From: paulc@col.hp.com (Paul Carroll)
Subject: Trip report-Truk and Palau
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 20:32:21 GMT
Organization: Emo! Emo! Emo!

Here is my trip report for a visit to Truk and Palau in June of this year.
I had a great time and got some rather good photos from most of the
dive locations.  And, if I had a chance to do it again, I would without
any hesitation.  The walls in Palau are as interesting as those
on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, but with the bonus of having lots
of sharks.  Likewise, the Japanese shipwrecks in Truk are as interesting
as those I've seen in Bonaire, but have so much history and many neat
artifacts that they are really worth the trip.  Anyway, hopefully I've
answered any questions about each of the locations.


Truk
----

The Islands:

	Truk is located about 500 miles to the SW of Guam, in the
	Pacific ocean.  Truk is actually a collection of islands
	within a 50-mile-wide coral atoll (my distances might be off,
	but are somewhat realistic).  The airport for Truk is on the
	north end of Moen, the main island.  This is where the center
	of government is.  The population is spread throughout the 
	islands, but this island is the only one that might be considered
	"civilized", as far as having some paved roads, the airport, etc.

	The islands are, as you might guess, tropical.  They are all
	covered with palm trees, with some areas cleared for farming.
	The temperature in late June was around 85 degrees all of the
	time.  It also rains there each day, with some days being
	much wetter than others.

	The population is fairly poor, given the islands do not really
	have anything of value except coconuts.  Diving seems to be a
	real advantage, as long as the wrecks last.

The Hotel:
	
	The dive group I was with stayed at the Hotel Continental.  This
	hotel is located at the SE end of Moen.  I am not sure, but there
	is not much competition for the hotel except some really scummy
	places downtown.  It looks like most people that visit Truk
	stay at the Continental and are there to dive.

	The Truk Aggressor seemed to spend a good portion of its time
	anchored near the hotel.  It is possible the boat was between groups
	since we did later find the Aggressor at the Fujikawa Maru.

	The Thorfinn was anchored near Dublon and was between dive groups.

The Diving:

	Unfortunately, I do not remember the name of the dive operation
	that we used.  It was not the one that is located in the small
	shack just inside the hotel's fence, however.  We were given
	two dives each day, with about 1 1/2 hours between dives for lunch.
	The first part of the week we used a slower boat that was able to
	accommodate all 12 of us.  We could usually plan on taking about
	1 1/2 hours to get to or from a wreck.  Later, we switched to two
	smaller and faster boats that allowed us to visit some further 
	locations.  It still seemed to take a while to get there, however.

	Most of the wrecks are in fairly deep water.  As recreational
	divers, we were limited to those wrecks that were in less than 120'
	of water.  There are many impressive wrecks that are at greater
	depths, but we did not visit them.  They would have required
	decompression stops.

	We visited a total of 9 wrecks, where 1 was a destroyer, 1 was
	a troop transport, and the rest were freighters.  It is possible
	to penetrate the wrecks with a dive guide, but you will need to
	be trained or taking training.  Unfortunately, I was not, so I
	was limited to either short penetrations or just looking.

Things to do besides dive:

	Most of my time was spend either sleeping or reading.  But
	that's just me.  The hotel has a sand pit for volleyball
	if you have enough people (and a volleyball, I suppose.
	We had to buy one downtown).  There does not seem to
	be much of a night life.  I never ventured downtown during
	the night.  The hotel is about 5 miles to the South so it
	was not convenient.

	If you have the time, there are several places on the island
	you can visit.  There is a museum downtown that contains many
	items recovered from the shipwrecks as well as many artifacts
	created by the islanders.  There are several caves about the
	island that have large Japanese cannons pointing out in various
	directions.  On the western end of the island, there is a
	Catholic high school that is in a former Japanese Command center.
	And, finally, there is an old shotup lighthouse at the far
	western end.  This one cost us about $1.50/person to see.  You
	need to go to the owner's house and ride up in the back of their
	pickup in order to get there.  Other than these, I cannot think
	of anything else on the island of note.

