Trip Report Truk Lagoon

This was my second trip to Truk Lagoon (also known as Chuuk), a small island in the Federated States of Micronesia. I have to be honest, I was nervous. The first time we went, it was truly magical. The lagoon was calmer than a lake, our visibility was excellent for Truk standards, the boat crew was top notch, the list goes on.

Truk had snuck it's way into one of my top two destinations to date, and that's from a diver with over 2000 dives! So when we scheduled a return trip on a different liveaboard, I tried to keep my expectations in check.

Little did I know I should have let them run wild! We spent a week aboard the Truk Odyssey, and the magic that is Truk Lagoon is still very much intact! For those of you that don't have Truk on your list of must-do dives, I'd reconsider the list. This dive destination has it all. We all know the lagoon is known for it's wreck diving, but to say that is all they have would be a huge understatement. The wrecks are truly the foundation for one of the most prolific marine environments I have ever seen.

	The amount of coral growth for a reef that has only been growing for 60 years is truly mind boggling. Add to that pelagic sightings such as Eagle Rays and sharks, macro subjects like nudibranchs and blind shrimp with gobies, and so many anemone fish that Jill made me stop taking pictures of them.
The truth is I'm not much of a wreck diver kind of guy. I'd much rather take a coral reef or dramatic wall dive over a wreck. But these aren't your ordinary run of the mill artificial reef. The amount of life and historical significance make them truly unique.

Swimming through the engine compartments and tool rooms is like walking through an art display in a museum, one that you can touch and pick up and examine as it was left on it's last fateful day. These wrecks are like no other on earth in this divers' opinion.

Our week was topped with not one, but two days of wild dolphins coming by to play with us. The second day, half the group was on scuba doing their safety stop, while the rest were on the surface snorkeling.

These were truly equal opportunity dolphins, as they would dash down to the divers to check them out, then shoot up to the snorkelers to give them the chance for photos.

It is very rare to see these animals so eager to hang around with a group, but these seemed to thrive on the experience, and we were all treated to close to an hour of dolphin play time!

I've already scheduled my return trip to Truk Lagoon. When you've found something this good, you just can't stay away!

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