In January Rhone Man fulfilled about a 20 year old promise to take his Dad to Truk Lagoon (RM’s Dad is knocking on 73, so we were potentially running out of time). Trip reviews on SB often get knocked for gushing praise, but it is pretty hard to do a trip review for a week on the Truk Odyssey without sounding like a schoolgirl on her first date.
Travelling. It seems mandatory to start every trip report with a narrative about how hard it was to get to the place. All you need to know is that flying from a small island in the Caribbean to a small island in the Pacific was 47 hours from wheel’s up on the first flight to wheel’s down on the last flight. It is a long way.
Chuuk, FMI. No one tends to worry too much about the country that they travel to for their diving, but I did want to just note in passing that I was really shocked at how poor and underdeveloped Chuuk was. Several power cuts a day, virtually no roads, telephone calls only go through one call in three (and then reception is terrible). It is the poorest country I have ever been to outside of Africa. I ran through a local village and all the local children kept running out to shake my hands (I felt like a rock star). Very friendly, but desperately poor. I didn’t see any of the petty crime that travel guides warn about.
The Diving. In a word, it is pretty special. We did a total of 24 dives on 13 different wrecks, each of which would have been the star attraction on any other diving holiday. Together they are just overwhelming. All the wrecks are remarkable in their own way; I can easily see why the Fujikawa Maru is often referred to as the finest wreck dive in the world, although I personally thought that the Nippo Maru and the San Francisco Maru were even better. Pictures speak louder than words, so I have posted just a few of our photos (out of the 1,400 pictures that my Dad and I took collectively) below as a sample.
A few things about the diving in Truk which I had not really expected:
Blue Lagoon Dive Shop. We arrived ahead of time and did four dives with Blue Lagoon before we boarded the Odyssey. It is a slightly cheap and cheerful operation, except that it is not cheap. Dive boats are fishing skiffs with wooden roofs nailed on. If you want nitrox, they will blend it for you, but you pay through the nose (see comments above about depths of wrecks). No regrets about getting some early dives in before boarding, but it is a quantum leap when you get aboard the Odyssey.
Blue Lagoon Hotel. The Blue Lagoon Hotel (where we stayed before boarding the Odyssey, and the night after) is the nicest hotel in Chuuk. But it would probably be just a one star hotel in the mainland US. They feed you and keep the rain off you, but that is about it. There is no beach, there is no pool. You can dive, and you can read in your room. If you have to stay in Chuuk, you probably want to stay there, but definitely be aware it is not luxury living.
Summary. Truk Lagoon is really somewhere everyone should dive at least once in their life. I am really glad I got to take my Dad, and I am really looking forward to going back with my sons one day.
Travelling. It seems mandatory to start every trip report with a narrative about how hard it was to get to the place. All you need to know is that flying from a small island in the Caribbean to a small island in the Pacific was 47 hours from wheel’s up on the first flight to wheel’s down on the last flight. It is a long way.
Chuuk, FMI. No one tends to worry too much about the country that they travel to for their diving, but I did want to just note in passing that I was really shocked at how poor and underdeveloped Chuuk was. Several power cuts a day, virtually no roads, telephone calls only go through one call in three (and then reception is terrible). It is the poorest country I have ever been to outside of Africa. I ran through a local village and all the local children kept running out to shake my hands (I felt like a rock star). Very friendly, but desperately poor. I didn’t see any of the petty crime that travel guides warn about.
The Diving. In a word, it is pretty special. We did a total of 24 dives on 13 different wrecks, each of which would have been the star attraction on any other diving holiday. Together they are just overwhelming. All the wrecks are remarkable in their own way; I can easily see why the Fujikawa Maru is often referred to as the finest wreck dive in the world, although I personally thought that the Nippo Maru and the San Francisco Maru were even better. Pictures speak louder than words, so I have posted just a few of our photos (out of the 1,400 pictures that my Dad and I took collectively) below as a sample.
A few things about the diving in Truk which I had not really expected:
- In the literature, they talk about wrecks of lots of different depths for all skills levels. Not really true with respect to the featured wrecks. With few exceptions they are all 100 foot or deeper. The average max depth of our 24 dives was 109 feet.
- I was surprised how poor the viz was. It wasn’t poor like diving in the Hudson or a Scottish loch, but it was much less clear than the Caribbean (or the promotional photos). The Odyssey staff said viz was like that pretty much year round.
- Not much marine life. OK, there were fish, but not nearly as vibrant as one would expect, and certainly not for a Pacific atoll. I have no idea why.
- The water is very warm. My last dive in the Caribbean before I flew out in January I was wearing a 3mm fullsuit. In Truk I was diving in a 1mm shortie. My Dad was diving in a T-shirt (until he picked up some scratches, then he put a wetsuit on for protection).
- Virtually no current whatsoever in Truk. It was really nice to able to drop off the hang bar and basically not move anywhere and float during safety stops/deco.
Blue Lagoon Dive Shop. We arrived ahead of time and did four dives with Blue Lagoon before we boarded the Odyssey. It is a slightly cheap and cheerful operation, except that it is not cheap. Dive boats are fishing skiffs with wooden roofs nailed on. If you want nitrox, they will blend it for you, but you pay through the nose (see comments above about depths of wrecks). No regrets about getting some early dives in before boarding, but it is a quantum leap when you get aboard the Odyssey.
Blue Lagoon Hotel. The Blue Lagoon Hotel (where we stayed before boarding the Odyssey, and the night after) is the nicest hotel in Chuuk. But it would probably be just a one star hotel in the mainland US. They feed you and keep the rain off you, but that is about it. There is no beach, there is no pool. You can dive, and you can read in your room. If you have to stay in Chuuk, you probably want to stay there, but definitely be aware it is not luxury living.
Summary. Truk Lagoon is really somewhere everyone should dive at least once in their life. I am really glad I got to take my Dad, and I am really looking forward to going back with my sons one day.
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