	The coffee shop shows videos and some movies each night.
	Some of the videos pertain to the wrecks and the area.
	The movies seemed to vary between the latest US releases,
	some older movies, and some really wretched foreign films.

	Our dive master arranged for one of the islanders to give
	a talk about the island's history.  This included some information
	about the US attacks that resulted in the many shipwrecks.
	I believe the islander was the owner of the dive shop that
	we used, so I presume he might be available for other groups.

	In between dives, we visited ruins or shallow wrecks.
	One day was spend visiting the Japanese command post
	on Ebon.  We were charged $1.00/person by the family living
	there.  Dublon also has some Japanese fuel tanks that are
	a short hike inland from the dock.  Some good snorkeling
	can be had by Ebon, with its upside-down Zero in about 25'
	of water, or near Dublon, with a sunken destroyer.


Food:
	We ate all of our meals either at the Hotel Continental
	or had box lunches made by the restaurant there.
	The box lunches cost about $6 and you had your choice of
	American or Japanese food.  Most of our group tended to get
	the Japanese box, since it had lots of rice and various meats.

	As for dinner, it seemed to be hit-or-miss as to whether the
	meal would be good.  It seemed to depend upon the dish ordered
	rather than upon any specific day.  Also, there were problems
	with shortages, such as not having any bananas on the island
	for a few days.  The hotel did perform favors for us, such
	as baking a birthday cake and then storing it for us throughout
	the week.  While some of the dinners left a little to be
	desired, I would not hesitate to eat at the restaurant or
	coffee shop at the hotel.  Part of this is tempered by the
	fact that I'm not sure there is anyplace else on the island
	to eat.
	
	One interesting problem we had was related to breakfast.  When
	we ordered some pancakes or french toast, the first to try the
	syrup found out that it was really "watered down" with vinegar.
	Apparently the cook had run out of syrup and just substituted
	whatever was handy.  We tended to try the syrup out after that
	before pouring it on our food.

	There is a small store just outside of the hotel's fence, to the
	North.  I bought a 6-pack of Coke and some chips there, at what
	seemed like inflated prices but probably is correct for the
	location (about twice US).



Dive Log for Truk:

June 20 Saturday

	Dive 1:	Fujikawa Maru - Freighter	10:27-11:08 : 41m bottom time
	Depth: 70' average, 86' max
	Followed guide down, entered hold 2 which contains 2 Zero's without
	wings, then to hold 1 which contains ammo and machine guns, continued
	forward to the bow gun and then back the entire length to the aft
	gun where I saw a lionfish, spotted gas masks on the deck during the
	ascent to the surface

	Dive 2: Sankisan Maru - Freighter	1:38-2:22 : 44m bottom time
	Depth: 60' average, 73' max
	Went down mast, entered front hold that contained coal, then moved
	back one hold to one containing ammo, truck parts scattered all
	over the deck, returned up the mast for decompression stop.

June 21 Sunday

	Dive 3: Kensho Maru - Freighter		9:59-10:40 : 41m bottom time
	Depth: 70' average, 84 max
	Dropped down by bridge, went inside it to take photos, dropped
	into a small hold, returned back to bridge, took photos of china
	and boots

	Dive 4: Heian Maru - transport		1:13-2:00 : 47m bottom time
	Depth: 50' ave, 60' max
	Primary Regulator crapped out while swimming down a passage, switched
	to my Air II backup for the rest of the dive, ship was laying on its
	side, swam down passage that ran the length of the ship and then
	exited aft, returned back along the top of the ship

June 22 Monday

	Dive 5: Shinkoku Maru - freighter	9:34-10:26 : 50m bottom time
	Depth: 70' average, 90' max
	Wreck is sitting upright in the water, went down near bridge then
	continued to the bow, followed port side back to bridge, went 
	underneath the bridge and then came out by the booms in the
	middle, followed them up to 30' for photos, then back to bridge

	Dive 6: Kiyozumi Maru - freighter	1:31-2:15 : 46m bottom time
	Depth: 50' average, 94' max
	Ship on port side, Came down on the bridge, made a short penetration 
	into holds on the side of the ship, swam to the stern, went 
	underneath it and came up by the propellers, swam back along the
	bottom of the ship to the bridge, took photos of china, bottles, etc.

