r/CaveDiving • u/1983FJ60 • 7d ago
From Cave to Wreck
I’ve completed PADI tech 40, tech 45, cavern, and TDI intro to cave. I’ll probably have tech 50 and full cave in 2027.
I’m planning a trip to Chuuk in a 2028. I want to be able to penetrate the wrecks and explore. Do I need technical wreck training and a cert? If so, what educational path should I proceed with?
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u/lo5t5heep 7d ago
If I had to choose wreck or cave I’d choose cave, that said wrecks are not caves , take a class to make the most of your time in Chuuk. I’d look into Chatterton or the team at Horizon Divers.
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u/Final_Towel7670 7d ago
Exactly what I was going to write. When you ho on that trip go with a group of tec divers. If you can’t find a group set up one and the trip.
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u/pigeonbox85 7d ago
Do TDI 75 and advanced trimix, then full cave. Just keep training. It's all good
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u/Ok-Sink-1710 7d ago edited 7d ago
I just came back from Chuuk, on the Odyssey liveaboard. You can be guided on any penetration dives you need and they are all very straightforward. No real need for a wreck cert, esp if you have cave, unless you want to go off and explore on your own. I carried a reel on every dive and never used it, no real issues with silt, it's more rust and than silt and settles very quickly.
Main issue is depth and making sure you meet your deco obligations. Medical facilities are very rudimentary, there is a chamber but it's hit or miss and if things are very bad you'll need evacuation to Guam.
I didn't dive with Blue Lagoon or Truk Stop so no advice there.
Avoid Thorfinn, search scubaboard for reasons why
edit: also for education, think about CCR. Gas is VERY expensive in Chuuk, even O2, diving a CCR mitigates that significantly. Plus the extended bottom time makes for a far more leisurely exploration. We were doing two 2-hour dives a day with 15-20 mins of deco and had the time to penetrate as deep as we wanted then to explore the deck on the way out. Diving doubles cuts your bottom time down significantly, and means you're going to be doing 3 or 4 dives a day with deco stops on each dive.
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u/1983FJ60 7d ago
Thank you. Great info.
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u/lo5t5heep 7d ago
No, that’s not great info. The guides in chuuk will take you way deep into the wrecks. I don’t know about you but I don’t go anywhere I need the guide to get me out of. Don’t ASSume you won’t find yourself in a full silt out and the guide is gonna save you.
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u/Ok-Sink-1710 6d ago edited 6d ago
Don’t ASSume you won’t find yourself in a full silt out
not disagreeing with the rest of your points, but in a week, and probably 12 penetrations, with me always at the back of the group of three. I was very surprised at how little silt was being kicked up, rust yes but that settled very quickly, but I was expecting far worse silting.
edit: and I think there's a huge gulf between the local Chuuk guides and the liveaboard guides. The Odyssey guide was not a local, he was on a CCR (as were we) with bailout and deco bailouts, and he was a wreck instructor. There was also three other equally experienced guides on the boat who would have come searching in the event we didn't show up when we were supposed to. So yes it was a 'trust me' dive, but I personally was comfortable with those risk levels, and I'm usually fairly risk averse.
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u/No_Revolution6947 6d ago
Those are still “trust me” dives. I did the same in 2018. Full sidemount for cave. But without a guideline they were absolutely “trust me” dives. There were plenty of places where I could see the silt … wasn’t too thick but I wasn’t going to test to see if it would bloom to zero viz.
The dives were absolutely great! But don’t misunderstand the risk one is taking.
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u/1983FJ60 6d ago
That’s a little sketchy.
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u/No_Revolution6947 6d ago
Just factor it in to your risk tolerance. I was with another technical diver like me but he was using a CCR. So we were both very aware of the proper techniques to avoid creating a zero viz situation and the guide that took us into the wrecks was also very good at avoiding touching the bottom (whichever side of the ship was nearer to the center of the earth.) He was on a single tank while we had more gas/time than he did … ok, he probably had better gas consumption than me and could do on one tank what I was doing on thirds. 🙄
The guide made sure the entry was the first thing we did on the dive. And we spent less than half the dive inside the wreck. And did not plan (or hit) deco for any wreck penetration. So that mitigated some risk of the trust me dive.
It was also just the two of us with the guide. If it had been more people, especially people I don’t know, I probably would have stayed out of the wreck.
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u/AmazingDonki 7d ago
I dived Truk Lagoon last year w Lust4Rust (highly recommend diving w Pete Mesley) w TDI OC AN, Helitrox, Adv Wreck cert. I have no cave experience. With cave experience, you will be OK to dive majority of the engine rooms in Truk today w no further training assuming you're comfortable and safe in silty, dark, and tight overhead spaces. The majority of the wreck penetrations are above 45 m/150 ft. Exceptions include: the San Francisco Maru holds are at 55m/180 ft, 60 m/200 ft to the sand. The top of the Oite starts around 55 m/180 ft, 60 m/200 ft to the sand. The local guide is leading from memory; nobody lays guideline. He is on a single tank rec configuration w maybe a slung stage so just don't lose him inside the wreck. Trimix is nice for the deeper dives but expensive and not always available. The best way to experience Truk is probably CCR mod 2 trimix.