All activities / Scuba Diving / Chuuk Lagoon
Scuba Diving in Chuuk Lagoon
A vast lagoon in the central Pacific, once the Imperial Japanese Navy's main forward base and known to divers as Truk Lagoon. On its floor lies the Ghost Fleet, more than 50 ships and aircraft sunk in a 1944 US air raid, the greatest concentration of wreck diving in the world.
Why here
Chuuk Lagoon, still known to divers as Truk, is the greatest wreck-diving destination on earth. It was the Imperial Japanese Navy's main forward anchorage in the Pacific, and over two days in February 1944 the US carrier raid Operation Hailstone sank the fleet at its moorings. More than fifty ships and scores of aircraft went down in a sheltered lagoon, and they are still here, upright and intact in warm, clear water. You dive holds full of tanks, trucks, aircraft, sake bottles and gas masks on the Fujikawa Maru, the Nippo Maru and the San Francisco Maru, swim the coral-crusted superstructure of the Shinkoku Maru, and drop onto engines and bridges wrapped in soft coral and reef fish. Depths range from shallow, light-filled decks that Open Water divers can enjoy to deep penetration dives for technical teams. It is a sunken time capsule and a war grave at once, guided by Chuukese crews whose families have kept its stories since the raid.
Best months
The lagoon is sheltered and warm year-round, around 28 to 29 degrees, with the calmest seas and clearest water in the drier December to April window. Wrecks sit from about 12 metres down to well past 40, so there is diving for every level: shallow decks and holds for recreational divers, deep and penetration dives for technical and CCR divers. Many operators offer nitrox, trimix and rebreather support. Some penetration requires wreck training and good buoyancy given silt and overhead.
Getting there & around
Chuuk is reached by air to Weno on the United Island Hopper that links Guam, Pohnpei and Honolulu, so schedules are limited and worth booking early. Diving is boat-based from Weno, where the lagoon's dive resorts and the liveaboards are based, with most wrecks a short to moderate boat run away. Bring any specialist wreck or technical gear and arrange nitrox or trimix ahead. Facilities on Weno are basic, so plan for a diving-focused trip and carry cash.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Blue Lagoon Dive Shop
OutfitterBlue Lagoon Dive Shop is Truk's first and most experienced dive operation, running since 1973 from the Blue Lagoon Resort on Weno. It was founded by Kimiuo Aisek, a Diving Hall of Fame member who witnessed the 1944 raid as a boy and later relocated the sunken fleet, and it is still crewed by Chuukese guides who know the wrecks intimately. The shop supports recreational through technical divers with air, nitrox, trimix and rebreather gas on the lagoon's ghost fleet.
Truk Lagoon Dive Center
OutfitterTruk Lagoon Dive Center is the dive operation of the Truk Stop Hotel on Weno, a TDI technical training facility with PADI-certified instructors that runs up to four dives a day on the wrecks of Chuuk Lagoon. It is built for serious wreck exploration, offering trimix blending, helium supplies and rebreather support for deep and penetration diving, alongside recreational trips, using a fleet of dive boats powered by twin outboard engines.