Truk Lagoon: The Ultimate Bucket List Destination

Having moved away almost nine years ago, I was half expecting Truk to have moved on and changed in my absence, but then you remember, this is Truk. Nothing changes. Very little has changed in the past 30 years or so. The roads are still packed with potholes and the local roadside jungle is littered with cars which have reached the ends of their natural life. Food supplies arrive by ship every three weeks, electricity is by no means guaranteed and WiFi is a luxury only available in the hotel’s reception. Truk is not the sort of place welcoming beach-loving holidaymakers; it is purely divers who venture this far. With a diving tourism of 2,000-3,000 visitors per year, it marks it out as being a very obscure and unique location; the Red Sea and Maldives will welcome that number every day.

Chuuk is about as remote as we can get from the UK. Nothing is close by. Nothing is easily accessible. Nothing is simple. Living and surviving here is not a particularly easy task, but you lose sense of that once you are aboard the Odyssey liveaboard. The Odyssey may not be as new or as luxurious as some other liveaboards, but out here, it is still top dog. It’s a lovely, wide open, comfortable and functional place to be based. Listening to the views of clients who have spent many holidays plying the waters of the Red Sea or the Maldives, it is held in very high regard. It doesn’t pretend to be anything than a true workhorse which is extremely well maintained and there is no hint of anything being broken or breaking down. The Odyssey is the only liveaboard I am aware of which will stop for maintenance every eight weeks in addition to its triannual trip to the dry dock in Cebu, The Philippines.

From the moment we stepped aboard on Saturday evening, there was a sense of calm and happiness. The Odyssey has a five dive a day itinerary. Whereas the boats in the Red Sea may have a pre-breakfast dive and then face a long sea crossing, out here it more civilised.  Breakfast is at 06:30, to be followed by an informative briefing and then the pool is open. Generally speaking, guests have a good two hour window to make their dives, so there is no need to allocate divers into groups or to get you overboard at a certain time. You are free to gear up and jump from the mothership as and when the time is right.

With a surface break for about two hours or more, this time is easily filled by having a quick shower, a cup of coffee, snacks or maybe a light snooze. The second dive leads you up to lunch at 12:30, leaving the rest of the afternoon to make another two dives before dinner at 18:30. Night dives are also offered each evening immediately after dinner. It is rare clients will make the full five dives; most will stick to three or four before a welcoming glass of red or a bottle of beer with dinner.

Considering the food is pretty sparse on island at the best of times, Poorly (the ship’s cook) makes some truly delicious meals, from your choice of hot breakfast, to a full blown lasagne for lunch, or coq au vin in the evening. All of these meals are alien to their local diet, so the work they do is all the more welcoming.

I made 21 dives during the week. There was scope to make it more if we were keen to make the night dives, but four dives a day is ample, especially in this part of the world. We dived 14 wrecks in the lagoon and there are many more still left on the map, perhaps left for ‘the next time’. This is the sort of place many divers are left wanting more, asking the question as to when they have space in the diary to make a repeat visit. Make no mistake; this is not a cheap destination. For many, it is the ultimate ‘Bucket List’ option. One of my 15 clients on board this week has never made a dedicated dive trip in his life, but this was on his list for 32 years. It has an aura about it like no other. For sure it is not to everyone’s taste. It is a long, long way to travel. It is tiring, it is expensive; but my, does it deliver, each and every time.

Though most of the wrecks are similar in design and name; that’s where their similarity ends. From the first dive, I could see the diving was really ticking the boxes. Cargo in the holds, the sheer size, the abundant marine life, the world class guided and self guided tours of the bowels of each wreck.

We saw bottles, lots of bottles. We saw porcelain, glass ware, bullets, bombs, shoes and boots, gas masks and medical boxes still containing stethoscopes and syringes. We saw binoculars, range finders, huge 14 inch artillery shells, intact light bulbs and fixtures. We saw hemispherical beach mines, bulldozers, tractors and battle tanks. We dived a submarine (one of a very few Japanese subs within diving depths). We dived a destroyer, a submarine tender, an aircraft supply ship and a bomber aeroplane. We also saw the remains of the Japanese sailors who met a very violent and watery grave. It is important to understand the historical nature of this place, its reason for being, and its place in the record books.

In Truk, we were able to penetrate the wrecks in ways many thought were beyond their comfort zone; some experienced decompression diving for the very first time, and you know what, not only did they come back alive, they came back smiling. You see, Truk is like no other. It will only be experienced by the few and long may that continue. It may not to be everyone’s liking but that’s OK and for those who have been, it will steal a bit of their heart, each and every time. I know it has got me once again.

Fulfil your own bucket list with a diving trip to Truk Lagoon aboard the MV Odyssey. Contact our Dive team for departure dates and more information.