Questions About Truk

[judyo1]

I'm heading to Truk next week and will be on the Odyssey. Woohoo! I'm trying to work out how much cash to take - I prefer to use credit card when travelling and not carry large amounts of cash.
Is anyone able to help - on the Odyssey, can crew gratuities / tips be paid by credit card or is cash required? (and I never know how much to tip, coming from a non-tipping culture - any advice appreciated).

Thanks

 

[Kevrumbo]

I'm heading to Truk next week and will be on the Odyssey. Woohoo! I'm trying to work out how much cash to take - I prefer to use credit card when travelling and not carry large amounts of cash.
Is anyone able to help - on the Odyssey, can crew gratuities / tips be paid by credit card or is cash required? (and I never know how much to tip, coming from a non-tipping culture - any advice appreciated).

Thanks

You can pay by credit card (at least at the time in 2007).
There is a Bank of Federated States of Micronesia and Bank of Guam ATM machines in town for US Dollars cash currency (look for them as you slowly motor through town from the airport).

At the very least, tip 10% of your Liveaboard Charter; optionally 15% or more separately to the Dive Guides especially if they find you lost inside the wreck!

 

[voyager77]

The ship store takes cc but better to tip in cash 10-15 percent is typically

 

[billt4sf]

There are so many wrecks in Truk and one week is never enough.
Don't wait any longer because the wrecks are deteriorating fast.
How about YAP instead of Palau?

How about going through Port Moresby (has flights to Truk) and hitting PNG?

- Bill

 

[Centrals]

How about going through Port Moresby (has flights to Truk) and hitting PNG?

- Bill

The city is awful but the country is amazing but comes at a high COST! Only did couple of dives at Madang and they were great.
There are a lot WWII wrecks at Rabaul but the volcanic ash could be problematic.
I always want to go to Kavieng but the cost is just too high to justify it.

The only issue of diving in PNG is $$$$$$$$$$.

 

[Father]

I've been wanting to go dive Truk for a couple years now, and have decided to go next year.
We'll want to stay at a resort (husband gets seasick, so no liveaboard). Which would you recommend, the Truk Stop or the Blue Lagoon? I'm an underwater photographer, if that factors into it at all.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! My husband dived Truk many years ago, but I've never been there and I'm tired of waiting.

OP... not sure if you booked a trip yet. I just got back from Truk yesterday. I posted my brief review here

Someone mentioned the Thorfin. From what I was told while I was on the Odyssey, the Thorfin is a floating hotel. They don't move the vessel to the dive sites, they send divers out on skiffs.

If your husband gets seasick, IMHO, I think he'll have a harder time going from the resorts on their smaller boats than being on a larger vessel. It wasn't very often that I really felt like I was even on the water while on the Odyssey. I watched the skiffs from the resorts riding out to the dive sites. They looked cramped and the little boats they use look like you would be feeling every wave. If you're able to time your trip with the "doldrums" it might not be an issue. Good luck with that given the history of weather forecasting.

We had a couple overcast and rainy days, but in all honesty those days were just as good. It wasn't blazing hot so I didn't have to worry about sunscreen. I don't know that the lack of sun really affected visibility (or ambient lighting for photography) all that much. I embraced the pampering after a couple days and would retreat to my room after every dive and take a hot shower and change into dry clothes.

As I stated in the post I made on the other thread... the resorts didn't look very appealing to me. I can't speak for the Truk Stop. I know people that have stayed there and I don't know that they had any major complaints... but it's not a 4-5 star resort like in the Bahamas. Truk Stop is crammed in between the more "industrial/port" area closer to "down town" and the airport. The folks I've talked to say it's not very advisable to go wandering around/exploring in the area.

For the day I spent at Blue Lagoon I didn't do any diving through therm. The food was, in my opinion, not even close to as good as on the Odyssey. The service at BLR isn't as good, probably because the dining room is large and the wait staff was either understaffed or just slow when dealing with the volume of customers.
The room I was in at BLR had no TV, but from what other folks told me, there were no channels to choose from anyway. Internet is only available in the lobby area and it's spotty at best. It took me an hour to download a Kindle book so forget streaming Netflix or anything like that. The Odyssey had internet that was dependent on, from what I could tell, line of site to their transmitter on shore. So we were "off the grid" for a couple days, which wasn't a big deal for most. In short, go to Chuuk to dive, not surf.

The Odyssey has a WD Plex media setup so you have a pretty large selection of movies to watch in your room or in the common areas.

As for follow-on trips, I don't have much to offer. I've heard great things about Palau, Pohnpei, and Yap... they're all good.

 

[Peter69_56]

I'm curious, has anyone done any CCR diving with Blue Lagoon outside of Pete's organized trips? Their website seems to heavily imply they are fully capable of supporting it. Truk Lagoon: Blue Lagoon Dive Shop Services - Chuuk Micronesia

I have an Odyssey trip booked Jan 2018 and am heavily considering adding on a week or so land based to hit the deeper and more technical sites that Odyssey doesn't usually hit like the Oite and Aikoku Maru.

SImple answer is yes they do support CCR. They have everything you need along with a CCR/camera room to set up in. Our group is a mix of OC and CCR and we always use Blue Lagoon.

 

[Peter69_56]

If you are going to do say Palau and Truk, I would do Palau first. I enjoy wrecks and after 2 weeks at Truk, going to Palau wasa let down for me. The reefs we were taken to were badly damaged and we were taken to the same area over and over. I got bored and did not enjoy it. The only wreck we saw was the plane, and after the Truk wrecks its not much by comparison. Had we of done it the other way around, Palau would have been a build up to Truk which I love. Been to truk 5 times and going again in 2018. I have 10 wrecks that I have not dived yet of the 38 diveable wrecks.

 

[Father]

A group of CCR divers from BLR were on, IIRC, the Shinkoku Maru and the Seiko Maru.

If you are going to do say Palau and Truk, I would do Palau first. I enjoy wrecks and after 2 weeks at Truk, going to Palau wasa let down for me. The reefs we were taken to were badly damaged and we were taken to the same area over and over. I got bored and did not enjoy it. The only wreck we saw was the plane, and after the Truk wrecks its not much by comparison. Had we of done it the other way around, Palau would have been a build up to Truk which I love. Been to truk 5 times and going again in 2018. I have 10 wrecks that I have not dived yet of the 38 diveable wrecks.

I would agree that if they have a longer trip available for Truk, just stay there and try to knock out more of what's there vs. hopping to another island.
I've heard good things about the other islands but I think it depends on what you want to see and also what you've already seen before.

Truk can be a one stop shop. Depending on conditions they also do a shark dive. Not sure if that's ocean side or in the lagoon.

 

[Rhone Man]

How about going through Port Moresby (has flights to Truk) and hitting PNG?

- Bill

Remember that it isn't just about getting to Port Morseby. You have to then get to another location to dive, which can be a substantial trip in itself (big God damn country).

Port Morseby is a dangerous f'ing place. I had a friend who grew up there (his Dad was a university professor). They said that they used to average about one gang rape on campus a week.