Questions About Truk

[bashaw77]

I would PM you but for some reason it isn't working for me so I'm posting it here.....
Hey,

I am reading your post from 2017 and you say to PM you for your opinion on the Thorfinn. We normally use the Odyssey or BLDS or both but the Odyssey is full. I would appreciate your opinion on the Thorfinn.

thxs

Hanz

HI HANZL

I don't know anything about the Thorfinn, my experience at Blue Lagoon was good i had no problems at the Dive shop i dove for 16 days had the same guide the whole time which I really liked, we had some long boat rides, not always though, but i enjoyed the scenery during the ride. I thought food was good if your expecting a 5 star resort it's not, a little dated but it is a 3rd world island. If I go back i'll probably do the Blue Lagoon again.

 

[WetPup]

I have also stayed at Blue Lagoon. I was originally booked on the Truk Siren before it got gasoline'd to the bottom of the reef. Yeah, BLR is not the fanciest place I've stayed, but had no real issues with it either. It was clean and functional.

There was definitely a "take responsibility for your own diving" mentality there though. The briefing was more like "here's a layout of the wreck, please review it before getting in the water", because the guide had limited English. And to be honest, if you're not doing your own review of the wreck map, gas planning, etc. before diving somewhere like Truk, it's maybe holding off on going there until you're prepared to take on that level of responsibility anyway. Do not expect hand holding.

 

[bashaw77]

I actually enjoy the fact that they're not holding your hand. I'm for safety first, but you go someplaces they avoid the tougher dives because there might be a rookie on the boat. Truk is not for beginners

 

[WetPup]

I actually enjoy the fact that they're not holding your hand. I'm for safety first, but you go someplaces they avoid the tougher dives because there might be a rookie on the boat. Truk is not for beginners

We had a much less experienced guy on our boat. He was an older army vet who just wanted to see the wrecks for the historical perspective, wasn't in it for the tech diving so much. We had a daily schedule for the following day's diving go up the evening before on the board. He knew which wrecks he didn't want to dive because of the profile. So on those, he just went out on another boat. There was always at least one boat doing an easier site.

 

[Fibonacci]

There was definitely a "take responsibility for your own diving" mentality there though. The briefing was more like "here's a layout of the wreck, please review it before getting in the water", because the guide had limited English. And to be honest, if you're not doing your own review of the wreck map, gas planning, etc. before diving somewhere like Truk, it's maybe holding off on going there until you're prepared to take on that level of responsibility anyway. Do not expect hand holding.

I think that some divers consider their level of experience and expertise to be well above where they actually are... sort of an Aquatic Dunning-Kruger Effect (ADKE)

See my post on an incident at Truk a few years ago that could have had tragic consequences due to ADKE...
Most frightening moments

 

[WetPup]

I think that some divers consider their level of experience and expertise to be well above where they actually are... sort of an Aquatic Dunning-Kruger Effect (ADKE)

See my post on an incident at Truk a few years ago that could have had tragic consequences due to ADKE...
Most frightening moments

I suppose that's a fair call. The only inexperienced guy on my trip knew it, accepted it, and dived within his limitations. Bailed on dives when he knew the profile wasn't for him and just went on another boat for the day. Told the guide in advance that he may go up earlier than the rest of us because he knew he'd get low on air a bit quicker, so he had organised a 15L tank to keep up. I have far more patience with people like that who admit up front that they may not keep up with the group so everyone can plan accordingly and avoid the "where the f*** has that diver gone?" situations (like in your linked post). And even if he did go up a bit earlier than the rest of us even with a 15L tank, we always knew where he was, and one of us always had an eye on him.

 

[lexvil]

Did two weeks at BLR, not luxury but pretty good overall, didn’t starve but didn’t leave thinking I want to duplicate any meals.

The dive shop was excellent, one of our divers got bent on the second day, they handled all well. Out guide was Sam and his partner was Dear, Sam lived in the states for many years so his English is better than many of my neighbors here in rural calif.

 

[OzMikeM]

one of our divers got bent on the second day, they handled all well.

How did he get bent? Did he dive a different profile to rest of the group? Did he miss deco?

 

[lexvil]

How did he get bent? Did he dive a different profile to rest of the group? Did he miss deco?

Slightly different profile, incurred a 15 ft 12 min deco, did it and symtomized several hours later, it was the second of 3 dives that day. The profile looked fine so testing is ongoing, maybe an underlying medical issue.

 

[WetPup]

I've seen someone get bent on a relatively easy non-tech, "no deco", non-penetration wreck dive. Warm water, 27 meters max, negligible current, same profile as everyone else, seemed fit and healthy. Had him on oxygen 15 minutes after he got out of the water when symptoms showed, called DAN, and had an ambulance meet us at the marina when we got back. Dude was fine, left us scratching our heads a bit too as to how it happened. Some people are just more susceptible to it I guess.