Chuuk (Truk), Palau, Yap

[deepstops]

Just returned from a couple a weeks of diving in Truk and Pulau. Trip was great, thanks to my local dive shop.

Truk: stayed at Blue Lagoon and used Blue Lagoon Dive Shop
hard to pick a "favorite", depends on what you are looking for. The ships are so large, and there is so much to see and absorb, you could spend a week on each one and not see the same thing twice...
1. Shinkoku
2. Fujikawa
3. San Francisco
BLDS does an incredible job of showing people the wreck highlights and letting you discover stuff on your own. This is more technically oriented diving and having previous deep/wreck experience will be a big plus. The BLR accommodations are "rustic" but adequate and the service was very good. The lack of sharks in Truk was disappointing, too many have made their way into the soup pot. :depressed:

You're just not going to see that many sharks inside an atoll lagoon.

To the OP, here's a link to my trip report there seven years ago. The wrecks have not changed significantly: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pacific-islands/28819-truk-report.html

 

[ZippyBoy]

2 more quick notes.....

1. Truk is not the place to start learning deco dives. There is plenty to see and do without adding that complication. BLDS will sell you custom blends of Nitrox depending on your dive profiles. You pay by the O2 they put in the tank.

2. BLR and Truk are rustic.....a non-diving spouse is only going to be entertained for so long reading books. There are some interesting non-diving activities that mostly revolve around site seeing WW2 relics or you can take a land tour of one of the other islands and snorkel the surrounding reef and wrecks (there are three wrecks right off BLR and a cool Zero across the lagoon).


Deepstop.......The shark comment was made as a result of direct observation by the locals (BLDS) and my dive shop hosts that have been there multiple times over the years. Sharks inhabit lagoons, there were sharks on every dive in Pulau - which has outlawed the Japanese finning fleet.

 

[Mossman]

Truk is not the place to start learning deco dives. There is plenty to see and do without adding that complication. BLDS will sell you custom blends of Nitrox depending on your dive profiles. You pay by the O2 they put in the tank.

Actually, I found Truk a very friendly place to do my first deco dives given the absence of current and surge, the presence of mooring lines and the Odyssey's 10' hang bar, and the Odyssey's 112cf tanks. These weren't long deco multigas pre-planned dives, but simply letting my computer run a bit overtime, mandating a 5-minute stop at 10' rather than a 3-minute safety stop at 15' for instance. Prior to these dives, I had the sense as many newer divers do that "going into deco" would immediately kill me. By experimenting a bit in Truk, I became far more comfortable with decompression and got to know my computer a lot better as well. When I finally got around to formally taking a Decompression Procedures class, I believe I was much more comfortable at the start than if I had never before done a deco dive.

 

[guamrider]

Hi,
I've been going to all three for over 30 years, and everyone has given you great choices. I do have a couple of exceptions though.

(1) If you're going to dive planes at Truk don't make an entire dive on any single plane wreck. Instead, tell the guide that you want to dive both the Betty bomber and Emily flying boat on one tank. You can see everything they have to offer in 10-15 minutes, they're both shallow (60' or less) and you can move to the other one (they're very close to each other) and then continue the dive. Make these or the last dives of the day. Just make sure they don't charge you for 4 dives for the day.

(2) TOTALLY agree with more dives in Palau. You'll want to make 2 dives at some locations, particularly Blue Corner and Ulong.

I produce a diving tv show here on Guam and have a lot of videos on diving at all three locations and land tours in Palau. These might help you decide. Pete Peterson's albums on Vimeo

Oops..almost forgot. All are perfect for nitrox diving.

Enjoy your visit.

 

[RJP]

I produce a diving tv show here on Guam and have a lot of videos on diving at all three locations and land tours in Palau. These might help you decide. Pete Peterson's albums on Vimeo

Cool videos Pete - thanks for sharing them.

 

[ncchuck]

Hi,
I've been going to all three for over 30 years, and everyone has given you great choices. I do have a couple of exceptions though.

(1) If you're going to dive planes at Truk don't make an entire dive on any single plane wreck. Instead, tell the guide that you want to dive both the Betty bomber and Emily flying boat on one tank. You can see everything they have to offer in 10-15 minutes, they're both shallow (60' or less) and you can move to the other one (they're very close to each other) and then continue the dive. Make these or the last dives of the day. Just make sure they don't charge you for 4 dives for the day.

