This "report" covers a dive trip made 14-28 March 1998 through the islands of Yap, Chuuk (Truk), Koror, Peliliu (Palau). The first section will cover most of where we dove and what we saw; the second part will cover the underwater photography portion of the trip. We had 11 diving days (I dove 10) and logged 29 (28 for me) dives totaling 27 1/2 hours of bottom time. I got through it all without a flood or damaging any equipment. I can't say the same for all on this excursion.
My "tips" are at the end of this report. I shot through 21 rolls of slide film: Kodak Elite II 100 ASA, Fuji Sensia 100 ASA, Kodak Dyna 200 ASA and Kodak Kodachrome 400 ASA. My primary camera setups included 1: Nikonos V/Sea&Sea 15mm, dual SB105 strobes, OBS strobe arms, 2: Nikonos V/28mm, dual SS50 on Ikelite arms. Although they don't get rave reviews from other U/W photographers, I used Ray-O-Vac Renewals without incident or delayed strobe recharge throughout for all of my strobes.
I traveled and dove with 4 others; the other divers were Ray Simon, Dave Burch, Mike Cook, and Maumi Krause. Our group included a PADI Course Director, a PADI Master Instructor, a PADI OW Instructor, and a PADI Divemaster. The "ring leader" (or the one that deserves credit for making all of the travel/dive arrangements through Trip N Tour) is Ray Simon, owner of The Scuba Center at Camp Pendleton, CA. The reason I mention the experience level of the divers is not to toot anyone's horn, but rather to indicate that all of the divers in the group are extremely experienced and with that in mind, that's how our dives were planned. I was extremely please with the way Trip N Tour established our itinerary. With rare exception, all hotels and dive operators were aware of our reservations, and in the unlikely instance there was a lost "reservation" our vouchers (make sure you get them!) got us through.
My particular travel plans were a little unique compared to the
others as I began my travel from Okinawa, Japan. Because Continental
Micronesia was not yet flying to Guam, I used All Nippon Airways (ANA)
and traveled through Hiroshima, Japan to Guam. For those traveling
from the Far East, Continental Micronesia begins flights to/from
Guam/Okinawa beginning 5 April 98. Many flights continuing from Guam
arrive very late at night and have lengthy connection delays. Guam's
airport has been, and continues to be, remodeled, and during the
interim, there are no lockers available. The airport has a single
snack bar that stays open 24 hours, but other than that, services
are limited. All of the other divers traveled from California and
went through Honolulu on the way to Guam. We used Continental
Micronesia for inter-island travel. Be ready to go through customs at
almost every step of the way. There isn't any problem with customs if
you stay in Micronesia proper (FSM), but Palau is an independent
government and you know what that means. There are two different
departure taxes: $20 in Koror (Palau), $10 in Chuuk. I traveled
(as always) with all of my equipment in a Rubbermaid Action Packer;
it gets a lot of attention, but doesn't present any problems. I hand
carried my primary camera gear (camera bodies, lenses, strobes) and
sent the rest as checked baggage. I didn't use any Pelican cases on
this trip, but others in the group did without any problems.
Our first dive destination was Yap, via Guam. The airport (as
are many in Micronesia) is rustic but functional. Be patient while
waiting on your luggage as it is transferred to the terminal via hand
loaded truck. The arrival area is small and gets very congested; be
ready to move large, heavy bags away in a hurry without the benefit
of a cart. Movement through customs/immigration flows smoothly and
won't add any delay. We stayed at the Manta Ray Bay Hotel. Hotel
staff met us at the airport and assisted us with the transfer of our
bags/equipment to/from our hotel rooms. This is a first class
organization; the hotel is clean and very convenient. There is a
restaurant on the third floor (that serves great food), a full service
photo center and dive shop on the first floor, and the boat dock and
equipment storage locker are right out in back of the hotel. Depending
on your arrival time, you may be able to dive on arrival day. Plan
ahead.
We dove three days in Yap through Yap Divers conducting 8 dives
in all. Most divers go to Yap to see the Mantas; just don't get
distracted and miss the other attractions. Being close to the Mantas
is a unique experience. They aren't artificially attracted to the
dive site in any way, instead, they frequent the channels because of
the food and cleaning stations available. Be prepared to try and deal
with 6-8 at a time. They get within inches and provide endless photo
opportunities. As with anything else, there are rules: Don't touch!
There is also great wall and drift diving that will provide plenty of
opportunity to see sharks, large schooling pelagics (tuna, etc.),
wahoo, dorado, turtles, and according to our dive guide, an occasional
marlin.
