Wreck Summary
| Type |
Shipwreck City Baby |
| Build |
Steel |
| Location |
Micronesia
|
| Depth |
40-210 feet |
| Length |
stinkin huge |
| Built |
Vintage World War II |
| Sank |
1944 |
| Access |
Boat |
| Experience Level |
Beginner to Technical |
| Orientation |
Every which way you can imagine
|
I hear you asking, "So what is it like to dive in Truk Lagoon?" Good question, I’m glad you asked. It’s easy. Most people see the area on either of the two liveaboards, Truk Odyssey or Truk Aggressor. These fairly luxurious ships ferry you all over the lagoon, hitting the best spots and staying on the premiere wrecks for multiple dives so you can explore them properly. The Aggressor, being part of a chain, is better known but without hesitation I’d choose the Odyssey again in a heartbeat: it’s longer, has larger rooms, and carries less passengers (I’ve never been on the Aggressor but the owner of the Odyssey is a former captain of the Aggressor and I’m guessing knows the ship rather well). I’m not sure I could say enough good things about the Odyssey, so I won’t even try. Suffice it to say Odyssey is one of the few liveaboards in the world of that class where the owners are the captain and first mate (along with husband and wife) - they have a vested interest in making sure the customers are happy and have won BEST LIVEABOARD IN THE WORLD honours several times which demonstrates how well they’re doing.
Other options include the Thorfin (a ship which doesn’t move much), and some shore-based dive operations, which use small boats to get people out to the wrecks.
The water is warm, 82ish degrees year round, so most dive in 3mm wetsuit. Four or five dives a day is quite common, with the night dive always taking place on the same wreck as the afternoon dives so you’ll know your way around better. There is plenty of wreck penetration potential (for those properly trained) and you can get deep inside many of the wrecks, but most divers during our two weeks there didn’t venture inside and still raved about the trip. Wrecks ranged from 60′ to 200′ deep, with the vast majority of diving done at 100′ or less, so there was something for all comfort levels. Throw in a well orchestrated shark feeding dive and it is a hard trip to beat. On the non-diving days you can go on tours of the islands and see the remnants of the Japanese fortifications (pill boxes, canons, underground shelters, a sea plane base and more) which really bring history to life.
