Truk & Yap

My dive shop is sponsoring a trip to Yap (4 days) and Truk (Agressor Boat) in June/July of this year which I am contemplating going on.

1: Any opinions on the diving? I am mostly concerned with the depth of the dives. As I get older (and fatter unfortunately), I have tried to limit myself to shallower dives. I have heard that Truk is a lot of deep diving.

I know the wrecks would be incredible, but what about macro and other stuff? How good is it?

2: If anyone else is interested, let me know and I will give you his email. I know he has a few spots left. I think the cost was about 5k all inclusive from Nashville, but I know one guy is coming from England, so he can work with you.

Appreciate any info you can give me from first hand experience. Long way to go and a ton of money if its not the right place.

I think Tom Shepherd is going back this year too... Drop him a PM

I'm a bit biased, and overly opinionated, but Truk rules. Can't speak to Yap...

The owner of the dive shop in my town has been there 14 of the last 15 years, this year being his 15th time, and I can see it becoming an annual pilgrimmage for me as well, as I'm scheduled for my second trip to Truk in May 2003, after going in May 2002.

We dove with Blue Lagoon dive shop, which is one of the 2 or 3 land based resorts. I'm not entirely convinced that a liveaboard is any better in this particular location, as it's not that large, and you're basically just limiting yourself to being on a boat when most of the wrecks are a short enough ride from the dock (15-30 mins). We had one day of exceptionally bad weather in the lagoon, 3-4 waves, and I was thankful I was going back to a dry hotel room on some solid ground. The group I was with also prefers deep diving to shallow, in which case you can't really do 4-5 dives a day, so one of the major attractions of a liveaboard is removed. That being said, I didn't venture off the grounds of the resort much, so not being on a boat didn't do me much good.

Yes, a lot of it can be deep diving, but there are shallower wrecks as well, and many of the wrecks start in very shallow water. Strangely enough, I spent most of my time doing macro, partially because the vis was bad the week I was there due to weather, and partly because I couldn't shoot that wide with the camera / strobe combo I had. There's so much coral growth on the ships that it's hard to find them at times, and as a result, there's plenty of small life around. The only thing I didn't see a lot of was pelagics like turtles and sharks.

Here's a link to my gallery from Truk. It's pretty limited, but it might give you an idea.

I'd highly recommend going at least once, it's a "must dive" IMHO.

Tom

On a side note, I'm just putting up galleries for Cozumel as well, so they might look like they're there, but they aren't as of 12:30 EST on 1/28/03.

Truk is definately worth the trip. You do not need to dive deep to enjoy most of the wrecks. In fact, many of the better photo ops are shallower where there is enough light for soft coral growth. The deeper wrecks are more historically interesting, but less photogenic. I was there in April of 2001 and will be going back this October.

Re the Aggressor - I haven't been on them (we were on Thorfinn - don't, and will bey on the Odyssey this trip) - you might want to check out the Odyssey.

I disagree re liveaboard vs shore diving in Truk. If you are into photography there are days where 5 dives does not seem to be enough! Also, I would describe Truk as "4th world." There is nothing to do ashore. Better to be on a live-aboard with first class food and support.

I have some photos from my last trip linked on my web site.

Regards.

Don Dixon

http://www.dixonphotos.net

I disagree re liveaboard vs shore diving in Truk

As I said, I'm not sure one or the other is better, each has plusses and minuses. This isn't a destination where, IMO, liveaboard is clearly superior to shore-based, or vice versa. In bad weather, I'd almost always rather be on land than any boat, liveaboard or otherwise, but you're right, the liveaboard probably has better food. Yes, Chuuk definitely lacks in anything to do, and 4th world is not an unfair statement, but it's really just a preference thing. I hate cramped spaces (read as cabins on boats), and even the smallest hotel room has more space than a liveaboard, and the option to wander around the grounds of the "resort". FWIW, I wouldn't stay in any of the other hotels than the Blue Lagoon. It's the only one that has any space of it's own, and is sort of separated from the rest of the "reality" in Chuuk.

5 dives does not seem to be enough

Again, this may be true if you can get in 5 dives, but if you're doing dives to 160-200 feet, with 30-45 minute bottom times, you won't get 5 dives in anyway.

Just my second set of $0.02...

Tom

Thanks for all the input guys. Looks like I may be breaking the bank this year.