Truk Lagoon - Report & Photos

[Tassie Devil]

Nice report and fantastic photos, what a great trip!!

Its what dreams are made of, except in my dream the boat will be full of naked women!!

[broady]

Thanks for the comments guys, it was truly a memorable experience and I can't wait to get back out there again.

For those interested you would need to budget on around £ 1800 for flights and £ 1300 for a week on Odyssey. We are aiming to do a second week on Odyssey, for which you get a 20% discount - so say an extra grand for the 2nd week.

Odyssey is all inclusive but budget on around £50 to £100 in tips and £ 80 for various bollox dive and airport leaving taxes !!

So £ 3300 ish for 1 week or £ 4300 ish for 2 weeks

A few YD'ers have pm'ed me asking when we're planning going again and expressed an interest in joining us. We're aiming for around the Xmas/New Year 2009/10 period (exact dates subject to availability) and all you would need to stump up if you wanted to join us would be a deposit to Odyssey of $700 (I think thats per week) with the balance not due until 60 days before departure !! Flights obviously can be booked in a year or so!! So - not a huge committment up front.

We probably need to give our bank balance a few weeks/ months off before we will be confirming our own booking so if you fancy joining what has the potential for a mini YD adventure you can give your finances a good old look at before committing.

We'll be taking our Inspo's and lime and O2 are easy to arrange. Helium can be sorted too but on 99% of the dives not really worth it due to the easy depths 20 - 40 metres, just pick your depth, plenty to see ! Manifolded twinsets (Ali 80's) and stages (30 cu ft Ali) are readily available, as are the usual single Ali 80's for bcd wearers - so every flavour is catered for and every level of experience.

Feel free to ask away if you have any q's.


MarkP - thanks for the heads up on the feather star, the photo isn't all that great and to be honest they didn't thrill me but Nic seemed to love them !!

Tassie Devil - re: naked women. Captain Mike (very funny guy btw) was recounting a story of 4 Dutch ladies that were onboard a few weeks back that sunbathed nude on the top deck all week. Mike said that he lost count of the times he went up there to fix the radar or some piece of equipment the boat doesn't actually have !!

[ShinyD]

Great photos and report Graham. Glad you and Nic enjoyed it so much that you want to go back and do it again. For me that's the mark of a good holiday

Unfortunately way out of my budget, but good to read the report and see the photos!

[aquaholic]

Your report brought back some good and some bad memories of Truk. I could have written your opening paragraph in 1999 when I went ot Truk.. looks like the old bus is still going and the potholes in the road got a bit deeper, otherwise it sound the same as when I visited!

We did four days on Thorfin followed by a three night stay at Blue Lagoon, but diving with Sundance Divers. BLH was just in the process of being overhauled and the new rooms were pleasant. Food was good then too

Thorfin is not a boat I can recommend, or would stay on ever again, but I gathered it grounded itself on the reefs recently, so might be out of action now anyway. The only other liveaboard at the time was the Aggressor, and that was beyond my price range.

Having said the above re Thorfin, our dive guide was fantastic, and let us do what ever dive plan we decided to follow.. including going into deco. We oly did two or three dives each day, but spent longer on the wrecks. Unfotunately my camera had got flooded the week before in Oz and most of the wrecks were too deep for my video housing then, so I have very little interms of 'evidence' from the trip - so your photos are a great reminder!

We went in May and the vis was terrible compared to your photos. Looks like winter is a better time to go for good vis.

My favourite wreck was the Shinkokoo Maru, as it was covered in a fantastic mass of colourfull softcorals, but your photos show a lot of sand instead - is it still as nice as it was, or has the coral beeen destroyed?

Good Luck with your future trip. I booked ours via a travel agent in Oz online, as Truk is like a package destination from there, and you can get good flights from Cairns to Guam and Chuuk with Continental.

[Tassie Devil]

Ha,

I would have right there with him, handing him an imaginary screwdriver. Geez, tough life eh!!

You should get commission for bookings after stiiring up so much interest!! Tell Odyssey you'll write another report if you dive for free!!

[ross the diver]

sounds great and now i cant wate to go in April, am also going to do week in Yap and Bikini as well (got to make the most of it)......

[Dick Barwell]

Great photos and good trip report Looks fantastic and everything its reported to be and well worth saving for ........
The bank manager would have a fit ..........but you only live once
db

[hogen-deifar]

Soooo jealous of you and Nic! Glad you had a good time! My bud, Will, is going there this year! He logs on here but doesn't post! I'll make sure he looks at the pictures! I reckon he should take me with him, and so does Sharon at the shop!!!! Hehehe!

[daveb0000]

cracking report with a lot of good info

have yourself a green

[broady]

Originally Posted by aquaholic

Thorfin is not a boat I can recommend, or would stay on ever again, but I gathered it grounded itself on the reefs recently, so might be out of action now anyway. The only other liveaboard at the time was the Aggressor, and that was beyond my price range.

I did read conflicting reports about Thorfinn so decided on Odyssey! Apparently the Captain of Thorfinn is a bit of an odd-ball ?!

Originally Posted by aquaholic

We went in May and the vis was terrible compared to your photos. Looks like winter is a better time to go for good vis.

Apparently the time to go is during UK winter-time. The vis was very good when we went but not as clear as say, the Red Sea.

Originally Posted by aquaholic

My favourite wreck was the Shinkokoo Maru, as it was covered in a fantastic mass of colourfull softcorals, but your photos show a lot of sand instead - is it still as nice as it was, or has the coral beeen destroyed?

The Shinkoku is still covered in corals - our photos don't do it justice at all. Definitely one of our fave wrecks too and it just lit up on the night dive - stunning!

Graham

Thanks for all the great feedback and greens everyone - it deffo makes putting one of these reports together worthwhile ! G

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