Truk Lagoon

7 NIGHT TRUK LAGOON TRIP

Orientation

Arrival

A Friday morning arrival to Truk brings guest options of proceeding direct to our ship diving at mid-lagoon, if space permits, or overnighting ashore, boarding ship’s launches by 10:00am Saturday from a hotel pier after disembarking previous guests.

A direct Friday boarding provides a discounted extra day with up to 5 extra dives added to a regular week’s itinerary.

Captain, Dive Manager, and staff greet your arrival and lead to C deck’s main guest lounge for refreshments, room assignments, details of Chuuk’s history, the SS Thorfinn, and various diving procedures. After viewing certificates and related papers, lunch is served, diving gear assembled, and off to a first dive site by 2:00pm.

Your personal dive staff will note preferences of gear assembly, to ensure its continuing order through balance of stay. Camera equipment readied at C deck camera tables will be taken with care to your waiting launch’s camera shelves, if and as desired.

Mornings

Mornings begin with fresh coffee, hot tea and fresh morning baking at main guest lounge for early risers as a prelude to breakfast. A Full American breakfast menu is served at ship’s ‘D’ deck dining lounge by 7:00am. After a pre-dive lounge briefing, first dives are underway by 8:00am

Daily Dives

Lounge briefings precede each dive selection starting with 8:00am departures from ship. Schedules are selected as desired by each dive group, or as posted to an early morning selection by your personal guides. Condensed excerpts and wreck sketches of daily dive selections are laid out for guest reading each morning.

An average 10 minute launch ride precedes securing to nearby dive sites, where launch staff will assist in final dive preps prior to water entries.

Cameras and lights are passed over when ready, followed by descent with guide and others down mooring line to selected shipwreck or reef site. Your dive guide will provide a brief dive plan before commencing each dive.

Much of Truk’s wartime fleet and armaments are surrounded with beautiful corals and brightly colored fish of intriguing variations in consistently warm water viz of 30-100ft (10-35m). Ocean reef dives present gin clear views of virgin wall life beyond most visitor’s dreams.

Your guide will lead to each site’s best interests, or follow divers wishing to find their own discoveries. A dive compass is recommended to maintain directions on many of the larger structures. Penetrations into fragile wrecks is permitted on a buddy basis, preferably with our experienced guides. Internal wreck dive procedures and navigation are seriously regarded for safety considerations.

Single cylinder air divers are advised to begin ascending a mooring line from depth with 1,000 psi or 70 bar remaining, to permit a 3 plateau rise. Stops are requested at 18m for 2 minutes, then at 9m for 3 minutes, and a final 10 minutes between 4 to 5m before rising to boat stairway. Stop times can be extended, but please not shortened. A safety air-filled cylinder is suspended at 6 meters for possible emergency, and is brought down to wreck sites below 45m for contingency use at depth, if needed. Nitrox for shallower depths is provided to suitably certified users.

On surfacing to aft boarding stairs of launch, cameras, lights, and fins are passed up to waiting hands prior to mounting them. Fresh water showers, dry towels and cool drinking water are immediately available prior to return ride to ship. Boat crews are ready to rinse and stow dive equipment and photo gear without need for guest assistance. Warm water deck showers at both sides of ship arrival points serve to freshen up before proceeding to inner or upper quarters.

Snacks and refreshments await at guest lounge or aft deck spa during relaxing surface breaks between a scheduled 4 daily dives, and after evening night dives.

Surface Breaks

A wide selection of DVD films/movies is available from a central library for viewing at main lounge’s 50” LED TV, or at smaller sets in each guest room. Underwater photos/videos can also be viewed. A ship’s store/boatique offers many items of interest including books, handicrafts, postcards and T shirts. Reading libraries in various languages and topics are located in main lounge, dining room, and at ship’s office.

Spacious sun decks and lounging chairs provide tanning locations, or shade under awnings to read a book and enjoy refreshments. After dark, the often brilliant night skies can be viewed by star gazers sitting out, or laying back in the big Jacuzzi deck spa. Deck towels are readied at camera table racks for use as desired.

Night Dive

After supper, night dives complete a choice of 5 dives/day, and are offered every evening that conditions permit… only requiring one diver or more to enjoy the vivid corals and nocturnal aqua life on many sites.

Dispatch

Within Truk, the SS Thorfinn moves among several central anchorages depending on diver loads/schedules and prevailing weather. With smaller parties speedy launches will take you to the broad choices of surrounding wreck sites, just minutes away. With larger parties, the vessel steams silently to several locations for the shortest runs in close proximities.

When diving the outer islands and reefs, the steam powered ship moves silently at night to fresh locations for a new day’s dive selections. The seldom dived outer reef and island destinations present a beauty of near virgin worlds with incredibly bright aquatic life.

Visitors braving the engine room warmth to view the huge steam machinery in operation are often mesmerised by the gleaming piston rods driving a massive open crankshaft. SS Thorfinn’s entire propulsive system is driven by steam produced from two USA built Foster Wheeler water tube boilers. Numerous pieces of steam machinery operate whisper quiet in comparison to diesel sounds.

Final Day

Final Fridays are concluded with an evening aft deck barbecue party, often followed with ‘local motions’ by ship’s staff displaying Pacific Island dancing that often leads into lively party music for guests' evening enjoyment! Memories of happy people after a fulfilling week of diving are sure to linger.

Visits to adjacent islands within Truk for views of a basic tropic lifestyle and various ruins left from a past Japanese era are freely available on request.

Trips ending on Saturday see departing guests packing and departing with farewells by mid-morning back to Weno, Chuuk’s main commercial island for an afternoon departure to other worlds.