June 23 Tuesday
	Dive 7: Fumitsuki - Destroyer		9:52-10:26 : 34m bottom time
	Depth: 95' average, 108' max
	lots of jellyfish on surface, came down by bridge, went along
	starboard deck to bow gun, artillery shells near the bow gun, 
	went around the bow and then returned to the bridge

	Dive 8: Rio de Janerio Maru - troop	1:43-2:31 : 48m bottom time
	Depth: 50' average, 98' max
	Boat laying on starboard side, came down near the stern, went along
	passageway back to the telegraph, came up by the propellers,
	came back along the top of the ship to the bow, then along the deck
	of the ship to the stern


June 24 Wednesday

	Dive 9: Yamagiri Maru - freighter	9:13-9:58 : 45m bottom time
	Depth: 70' average, 101' max
	Ship laying on side, came down on bottom of ship, went over port
	side to the top of the ship, entered hold that contains 18' shells
	for the Yamamoto battleship, continued on to stern, past the
	propeller, than returned along the top back to the bridge, met
	a school of pennant bannerfish there

	Dive 10: Fujikawa Maru - freighter	12:37-1:09 : 32m bottom time
	Depth: 60' average, 98' max
	My dive buddy was penetrating the wreck so I made the dive on my
	own.  I immediately went to the 3rd hold, which was empty.  I
	then moved to the 2nd hold, which contains the 2 zeros.  The 1st
	hold contains the ammo and machine guns.  I moved back to the bridge,
	went to the next hold, which was also empty, and then continued
	to the last hold, which contains bottles.  I made a quick trip around
	the stern gun, in case the lionfish was still there, and then
	made a limited penetration into the bridge.  I then exited below the
	bridge and went up the mast to the decompression stop.





Palau
-----

The Islands:

	Palau is located about 500 miles to the SE of Guam, in the
	Pacific ocean.  It is a collection of islands that run in a
	north-south orientation.  The reef for Palau also seems to
	run much closer, so you get good wall diving on the south end
	of the chain.  The population seems to be spread around the
	larger islands in the north.  Other islands are only sparsely
	populated due to their ruggedness.  You may have seen photos
	of these islands, which look like mushrooms.  The ocean tends
	to undercut the edges of the islands, which come just about
	straight out of the ocean.

	The temperature at these islands was the same as Truk, but it
	didn't rain as much at the start of the week.  The weather
	turned bad in the last few days, due to a tropical depression.

	Palau seems to be better off than Truk.  This may be because of
	a better tourist trade, such as with the Japanese.  It may also
	have to do with having deep ocean nearer to the islands.  
	The islands are still not well-off, compared to the US.

The Hotel:

	We stayed at the Pacific Hotel, which seemed like a 5-start
	hotel to me.  While it reminded me of the Flamingo on Bonaire,
	it did seem to be a higher class place than I am used to on
	dive trips.  The Japanese apparently like to stay at this hotel,
	so it is fairly good.

	You apparently have your choice of double or single beds, with
	rollaways available if needed.  The air-conditioning was extremely
	welcome, since the rooms quickly overheat when it is turned off.

	The dive shop we used was located on the north side of the island,
	but we were picked up at the dock that was located by the hotel's
	dive shop.  The hotel's dive shop seemed to be well-stocked with 
	many fashionable items, but it might not contain everything you 
	need in the case of an equipment problem.  They also did not have 
	any video equipment for rent, if that is a problem.

The Diving:
	As usual, I don't have the name of the dive shop available.
	It was one that was located on an island to the west of the
	hotel.  We tended to use 2 small boats, with about 5 or 6
	divers on each.  This was good since we were able to get to
	the dive sites within about an hour.  Of course, getting ready
	for the dive tended to be a little cramped.  Still, no problems
	there.

