State of Chuuk Things to Do Tips by kenmerk

Sunset on Blue Lagoon...

As with most of Micronesia, the Chuukese sunsets are just amazing. Each day the clouds lay a little bit differently against the horizon, but you are invariably treated a glowing sunset over the lagoon...

As fortune would have it, the best bar in town is situated in the perfect spot for watching the day's lights fade away...

And I must say that a couple cans of Fosters, whilst tell big fish stories with your mates just adds to the enjoyment...

Tank on the Nippo Maru...

The tank on the deck of the Nippo Maru is one of the easier ones to reach (115 deep). Others include three on the deck of the San Francisco Maru. (about 130 feet deep)

Local Eten Kids...

There are a bunch of small local kids on the island, and they will invariably follow you around as you tour the sites.

Since this island is private land, they ask you to donate a dollar for access. I didn't have any small bills in my wallet so I offered the kids some foreign currency that I had. Even though they'lll likely never be able to spend it, they seemed to get a kick out of trying to read the foreign scribble on the money....

So if you ever run into some kids in Chuuk packing Egyptian Pounds or Burmese Kyat, its a pretty safe bet where they got it from...

Eten Island

Eten Island is a fun place to kill some time between dives. It was completely leveled by the Japanese military and turned into a big air base. (looked just like an aircraft carrier from above).

The old runway is now covered with palm trees, though you can still find pieces of bombed out planes in some of the craters on the island.

Also, the old command buildings still remain here in their bombed out state.

Sankisan Maru

The Sankisan was one of my favourite dives in the lagoon. Beautiful soft coral growth, and the holds are full of memorabilia to explore and a divable depth. (Max is about 100 ft)

Also interesting to the the aft half of this ship which was complete blow apart. (obviously the result of some sort of secondary explosion of ordinance in the holds when the ship went down....)

Dont miss this one...

Heian Chinaware

Antique place settings, party of eight: Some of the fine Chinaware from the Imperial days on display in the dark silty galley of the ship.

Heian Maru

The Heian Maru is a large cargo ship, which is about 500 ft long and sits in 110 feet of water. Its famed mostly for for having it's name still legible on the bow of the ship and for an extensive collection of chinaware.

Nippo Maru

The Nippo Maru is still in good condition, but makes for a deep dive. Note the artillery pieces and tank on the deck of the ship, which sits at about 115 feet.

Rio de Janero Maru

The Rio de Janero Maru is a passenger ship which is both a pretty easy and attractive dive.

The ship sits on its side in about 85 feet of water. Look for the scads and scads of Sake bottles in the cargo area.

I dunno, this seems to be a recurring theme on a few of these ship... (Many. many more Sake bottles than bullets, or guns or tanks...)

Deciding factor in WW2 ?? I dunno, you can decide for yourselves...

Japanese Betty Bomber...

Though certainly not the most exciting dive in the harbour, the Betty Bomber does make for a little variety from all the ship wrecks.

The fulelage and wing sections are mostly intact, with the cockpit broken off just in front. You can find both engines about 50 off the left side of the aircraft.

The plane sits in about 50 feet of water, so it makes for a real relaxing third dive of the day...