Palau vs Chuuk vs Bikini?
- Thread starter jdevic
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Nomad-Diver
Contributor
I'm not sure about your three choices. Palau is fine. Truk is much more serious diving, and you'd better like wrecks. Do you? Have you dived any? Bikini is a major investment of money and time and effort to get the requisite training and experience.. Maybe you ought to stick with Palau, and do Yap for your second segment. Also, you get very little bottom time in Truk...it is deep diving.When I went to Micronesia a few years ago, I stopped along the Island Hopper route for sightseeing and ended up in Palau. I did my DSD 2nd to last day in Palau (fell in love with scuba), dived at Yap for the mantas under supervision, and then did my proper Open Water in Saipan.
Now, I am thinking going back to that region on UA miles in late 2019/early 2020 (one of the best use of UA miles imo). I can visit maximum 2 places and have maximum 2 weeks to spare. I have narrow it down to Palau, Chuuk and Bikini Atoll.
Would appreciate any advice - especially for folks who have dived them all.
- Palau: I really enjoyed my snorkeling and DSD in Palau/Rock Islands, but I did not get to dive more advanced sites last time. Because my love for marine life and corals, it is very appealing for me to go back there - even though I prefer checking off new places
- Chuuk: I would normally choose coral reefs or big fish over wrecks. But a few folks I know who have been there all loved the dives and call them "top dives ever". My concern is 1) the typical length of the liveaboard 2) the hassle/time of getting there via Guam or HNL, 3) the recommended TEC40/50 (I do have about 100 dives and went down 50 meters on air at the blue hole and 40 meters on nitrox at los Cabos, and generally very conformable with deep dives in warm water. However, I've never done planned deco dives - what is the best way to bridge that gap in training?)
- Bikini: It is more mysterious / exotic for me compared to Chuuk, and I liked Majuro last time. My concern is: 1) mandatory tech certification - which will be challenging for me to do in Toronto and likely just for this trip 2) relatively long liveaboard that will likely take up 2+ weeks including travel time. 3) if I choose to continue onto FSM/Palau, the Island Hopper flight schedule is limited and I am not sure I want to endure UA154/155 so many times in 5 years.
Thanks a lot!
Regarding additional training: it really doesn't matter which agency, once you've done the deco courses you've gotten much the same material. The key is your instructor and the sites you train at.
The main reason that I was choosing among the three was because of their close proximity and ease of making 2 stops in Micronesia/Palua on a United award ticket. I will definitely enjoy just going back to Palau (and maybe Yap for mating mandarin fish). But at the same time, I wouldn't mind diving somewhere new in Truk or Bikini. It sounds like I'd better put Bikini on hold till I am seriously getting into tec diving. Truk seems fairly doable after I take AN/DP.
I've done some big wrecks in Sharm, Canadian Great Lakes, Florida Keys, and some random wrecks here and there - none crazy deep - 120ft max non-deco. I am not crazy about wrecks, especially those ones in the Great Lakes. But I enjoyed salt water wrecks, especially those turned into proper artificial reefs full of marine lives - I assume Truk wrecks fall into that bucket?
What were you doing at 50m in the Blue Hole?
sea_otter
Contributor
Chuuk's wrecks are covered with some of the most amazing soft coral I've ever seen. The photo below is from the Sankisan Maru, which isn't very deep at all. Max depth for us in the cargo hold was around 70 ft, swimming past old Japanese trucks, weaponry, and medicine bottles. The kingposts are covered with gorgeous colorful corals. There isn't a lot of fish life, but between the wrecks and the coral, it is a spectacular place.
Our group of 28 people was split about half technical and half recreational divers, and everyone had a wonderful time. My parents (diving single tanks) were along on the trip, and I wanted to stay on the same boat with them, so every day but one was spent breathing the banked 30% with a max depth of 120ft, and a even lot above 100ft. I did choose to join a different boat on one day to go deeper with a trimix fill, but I would have gone broke doing that all week.
Palau by contrast has the big stuff. We went during a full moon, and we saw several manta rays, enormous schools of sharks, and one dive with 200 or more groupers wanting to mate. Lots of species diversity, and lots of life everywhere. The currents at the more advanced dive sites can be insane and unpredictable, but a lot of fun. Some really memorable dives.
We also did run into some mating mandarin fish there, so that may not require a trip to Yap. This set lives under the dock at Sam's Tours Dive Center, and there's another one or two near a dive site called Cathedral Cave(rn). Feisty little things.
If I had to pick one to go back, it would be Chuuk in a heartbeat. I feel like we barely scratched the surface of the amazing diving there. Bikini is also on the bucket list, but it'll stay there for now.
Wherever you go, have a fantastic time!
Our group of 28 people was split about half technical and half recreational divers, and everyone had a wonderful time. My parents (diving single tanks) were along on the trip, and I wanted to stay on the same boat with them, so every day but one was spent breathing the banked 30% with a max depth of 120ft, and a even lot above 100ft. I did choose to join a different boat on one day to go deeper with a trimix fill, but I would have gone broke doing that all week.
Palau by contrast has the big stuff. We went during a full moon, and we saw several manta rays, enormous schools of sharks, and one dive with 200 or more groupers wanting to mate. Lots of species diversity, and lots of life everywhere. The currents at the more advanced dive sites can be insane and unpredictable, but a lot of fun. Some really memorable dives.
We also did run into some mating mandarin fish there, so that may not require a trip to Yap. This set lives under the dock at Sam's Tours Dive Center, and there's another one or two near a dive site called Cathedral Cave(rn). Feisty little things.
If I had to pick one to go back, it would be Chuuk in a heartbeat. I feel like we barely scratched the surface of the amazing diving there. Bikini is also on the bucket list, but it'll stay there for now.
Wherever you go, have a fantastic time!
clownfishsydney
Contributor
Bikini is only diveable now for very limited periods of the year. There is no dive operation and only a liveaboard that goes there for a month or two.
Unless you like shipwrecks, then I would not go to Chuuk. It is also a lot more "third world" than the other places you mention. If you have a non-diving partner, forget it. You do not need tech certification, there are plenty of wrecks to dive shallower than 30 metres (100 feet) and you mostly do not even need to go deeper than 25 metres. By the way I have been there six times, twice for almost three weeks each time.
Palau is fantastic! Well worth diving.
If you want to do two places, try Guam. Some very good diving there and it has lots of other features.
Hope this helps.
Unless you like shipwrecks, then I would not go to Chuuk. It is also a lot more "third world" than the other places you mention. If you have a non-diving partner, forget it. You do not need tech certification, there are plenty of wrecks to dive shallower than 30 metres (100 feet) and you mostly do not even need to go deeper than 25 metres. By the way I have been there six times, twice for almost three weeks each time.
Palau is fantastic! Well worth diving.
If you want to do two places, try Guam. Some very good diving there and it has lots of other features.
Hope this helps.
Similar threads