The smaller boats (22') are comfortable and dry and are used to
dive the closer destinations such as Mi'l Channel. There is a larger,
more spacious boat (a Munson 35' aluminum), that is used for diving
the outer reefs where travel through large swells and choppy seas is
common. Our dive guide and boat captain throughout was Sesario and
William. They were most gracious in accommodating our diving needs at
Mi'l Channel, Lionfish Wall, End of the Reef, Yap Canyon, and Gillman
Wall. During our first dive we were given depth and time restrictions
to "check us out", but during later dives we were left pretty much to
create our own profiles. There are snacks and hot tea provided on the
boats. The snacks are mostly pastry items (lots of instant energy) and
the hot tea, although not always recommended because of dehydration
reasons, tastes great and provides warmth. One might be surprised at
how much warmth is needed after 90 minutes in 83 degree water. There
is a large rinse tank at the dock, and a storage locker in which to
safely store dive gear overnight (for hotel guests) which precludes
having to dry gear in the hotel rooms and further having to transfer
equipment to and from the dock and hotel. As previously mentioned,
great food available at the hotel, but there are also a few good
restaurants available. The cost of food is reasonable. Before drinking
it, check the origin of the water; if it was obtained from a local
well, it has probably been chlorinated and is safe to drink. If not,
drink bottled water.
Our next destination was Koror in the Republic of Palau (via
Yap). The airport is more spacious and has "airport amenities" such
as a snack bar and gift shop. There are also carts available to move
large bags/equipment. Movement through customs/immigration was speedy.
We stayed at the Desekel Hotel; their staff also met us at the airport
and assisted us with transferring our bags/equipment to our rooms
which were clean although not real spacious. There is a funny "quirk"
attached to the rooms; when they are cleaned, the cleaning person
turns a switch located by the door that shuts off the power to the
room (this saves money when not occupied). If power is needed in the
room during the day (battery chargers, etc.), just inform the front
desk and they will make arrangements to leave the power on. There
isn't food available at the hotel, but there are many good restaurants
available, and the hotel is situated on top of a grocery store. The
cost of food is reasonable. The water is safe to drink in most
locations, but if in doubt, drink bottled water.
Our diving in Koror and Peliliu was conducted through Sam's Dive
Tours. I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT HOW WELL WE WERE TREATED! We did 5
days of diving making 16 dives. We dove locations such as New Drop
Off, Blue Corner, German Wall, Siae's Tunnel, Blue Holes, Ulong
Channel, Ulong Coral Beds, Turtle Cove, Chandelier Cave, 2 wrecks, and
Orange Beach on Peliliu. Sam's is a full service facility offering
retail merchandise, souvenirs, and Nitrox for those who want it. Our
first day of diving was led by Fernando ("Fern"), and all others were
guided by Doug. Our boat Captain throughout was Poker. Sam's has a
nice fleet of boats available for it's customers. On most days we
dove from a 26' Sea Cat, and on others we dove from 22' boats powered
by twin 90/120 HP engines. The dive locations require longer travel
(through what can be fairly bumpy ocean) than the locations in Yap,
but the boats provide a relatively dry ride (especially the Sea Cat).
Lunch (sandwiches) and drinks are provided daily. The night before,
you pick what you want for lunch and it is made fresh the next morning.
We were transferred to Sam's each morning by our dive guide in a
spacious van. Dive equipment is securely stored at Sam's in a large
gear locker. Whether on a drift dive or lazy wall dive, our guides
led us to vast numbers of sharks, huge Napoleon Wrasse, tuna, turtles,
huge groupers, eagle rays, giant tridacna clams, and schools of Jacks,
Barracuda, and various baitfish. Diving at most (but not all) of the
locations is ADVANCED diving and dive arrangements should be made with
this in mind. Severe currents (5-7 knots), and tricky
upwelling/downwelling currents are encountered daily, and one should
not consider diving without a "safety sausage" and "reef hook". The
safety sausage will allow you to be located at the surface in the
event you are separated from your group, and the reef hook will
allow you to stay in one place to watch the goings on at these
spectacular dive sites. None of the sharks are baited; it is a
totally "natural" experience. There are a LOT (hundreds) of sharks.
You can either swim in their midst or watch them swim by. Our plus:
we were lucky to encounter a lot of mating Grey Sharks at New Drop
Off. I could go on and on......
If time is available, make it a point to visit Peliliu and do a
WWII battle tour. Part of our reason for making the journey to Peliliu
was to rededicate a USMC flag at the 1st Marines memorial which is
dedicated to, and remembers the 8000 US casualties suffered in the
forgotten battle for the island. It was even more sobering than being
at the Arizona memorial in Hawaii.
Our last dive destination was Chuuk. We had to travel back to
Guam from Koror and remain over night before getting there. We stayed
at the Mai Ana hotel the night we remained on Guam. Guam's airport is
larger than Yap but not as large as Koror's. Other than airline
representatives, there are no services available in the "terminal".
Few carts are available to move large bags/equipment. Movement
through customs/immigration was speedy. We stayed at the Truk Stop
Hotel; their staff also met us at the airport and assisted us with
transferring our bags/equipment to our rooms which were clean and
extremely spacious. There is also a nice restaurant and gift shop
within the hotel. There is a long dock (much like a pier) where the
dive charter services make pick ups and drop offs. There are also
lockers for securing dive gear, but they don't provide the locks. 5
dives were conducted through Blue Lagoon Dive Shop. One note: none of
the dive shops on Chuuk are "shops". They provide services only; no
retail merchandise.
