meals were adequate and there was enough food, but it was nothing special.

Value: We highly recommend Truk Lagoon as a dive destination. In fact, it may have just been the best diving of the three island tour. We would stay on the Thorfinn again and recommend it to others, but I would probably try the Aggressor next to get a comparison between the two. The Thorfinn certainly is a larger ship, and we were told the cabins were larger, too.

So, as long as you are headed to Micronesia and spending the big bucks for your plane ticket, don’t miss Truk Lagoon (or Chuuk Lagoon, as it is officially known).

Postscript: We arrived in Chuuk on a beautiful sunny day late in the morning and were met by the Thorfinn staff at the airport for our ride to the Truk Continental Hotel pier, where we would catch a boat hop to the Thorfinn. We checked in, settled in, got briefed while our excitement was building—we were in paradise! It didn’t take us long to prepare for our first of three dives that day.

The next morning, however, our enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by clouds and cool weather which stayed with us until our last day. The Captain showed us the storm front on the radar, and he just had to say that it was moving towards Palau, our next stop. While overcast skies and cool temperatures didn’t affect the outrageous diving, it certainly dulled the scenery and made the hot tub more inviting.

On our last day, after leaving the Thorfinn, we took a very worthwhile optional island tour. At this point, I should mention the context of the former world war in which we found ourselves. For the first time, we weren’t diving wrecks intentionally sunk for our benefit. We were in the midst of the aftermath of a violent conflict beyond our comprehension in which thousands of humans died. The feeling of "being there," inescapably surrounded by the history of a world war stayed with us for the entire trip. Our island tour in Chuuk, as well in Palau, was overwhelmingly punctuated by the relics of war.