(2) TOTALLY agree with more dives in Palau. You'll want to make 2 dives at some locations, particularly Blue Corner and Ulong.

I produce a diving tv show here on Guam and have a lot of videos on diving at all three locations and land tours in Palau. These might help you decide. Pete Peterson's albums on Vimeo

Oops..almost forgot. All are perfect for nitrox diving.

Enjoy your visit.

Great video with one very serious problem. Handling of human remains is not only illegal but unethical. Truk Lagoon is one giant cemetary. I highly doubt anyone would sneak into a cemetary, dig up graves and then video the skulls. This is a serious problem that seem to afflict many photographers and has nearly closed down Truk Lagoon several times. The Japanese spent lots of money to collect as many remains as possible to prevent this behavior. Because some were missed they often do surprise visits to the area to monitor guides, operators and even tourists.

Because this is a long standing problem it's very possilbe that the skull isn't even real or may in fact be a local person. Just respect all human remains.

Many of the smaller artifacts on these ruins have been placed in highly visible locations by various dive guides and tourists over the years. Don't believe everything you see.

I lived on Chuuk for several months and dealt with these issues frequently.

 

[Mossman]

Illegal maybe, but why unethical? After all, they're dead. What do they care?

Maybe I'll donate my skeleton (after I'm dead, not before) to Truk so divers can have some bones to play with without the ethical guilt trip. My frame is a big bigger than the average WWII Japanese merchant sailor, but the divers will be narced and hopefully won't know the difference.

How well did the occupying Japanese respect the Chuukese back then, BTW, alive or dead?

 

[Scared Silly]

Sorry going OT here ...

NC, in talking to locals it was my understanding that while the Micronesian Gov. allowed divers from Japan to remove the vast majority of the remains they did not allow them remove all of the remains because they are a tourist attraction.

The comment about "surprise visits" I find odd. Who is doing the visits and what are they trying to accomplish? Sure there are the no artifact rules that get enforced but are you referring to something else?

BTW If you want to see lots of bones just visit a crypt ...

 

[ncchuck]

Illegal maybe, but why unethical? After all, they're dead. What do they care?

Maybe I'll donate my skeleton (after I'm dead, not before) to Truk so divers can have some bones to play with without the ethical guilt trip. My frame is a big bigger than the average WWII Japanese merchant sailor, but the divers will be narced and hopefully won't know the difference.

How well did the occupying Japanese respect the Chuukese back then, BTW, alive or dead?

It's a matter of common decency. No one wants the graves of their ancestors molested. I certainly wouldn't want someone bouncing my mothers skull around even though she's been dead for many years.

The Japanese government (I have no idea what division) filed a formal protest against one of the leading dive operations in Chuuk about 3 years ago. I was there when the bureau of tourism on Chuuk held mandatory training sessions for all dive operators and guides. We were told this was very close to being an international incident and was taken to the U.N. Obviously things like this don't get the headlines of war events but it did happen and it was sad. Several Japanese families are very active in protecting their loved ones graves.

I guess it's pretty obvious that bad things happen during wars but there is no reason for us to act so uncivilized after the fact. Again, these are graves not playgrounds or entertainment centers.

 

[ncchuck]

Sorry going OT here ...

NC, in talking to locals it was my understanding that while the Micronesian Gov. allowed divers from Japan to remove the vast majority of the remains they did not allow them remove all of the remains because they are a tourist attraction.

The comment about "surprise visits" I find odd. Who is doing the visits and what are they trying to accomplish? Sure there are the no artifact rules that get enforced but are you referring to something else?

BTW If you want to see lots of bones just visit a crypt ...

The local guides are the actual problem. They will tell tourists anything to get a bigger tip. I liked and worked with many of these guys but they have no respect for the law when it interferes with their income.

I was told by owners of the resort as well as the tourism minister that indeed the Japanese government negotiated with the Chuuk government to remove ALL the remains. Anything left is because they were not found. Neither the Japanese nor Chuukeeze condon graves being disturbed on land or in the water.

I think the vast majority of divers find the ships themselves along with the authentic artifacts facinating enough to keep them coming back. I hope people don't travel around the world to find body parts. I personally found artifacts in their natural position much more interesting than those gathered and setup on tables or platforms for divers. Beer/wine/saki bottles in racks for instance are much more interesting than those setting on tables. I think it's pretty obviously the ships didn't sink and have those bottles stay standing upright.