	Most of the diving on Palau consists of wall dives.  The southern
	part of the islands faces into the deep Pacific waters, so
	plenty of pelagics cruise by there.  The best place to dive
	is Blue Hole, which is where most of the sharks are seen.
	The other walls are also nice, but don't have the excitement
	that the Blue Hole has.  It was easily worth doing twice on
	our trip.

	There are a few other places to dive in Palau that I was not
	able to get to.  You might want to investigate them further.
	For example, there is the jellyfish lake, which is a salt-water
	lake on an island south of the hotel.  This lake is full of
	stingless jellyfish that run from a few inches across to several
	feet across.  I couldn't make it there due to the tropical 
	depression (darn it).  There are also several underwater caves,
	which open up into air-filled chambers that can be explored further
	by foot.  Also, there are some Japanese shipwrecks that may be
	every bit as interesting as those at Truk.  Unfortunately, I
	will have to wait until another trip before I check these out.

Things to do besides dive:

	At the hotel, they have a small man-made beach where you can
	sun-bathe, kayak, or swim at.  There are also some volleyball
	nets in case that suites your fancy.

	If you are interested in exploring, the hotel is located at
	a Japanese seaplane base, so there are concrete ramps leading
	out of the water, such as the one that leads to the hotel's
	dive shop.  You can also explore a bunker and lookout post that
	is nearby.

	If you really have the time, you can take a trip into town to
	see some of the sites there.  There is a turtle and giant-clam
	farm, where you can buy some shells that are bigger than your
	normal variety.  They still don't match the 4' shells that you
	can see on some dives, however.  There is also a crocodile farm,
	where they have most, if not all, of the crocodiles that reside
	in the islands.  Apparently the crocodiles had been causing too
	many problems in the wild.  Finally, there is a museum that has
	many of the story boards and art that Palau is known for.
	There is also a man-house (can't remember the name for it)
	where all of the important village decisions are made.  This
	one is just a mock-up, but there are actual houses around the
	islands that can be visited.

Food:

	The hotel has a gourmet restaurant.  You shouldn't have any
	problems with it, except maybe the prices.  The all-you-can-eat
	buffets ran about $24 each night, which seemed high to me.
	But the food was excellent.  We ate there for every breakfast
	and most dinners.

	Koror also has many restaurants that you can reach by taxi.
	We went to a Japanese restaurant one night and found it to be
	quite good.



Dive Log for Palau:

June 26 Friday

	Dive 10: Short Wall - wall dive 	2:41-3:33 : 52m bottom time
	Depth: 70' average, 91' max
	went down wall to 90', drifted along it, coming up to 70'
	and then 50', lots of sea fans, parrot fish, angels, butterfly
	fish, Moorish idols, puffer, blue spiny lobster, clownfish in
	the anenomes, one white-tipped shark about 60' away.

June 27 Saturday

	Dive 11: Blue Corner - wall dive 	10:33-11:16 : 43m bottom time
	Depth: 65' average, 86' max
	Another wall dive with a fast current.  We started off in 20', where
	we observed lots of clownfish.  Then, as we drifted along the wall,
	we began to notice a lot of grey reef sharks at around 80' or
	deeper.  Many of the sharks had one or two remoras hanging off them.
	The sharks tended to just swim by us and not pay us any attention.
	They also hung about 30' from the wall so we had to swim out to them
	in order to get better photos.  The current finally ran into another
	going the other way so the dive ended there.  A large school of
	barracuda (~200) was hanging in the lee of the current.  I also saw
	a Napolean Wrasse (one mother of a fish) from a distance but it 
	did not approach.

	Dive 12: Big Dropoff- wall dive 	1:08-2:11 : 63m bottom time
	Depth: 50' average, 75' max
	This was a wall dive off the beach where we had lunch.
	The current switched about halfway through the dive, but we foolishly
	continued trying to swim into it.  We finally, of course, had to give
	up when we got low on air.  It is usually better to just find a place
	to hang onto and watch the fish around you for a while.  In any event,
	this dive contained lots of angels, triggerfish, Moorish idols,
	anenomes, lobster, 2 nudibranches mating.

