The Truk Lagoon in Chuuk is home to over 60 wrecks, most of which sunk during Operation Hailstone in World War II. Many of them are within recreational diving depths and provide some of the best wreck diving in the world.

 

The Truk Stop Hotel and Truk Lagoon Dive Center

There are four hotels on the island, but if you like to dive (and honestly, that’s the only thing to do on this island) the best option is the Truk Stop Hotel, just down the street from the airport.

The regular rooms are modest, but for a little more per night, you can get one of the suites, which are located in the newer part of the building.

There’s a restaurant onsite with really good food at a reasonable price along with two bars. Interestingly, all alcohol sales on the island stop between Christmas and New Year’s to keep people from getting too rowdy.

On the left is the old building and on the right in the photo is the new building where the suites are located. In the background, you can see a random vehicle parading through town on New Year’s Day in Chuukese tradition.

Just downstairs is the Truk Lagoon Dive Center, where you can head after breakfast in the morning to start your dives.

Over our two days at the Truk Lagoon Dive Center, we visited the Nippo Maru, Yamagari Maru, Emily Flying Boat (Kawanishi H8K), Kensho Maru, and the Kiyosumi Maru. We were the only two people on the dive boat, so we were able to pick all of our wrecks with the assistance of the divemasters. Just about every dive we did with this shop was absolutely incredible.

For our surface intervals, we got to chill out at some of the islands in the lagoon.

 

Blue Lagoon Dive Resort

Another dive center on the island is the Blue Lagoon Dive Resort. Their pricing was very similar to the Truk Lagoon Dive Center, but they seemed quite a bit less organized, so I definitely preferred the first place.

At this location, we checked out the Rio De Janeiro Maru, the Heian Maru, a Mitsubishi G4M Old Betty Bomber, the Fujikawa Maru, and the Shinkoku Maru. All the dives were magnificent, but the Heian Maru was my most favorite of this set.

 

In Conclusion

The diving in Chuuk was definitely the best wreck diving I have ever done in my life. Our hotel was awesome, the staff was accommodating, the dive sites were spectacular, and the conditions were pretty much perfect for all of our dives.

If you enjoy wreck diving, definitely come to this island and definitely stay at the Truk Stop Hotel when you do.

Thanks for reading!

I’ll post next about my adventure through Asia on my way back to Italy!

-Matt