Truk for 66 year old Rescue level diver

[Scubagolf]

I am 66 years old in good health, Rescue + Nitrox diver with 300+ dives, mostly in warm water vacation locations like Cozumel. I am a WWII history buff which makes Truk particularly attractive to me. I would like to dive Truk, and a DM I know from an earlier liveaboard trip to Palau has told me that my lack of "technical" dive training will not detract from my enjoyment of diving the Truk wrecks, although she says I should expect some "minor" decompression of 3-5 minutes toward the end of the week. Should I expect a disappointing week, having to stay above the good stuff? I really don't see any tech training in my future.

 

[Russjstewart]

Found this link from 2009 that may be helpful
Is Truk Lagoon only for advanced?

My last trip was 4 or 5 years ago and I was part of a group of 4 like minded individuals. The guy that organised the trip organised a boat, dive guide and coxswain through blue lagoon resorts for ourselves and we decided where we wanted to go each day. We were only doing 2 dives a day though.

The diving was easy in that you had warm water, excellent viz and no current.

If you can get an advanced or deep course done before you go it will open up more sites

I would suggest researching the wrecks you want to dive and then contacting the operator of choice and discussing what your options are.

Some of the good stuff is deepish, the deck of the San Francisco Maru where the tanks are is around 50 meters. But there are good shallower sites. If you do go to Truk stick close to the guides, they know the wrecks very well.

 

[Centrals]

If you are fit and healthy then you should be fine.
Listen to your body, long surface interval between dive is very useful.
The liveaboard package tends to offer 5 dives a day, avoid that. But I do know Thorfinn has a three dive package but you might not like the boat because of its reputation!
I have been to Truks twice and never did I ever get into deco mode. Dive conservatively is the motto and drink plenty of water. P is easy to rinse off from a wet suit!!!!!!!!

Have fun.

 

[doctormike]

It is an excellent place for a recreational diver. I went this year with two buddies who were strictly single tank, no deco and they had a blast. You could dive there forever and not exhaust everything there is to see at recreational depths. Yes, you get more bottom time if you can do deco or are on a rebreather, but it's definitely great for someone like you. The history there is incredible, you might also like the museum and the land tours.

BTW, I went with Pete Mesley (Lust4Rust Wreck Diving Trips | Pete Mesley's Dive Excursions), and stayed land based at the Blue Lagoon. I would VERY much recommend this approach. Pete is terrific, he always has at least one doc with him on the trip - usually Steve Hubbard who is an ER and Hyperbaric doc, and another great guy. Being land based means that you get broken up into small groups for a short boat ride to the wrecks, so that you can dive whatever wreck you want for your group (rec, tec or CCR). If you and the other single tank divers just want to stick to the shallower wrecks, it doesn't affect anyone else.

 

[pazz]

Your experience sounds very adequate to be able to appreciate and enjoy Chuuk diving. The first time I dove Chuuk I had just crossed the 100 dive mark. Furthermore, as someone who is also eligible for American social security my recommendation is to stay at Blue Lagoon and do two dives per day, with an occasional third dive.

I use to feel cheated if I didn’t do at least four dives per day on a dive trip, but now have found that two or three dives per day are just fine. And, that kicking back at the dive resort can also be very beneficial for the body and mind…….