Truk Lagoon
Truk is the place for WWII wrecks. I had always thought the wrecks were deep, though, and thus more accessible by technical divers. However, when BlueWater Photo ran their recent trip, I knew we would be going to those wrecks mostly accessible at recreational diving depths.
Yes, the wrecks we visited are often at the 60-120ft depth. The liveaboard offered nitrox, usually at 30%, and by watching your dive computer we had enjoyable dives - many for 45-60min by doing multi-level.
We had calm conditions with mostly clear water. The dive guides took us inside engine rooms, wheel houses, hulls and compartments. If you do not wish to penetrate, though, there is lots to see on the outside of the wrecks. There are all kinds of artifacts, some which have been brought up on the decks of the wrecks. Bottles, china, telegraphs, gas masks, engine machinery, trucks, tanks, dozers, airplanes, bullets, torpedoes, and more. Photo opportunities include both wide angle and macro. Be sure you have strobes, focus lights, and dive lights (it is dark inside). We had some fun with external lighting, too.
The wrecks are all WWII Japanese. Hearing/reading about their stories adds interest and context.
The wrecks are full of coral growth and fish life. Checking out the masts and kingpins are a beautiful way to dive at more shallow depths and get a scale of the size of the wrecks.
We dove from a dive liveaboard. Land based diving is also possible, and visits many of the same sites but with a sometimes long/bumpy ride to/from and for your surface interval.
We visited a small museum with information, pictures, and artifacts of some of the wrecks. It made me realize how many more wrecks there are beyond the ones that we saw during our week of diving.