The boats used by Blue Lagoon were 22' and underpowered with twin
40 HP engines. Steering was an art as the engines were not connected
and were operated as separate entities. Some of the tanks in use were
as much as ten (yes, 10) years out of hydro. Our dive guide was Caleb
who, although didn't have dive tables or a computer to reference, was
a master of dive tables. He made all the long, deep dives we did and
always seemed to know when to ascend and how long he needed to make a
safety/decompression stop. The wrecks we dove were: Kensho Maru,
Fujikawa Maru, Sankisan Maru, and the Betty Bomber. A few of the group
made on extra dive on the San Francisco Maru. Chuuk is a wreck divers
paradise, but be ready. Computers and/or Navy Dive Tables and extensive
dive planning with back-up DECOMPRESSION scenarios are required. Most
of the dives are deep, and although the guides are aware of this and
take extended surface intervals, no-decompression times run out fast
on deep, repetitive dives. My advice: if you use only one computer on
a dive, take (and use) US Navy tables to plan dives and rely on your
computer as a backup. I dive with two computers and still referred to
US Navy tables for added safety. Tip: Keep track of dive computer
battery consumption. If it's (or any of the other batteries you use
for that matter) is an "off beat" size (say 9V lithium), take extras.
Remember, a battery failure without adequate backup means staying out
for at least 12 hours.
If you are looking for night life (outside of diving), you won't
find any on Yap or Chuuk. As a matter of fact, you can't even get a
taxi after 6:00 PM on Chuuk. Palau has a few cozy bars to check into,
but there is a midnight-4:00 am curfew.
The underwater photographic opportunities throughout Micronesia
are endless. Some tips:
- Most of the action happens at a fast and furious pace which
doesn't allow for time to fiddle with a lot of controls. The Mantas,
sharks, and the other limitless large animals are best captured using
a Nikonos with a wide angle lens (15/20 mm, 12mm if you can get close
enough).
- A separate light meter might help, but it also adds an
extra component to take care of. Learning to master
n meter in the Nikonos is the best bet.
- The wrecks allow more time to compose photographs which can
be handled with a housed system.
- Macro and close-up photography can be found on wall dives,
but unless diving with more than one camera, the large, and very
beautiful scenics will be missed.
- If dual strobes are used, beware in strong current; it may
be difficult to position cameras and keep them steady. Using smaller,
more compact strobe arms (and strobes) will help.
- Consider limiting the number of cameras on a dive to one if
the currents are strong. It's hard enough to master a reef hook in 7
knot current with one camera much less two or three.
- Film speed is important. A lot of the photo opportunities
are 60' and deeper; with the lack of ambient light at these depths
you may want to consider a faster film (100 ASA). For wrecks and caves,
consider 400 ASA (or higher). Shooting lower ASA is OK, but it may
limit the opportunities.
I shot (personal preference) a lot of balanced exposure
wide angle pictures. The restrictions imposed by the depth's we
regularly dove required either a faster film (faster than 50/64), or
a lens with an f-stop as wide as F2.8. I mention this because the
Sea&Sea 15mm has one less f-stop than the Nikonos 15mm and if trying
to shoot 50/64 ASA film with a Sea&Sea 15mm at 90' you might have to
rely on strobe fill only which of course reduces the number of
photographic opportunities.
- Take extras: sync cords, film, o-rings, grease, and tools.
Remember, you are pretty much on your own when you get there. If you
shoot a lot of strobes or change film a lot, figure out battery
consumption (whether rechargeable or not) and take as many batteries
as needed to shoot through multiple rolls of film in a day.
Electricity in Micronesia is 110 VAC so you can use chargers without
any problems.
- None of the boats are large enough for a separate camera boxes. I
highly recommend buying a padded, waterproof travel bag from U/W Photo
Tech in Derry, N.H. for the trip. Fill it with water before leaving
the dock and keep your camera(s) in it while on the boat.
- Salinity levels are HIGH in the S. Pacific (to include
rinse tanks), so break cameras down after each dive day to service
o-rings and other sensitive/delicate components. The small amount of
time you invest in taking care of your cameras will be invaluable.
- Be aware/time restrictions on the deeper wrecks in
Truk; it is very easy to forget the passage of time while composing
and photographing the very beautiful scenes the wrecks behold.
The photographic services throughout Micronesia are limited. The
Manta Ray Bay Hotel on Yap has a full service facility offering
Motormarine rentals and development services. If film is in by 3
PM it is out by 6 PM. The only photo services available on Koror
are located at the Palau Pacific Resort. This by theway, is the
only place you can get slide film, and it is expensive! They offer
developing services as well as camera rentals (both Nikonos and
housed systems) and sales. Sam's Dive Tours on Koror plans on adding
a full service facility in the near future. Chuuk/Peliliu don't have
any services at all. You can find print film on Koror, but it's the
luck of the draw on any of the other islands.