June 28 Sunday

	Dive 13: Blue Hole - wall dive 		10:39-11:30 : 51m bottom time
	Depth: 50' average, 97' max
	A hole is a underwater hole that goes down some distance and then
	opens up into the ocean on the side of the wall.  This hole went
	down to about 50' and then opened up in a rather large opening.
	I was having trouble with my ears and told my buddy to go on
	with the others.  I was about to return to the boat, but I found
	I was able to get deeper as long as I took my time.  So, I finally
	made it down to the opening.  Unfortunately, the rest of the group 
	had taken off by now.  I took a guess as to which direction
	they were likely to go and hurried after them.  Luckily, I guessed
	right and was able to meet the group after a few hundred feet.
	This part of the wall contained mainly parrotfish and clownfish in
	anenomes.  There were also a lot of unicornfish swimming by away
	from the wall.  These fish look quite interesting.

	Dive 14: New Dropoff - wall dive 	1:37-2:19 : 42m bottom time
	Depth: 50' average, 69' max
	Again, my ears were causing trouble, but I was able to keep up
	with the group.  We found 2 moray eels with cleaner fish, lionfish,
	unicornfish, parrots, triggers, and Moorish idols.  The current
	switched again and we all foolishly ended up fighting against it.

	Dive 15: Lighthouse Channel  		6:40-8:05 : 85m bottom time
	Depth: 35' average, 39' max
	This was a night dive.  The channel is a rather flat region that
	is about 35' deep.  My ears caused me to take about 15m to get
	completely down to the bottom.  This dive brought out a lot of
	the little critters that you don't usually see.  Part of this may
	have been because I was shooting macro, but they were still pretty
	neat.  There was a 2 1/2' shark that we played with for a while.
	I also found a small 2" blue spiny lobster, which looks just like
	an adult in every detail.  Never seen one like that before.  Other
	things of note were a cuttlefish, lobster, 3 lionfish, 2
	decorator crabs, 2 crown-of-thorns, a 2" shrimp, and a nudibranch.
	During my dive, I brushed against a crynoid and had it attach
	itself to my leg.  It was a little unnerving and a pain to get off.

June 29 Monday

	Dive 16: Blue Corner - wall dive 	10:32-11:19 : 47m bottom time
	Depth: 80' average, 101' max
	We liked the sharks, so we decided to do this dive again.
	The water was beginning to get choppy due to the Tropical 
	Depression.  The current ran in an opposite direction from the
	location we had previously entered at.  The grep reef sharks were
	again drifting by during most of the dive.  At the end, the 
	current switched so we stopped to watch for a while.  A small
	3' white-tip shark swam by us on the top of the reef, in about 40'
	of water.  We also observed another grey reef shark resting on the
	bottom, but we could not tell if it was at a cleaning station or
	was asleep.  In any event, we couldn't check since the current
	was against us and we couldn't move.  Other items seen during the
	dive were 2 moray eels (one with a cleaner fish and a shrimp),
	clownfish in the anenomes, unicornfish, and another Napoleon
	Wrasse.

	Dive 17: Wonder Channel - wall dive 	1:47-2:49 : 62m bottom time
	Depth: 50' average, 56' max
	My ears caused me to take my time, but I was able to keep up
	with my buddy.  This dive consisted mainly of Giant Clams.
	Of course, we were becoming immune to the beauty of all the other
	fish since we had been seeing them during every other dive.
	But there were a few others we hadn't seen during the other dives,
	such as lizardfish, nudibranches, and trumpetfish.  Only a single
	shark was spotted during this dive.


By the way, I no longer work at HP, so please don't try to respond to
me there.

-- 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+	Paul Carroll			"Denial ain't just a river in        +
+	HP Colorado Springs Division	     Egypt."                         +
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