TRUK LAGOON

[runsongas]

This is the one reasons why I have very mixed feelings about diving Truk and why I will probably never go. As a history buff, I would find the dives and the significance of the lagoon fascinating. It was such a turning point in the war in the Pacific and it decimated the Japanese fleet much in the same way that the US Pacific Fleet was at Pearl Harbor except that the Imperial Japanese Navy never fully recovered.

As a vet, however, I too see this as Hallowed Ground and to be respected as such. I would never consider a dive vacation that would have me diving on the USS Arizona and I would be hard pressed to convince myself to dive in Truk even with the historical significance of the battle.

For now, there are too many dives that I haven't done that I am in no rush to deal with (what is for me) this ethical dilemma.

War in the pacific was over by 42 after midway where the IJN lost 4 carriers. hailstone sunk very few actual combatants.

 

[Centrals]

War in the pacific was over by 42 after midway where the IJN lost 4 carriers. hailstone sunk very few actual combatants.

Otherwise we would be diving Musashi and Yamato etc etc. They had departed earlier.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Otherwise we would be diving Musashi and Yamato etc etc. They had departed earlier.

Ah yes, what could have been if the IJN didn't evacuate the capital ships and were caught by surprise in the Lagoon during 17 Feb 1944 Operation Hailstone Raid -they saw the Recon Flights weeks & days beforehand and knew US Navy Carrier Planes would inevitably attack. . . Picture above of sister SuperBattleships Yamato & Musashi in 1943 (the "saddle" of Weno Island in background?); Musashi was supposedly there as late as 10 Feb 1944 before retreating back to Yokosuka. . .

Carriers Zuikaku & Shokaku were there as late as December 1943:

 

[Peter69_56]

I would love to do that also but need to win the lottery first.

Its not as expensive as you think. The longer you stay there the cheaper it is. Air fares makes up a large chunk of the cost

 

[bill22]

Was there last month and had a really great week diving with SS Thorfinn and a group from Micronesia Divers Association based in Guam (Everyone in the group was an instructor except me ). We arrived on June 5th and flew back to Guam on the 10th. Was fortunate to get a last minute spot. I was already in the Philippines when I saw an ad for the trip on the MDA Facebook page on May 30th. That saved me a huge chunk on airfare!

We did 21 dives during 5 dive days arriving in Chuuk on Monday morning and departing on Saturday. We dived 17 different shipwrecks and on two sunken aircraft (2 of the shipwrecks we dived on twice).

I'm planning to move my base to Guam the end of the year in order to have more accessibility to the diving in Micronesia. Diving Chuuk Lagoon again is definitely something that will be on the agenda!

 

[Centrals]

Was there last month and had a really great week diving with SS Thorfinn and a group from Micronesia Divers Association based in Guam (Everyone in the group was an instructor except me ).

You are a rare breed in SB ie. enjoy diving with SS Thorfinn!!!!!
BTW, I never had any problem with Thorfinn on my two previous visit.

 

[bill22]

You are a rare breed in SB ie. enjoy diving with SS Thorfinn!!!!!
BTW, I never had any problem with Thorfinn on my two previous visit.

hmmm.... When I go somewhere, I go to dive and I pretty much always enjoy diving Diving Truk has been a dream for a long time! I doubt anything could of spoiled it for me

I'm sure I could come up with something negative to say if I really wanted to but why? Certainly the Thorfinn could use a facelift, but so what? The Thorfinn obviously wasn't designed as a liveaboard, but as a working ship (something I have a bit of experience with) so I wasn't bothered by that in the least either.

I got an amazing deal... less than $2 grand and including airfare from Guam! I thought Lance was a fascinating guy with tons of great stories (he really should do a book). Safety was clearly explained. I had my own stateroom. The food was really good and so was the company. It was a fantastic week being totally immersed in the history of the place from WW II, which Lance has an encyclopedic knowledge of. The diving was really amazing and everything I expected. Yep I really enjoyed my week on the Thorfinn

 

[Scuba Turtle Guam]

Just got back from Truk and it was great. Will be posting some good pics soon but dove 8 wrecks in 3 days. Stayed at the Blue Lagoon and they were first class with boats, guides and service.

 

[rsingler]

Just got back from Truk and it was great. Will be posting some good pics soon but dove 8 wrecks in 3 days. Stayed at the Blue Lagoon and they were first class with boats, guides and service.

We're looking forward to your pics/report!

 

[Scuba Turtle Guam]

I just returned from Chuuk (Truk lagoon) and stayed at the Blue Lagoon Resort. I was a short stay but I dove 8 wrecks in 3 days and it was fantastic to say the least. I was able to dive that site 20 years ago and compared to then, the wrecks are starting to degrade so if you want to see world class WWII wrecks in its historic state, go now. I bumped into a video girl there and she is going to post some informative videos of that area soon. This is the site:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwdpvjExCPU&sns=em