Truk Lagoon Ghost Fleet

Chuuk Lagoon, Chuuk State · Federated States of Micronesia

Challenging10 daysOceania~£3,000 est.

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Overview

Operation Hailstone, February 1944: two days of American air strikes sank some sixty ships of Japan's Combined Fleet at anchor. Eighty years on, Chuuk Lagoon is the world's greatest wreck gallery and the Fujikawa Maru its masterpiece — Zero fighter fuselages still crated in her holds, her bow gun furred with soft coral. The Shinkoku Maru does her best work at night, when the whole superstructure blooms with feeding coral polyps. On the deep San Francisco Maru, tanks sit on deck at fifty metres with shells still stacked beside them. Depth is the honest variable: the showpieces run 30 to 60 metres, so nitrox — and ideally decompression training — turns a good week into a great one. Recreational divers still get a dozen superb shallower wrecks, from the Betty bomber to the Heian Maru's periscopes. Fly via Guam to Weno and choose between the Blue Lagoon Resort's dive operation and a liveaboard. December to April is the dry season. Ten days runs about £3,000 land-based before flights; bring two torches, a wreck reel and respect — these are war graves.