Instant Reader Report
on Truk Aggressor II / [same] in
Micronesia: Palau, Truk, Bikini Atoll and Marshall Islands / Truk on
2002/04
by
Dennis Johnson , NY, USA
Report Number 020821191406467

 Truk, Palau, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Thailand/Burma, Bonaire, Cozumel,
St. Tropez/Port Grimaud
France, Hawaii, New York/New Jersey Wreck Valley, Anguilla. 

Dive Conditions

No decomperession diving  

Daily (or more frequent) E-6, large camera table and dedicated rinse
buckets. Crew very careful with equipment. photopro (Brian) very helpful
with advise and accomodating to all requests. Light boxes and mounting
supplies provided free. Dive guides were "very" helpful in
finding and leading to interesting parts of the wrecks inside and out.    

Overall Rating

Truk Aggressor (April 14-21, 2002): 
This was the absolute best overall liveaboard experience I have ever had.
Capt. Tom Kleefeld and his crew (Brian, Ed, Junior, Lolo, Hope, Johny and
Rickson) from the time we were picked up at the Blue Lagoon Resort to
being dropped at the airport to leave went above and beyond what I could
have even hoped to expect.

On board Capt. Tom was thorough and clear on boat operation, schedules and
safety. He and the crew worked together like a well-oiled machine.
Everything from choosing dive sites, dive briefings, guiding dives to the
diver check-out/check-in board was done according to plan. All diving was
done from the mother ship. The meals were excellent all the time with
delicious and varied menus - from fresh sushi to a full turkey dinner with
all the trimmings and fresh bread made every day. Fantastic snacks were
always ready after every dive. Brian the photo pro was very helpful with
tips and recommendations (as well as processing film often and quickly).
Slide shows were given every night by different crewmembers. The local
Chuukese crew (Lolo, Junior, Rickson, Johny, Hope) were always around,
very friendly and helpful - guiding dives, cooking great food, working the
dive deck, etc. Even at the end of the week, Capt. Tom drove the group to
the airport getting us there 10 minutes before the crowds from the other
boats to allow us to check in first. He then came back an hour later (with
cold drinks nonetheless) to make sure the plane was on time and that we
would be off the island OK - simply amazing! 

Four people in my group had the new "quad cabin" on the upper
deck behind the wheelhouse... really nice with lots of room and big
windows. The only thing that was slightly wanting was the size of the
cabins, however so little time was spent below deck it really didn't
matter. I also heard that one of the forward cabins has a "bad
smell", but I never investigated. The other live aboards in the
lagoon were significantly bigger, but I can't imagine better crew and/or
service - it more than made up for the 'small' 100+ foot boat.
 

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