|
TRUK LAGOON June
2008 -
Still to be announced but budget on $5500 - $6000.00 NZ all return
flights
11-14 days diving accom
STAYING AT TRUK STOP
This trip is going to be a cracker!! For both the techo and recreational
diver. Truuk is a haven to titillate all pallets!!!! This is where we
are staying for the 10 days of diving - YES 9 full days diving. It is
island based and not boat (liveaboard) based. We chose this to give
everyone the flexibility. Have a look at the dive sites listed below.
You will see that they are mostly shallow wrecks. There is also Nitrox
available. Also will be rebreather friendly too!! The hotel is also
under new managment under the watchfull eye of Eamon and Judi
Guilfoyle.
The Truk Stop Hotel (www.trukstop.com)
was designed and built with both the scuba diver and business traveller
in mind. Both types of travellers will appreciate the bright,
comfortable rooms and great views over the Lagoon.
The hotel is only a short walk from town and less than one mile from
the International airport. With only a five minute walk you can be
in town at the market, stores or dive shops.
The 23 rooms include 13 standard rooms, 6 oceanview rooms, 2 executive
suites and 2 presidential suites. Each room has a private balcony
overlooking the Lagoon where tired divers or tired business people can
relax and enjoy the view.
View
photos of the different rooms.
All rooms have
air-conditioning, private bath, full color cable TV (with live CNN and
ESPN International), telephone, ceiling fan, and a refrigerator.
Spacious closets make unpacking a breeze.
The on-site restaurants and bars and pick up for daily SCUBA
diving trips at Truk Stop's own well equipped pier insure that you
will never need to travel far from the hotel. But if you do, both a
Travel Agency and Car Rental are available on the premises.
Safety deposit boxes, fax and copy service, laundry and baby sitting
are available for our guests' convenience.
Although completely modern in design, the hotel is decorated throughout
with traditional Micronesia handicrafts. Guests can see these items as
they are constructed by traditional artists locally. Some items are
available in the hotel's gift shop and boutique.
In December 2001, Truk Stop Hotel added the Truk Lagoon Dive
Center. This new PADI diving facility is only a 30 sec. walk from
the hotel.
From the hotel a 50 yard long boardwalk and pier spans the inner
lagoon passing over a small mangrove stand. Up to 4 boats at a time
can come right up to the pier to pick up hotel guests for their
day's diving.
The Truk Lagoon Diving Center is staffed by professional dive
instructors and staff who provide instruction, and equipment repair
as well as escorting dives.
 Wreck,
reef and shark feeding dives are offered up to 4 dives per day. The
Truk Lagoon Dive Centre has a covered wash and rinse area. Divers
soak and rinse their dive gear and underwater camera equipment in
fresh water here. There is no need to carry wet suits and
equipment back to the rooms as 6 walk-in style storage
lockers are located here as well. Divers can store and dry their
gear overnight.
The Truk Lagoon Dive Centre's new 0-metre custom dive boats offer
daily dives, up to four dives per day. The Truk Lagoon Dive Centre
has new tanks and a full range of rental dive equipment. The dive
center provides nitrox and decompression gas mixing and offers scuba
equipment repair. Boats carry the Dan O2 kits and First Aid kits.
PADI dive courses, such as the PADI Wreck Diving Speciality and
PADI Nitrox Diving are available.
HISTORY Truk Lagoon (Chuuk) is a very special place
that has taken a cruel and ugly part of its history and turned it into
something beautiful. During WWII Truk Lagoon was a centre of wartime
activity. The heritage it left, buried under the sea, has become a haven
for coral and fish life. It is a maze of military wrecks waiting to be
explored. Here in this special underwater world you will find every kind
of military equipment that you can imagine—ships, submarines, planes,
bulldozers, ammunition, cannons, tanks, jeeps, medical supplies ...you
get the picture. Near the end of WWII the US Navy unleashed the full
fury of Operation Hailstone on the Japanese Imperial 4th Fleet stationed
in Truk Lagoon. In the blaze of battle, 15 Japanese naval ships, six
tankers, 17 cargo ships, and 265 planes disappeared beneath the sea.
Some have never been found and are declared MIA—missing in action.
Operation Hailstone was twelve times more powerful than the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbour. If you are a wreck lover, this has created a
feast
of wrecks for you to explore in an area that has been declared a
national monument. As you sink down the anchor line beneath the warm
blue water,
history comes to life in the eerie tranquility. The awe inspiring nature
of the wrecks, and the tragedy and violence of their arrival at the
bottom
of the ocean, jarringly contrasts with the beauty and life that now
surrounds them. In their destruction, these wrecks have found the most
beautiful
of graves. One of the best features of Truk Lagoon is the accessibility
of the wrecks to all levels of diver. Truk Lagoon is a sheltered
harbour, relatively free of currents and with good visibility. It is
ideal for novice through to experienced and tec divers. The water is
warm, clear and shallow. The 40-mile
diameter of the lagoon acts like an enormous fish bowl filled with the
world’s finest wrecks. It is simply the best place for diving wrecks in
the world. DIVING
http://www.thorfinn.net/truk_lagoon_wreckmap.html
This site is great to have a look at all the wrecks and
their stats
Shinkoku Maru—a well preserved oil tanker with her main deck at 20
metres, mounted guns, and sailor’s personal effects. A wide range of
fish life
make her their home. The engine room is definitely worth a visit.
San Francisco Maru—lying upright at a depth of 48m to 60m, this medium
sized freighter carried military equipment. Loaded with so much war
material, it is often nicknamed ’the Million Dollar Wreck’. You will
also find the bow gun, ship’s bell, and an open safe.
Nippo Maru—check out the wheelhouse for a great photo stop. This is a
deeper dive and dives are limited to the bridge and deck areas.
Submarine I-169—this sub had previously participated in the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbour. During the air raid of Operation Hailstone,
I-169
submerged to avoid being bombed. In its haste, the valves were not
closed, flooding the control room and causing it to sink. In 1973 a dive
rescue
team reclaimed the skeletons of the hundred men who tragically died on
board.
Heian Maru—at 155 metres long, this is the largest ship in the lagoon.
Once a passenger ship it was converted into a submarine depot ship and
still
contains periscopes and torpedoes.
AQUATIC LIFE TOO!!!
Amongst the wrecks you will find more than 800 species of marine life,
and 300 varieties of hard and soft coral. The outer reefs offer a change
from the wrecks with peaks, caves, walls, and dropoffs covered in a
profusion of hard and soft coral, fish, and pelagics. |
