Scuba Diving Micronesia

Diving Micronesia Overview

Diving Micronesia, especially Palau and Truk, is at or near the top of most divers lists. Most divers head to Palau, where big fish abound. The Blue Corner is among the world's best high voltage dive sites. Visibility can exceed 200 feet, while currents range from nil to dangerously strong so use a reef hook and bring your safety sausage. Long day-boat rides to the best diving weave through calm waters and past magnificent rock islands, but there's the potential for rough seas on the outer edges. Most divers diving Palau prefer liveaboards. Marine biodiversity is among the greatest in the world, but coral bleaching and commercial fishing is taking its toll.

Wreck diving mavens head to Truk (Chuuk) and the world's most diverse wreck diving on a Japanese fleet sunk by Americans during WWII. Most wreck dives, other than on the superstructures, exceed 80 feet, but they're great even without penetration. The wrecks are starting to suffer and many artifacts that should have been left alone have been purloined, but the ships are festooned with coral, and most all the unique reef fish of the Pacific have made them home. When diving Truk expect calm water, occasional poor visibility, and hot weather. Both destinations are such a long haul that divers usually stop at a second island to amortize their trip costs. Yap has been the traditional stopover, but the diving in Kosrae and Pohnpei may be better choices.

Micronesia Seasonal Dive Planner

Air temperatures uniformly remain in the 80s year-round. For land travel, there's little difference between the wet and dry season, although January through March is considered the most comfortable season because of lower humidity and slightly cooler temperatures. Although visibility is slightly reduced by run-off during the July through October monsoons, the wind is also milder during this season, producing flatter seas. Water temperatures remain in the mid 80s year-round. Typhoons are most frequent between August and December but are rare in Palau.

Featured Links Interested in having your link here?
Reef & Rainforest, Dive & Adventure Travel A full service dive travel agency that specializes in exotic destinations (South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Africa, South & Central America).	Island Dreams Travel Island Dreams specializes in dive travel to Micronesia. We've dived there ourselves, and stand ready to customize your Micronesia scuba diving adventure.	Ocean Hunter III Palau Palau's most luxurious liveaboard. 16 divers, 8 cabins/ensuite bathrooms & A/C. Gourmet health food, 7-14 days trips, 5 dives a day, Nitrox
		Fish'n Fins Palau -- the pioneer dive center in Palau. PADI 5 star, Comfortable boats, friendly local & international guides, daily dive trips, Free Nitrox, Photoshop
Kosrae Nautilus Resort Kosrae, Micronesia's best kept secret. 18 air conditioned rooms & restaurant, swimming pool. Purpose built dive boat takes max 6 divers, untouched reefs.	Ocean Hunter 1 Palau's most exclusive liveaboard. 6 divers, 3 cabins/ensuite bathrooms & A/C. Gourmet health food, 7-14 days trips, unlimited diving, Nitrox.

Diving Micronesia Feature Articles and Reader Reports

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Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Micronesia
Including Palau, Truk (Chuuk), Yap, Bikini Atoll & Marshall Islands and Kosrae

The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just follow the links. -- BD

Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach

Paul Humann and Ned Deloach have done it again, releasing a definitive identification guide to 1600 extraordinary reef creatures of the Tropical Pacific. with this 500+ page softbound guide, you get upwards of 2000 exceptional photos of shrimp and crabs and stars and worms and lobsters and nudibranchs and slugs and squid and bivalves . . . well, all those invertebrates that move along the reefs of this region without fining, so it seems. There are several photos of some creatures to help you identify them during different life stages, and about ten percent of the book is descriptive copy so you can tie down your identification. Even if you have no plans to go to the tropical Pacific, just to thumb through the pages, gawk at the complexity and uniqueness of these animals, and read a thumbnail sketch will give any serious diver vicarious thrills for endless hours.

Click here to order through Undercurrent and you’ll get Amazon’s best price -- and we'll get a cut of the proceeds to continue our reef-protection efforts.

Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Gerald Allen, Rodger Steene, Paul Humann, & Ned Deloach

At last, here's a comprehensive fish ID guide covering the reefs of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The generous 500-page text, displaying 2,500 underwater photographs of 2,000 species, identifies the myriad fishes that inhabit the warm tropical seas between Thailand and Tahiti. The concise text accompanying each species portrait includes the fish's common, scientific and family names, size, description, visually distinctive features, preferred habitat, typical behavior, depth range, and geographical distribution. This is an essential book for every diver traveling westward. 6x9 inches. Order through us, get Amazon.com's best price and a good hunk of the profit will be donated to preserve coral reefs.

Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef
by Neville Coleman.

With 2900 reefs in 220,000 square miles, the enormous Great Barrier Reef has incredible dives -- and some very ordinary ones. If you're contemplating a trip, Neville Coleman's Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea will help you ensure you pick the best. This 176 page book, with good maps and scores of colorful photos, describes the significant sites, the topography and the critters, then rates and ranks them so you can pick the best. Don't even consider a trip to Australia without consulting this. $24.95

Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide
by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene.

I was trying to pack light for a change. Surely the Solomon Sea would have good identification books aboard. Not so; the only book on the boat belonged to a fellow passenger. It was one that I had not seen before, the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide, by two of the best fish guys around, Gerry Allen and Roger Steene. The problem was this fellow passenger kept it in a plastic baggie most of the trip and I had to beg to see it. Great book, good traveling size, and it covers everything from fish, shells, marine plants, mammals, corals, and invertebrates to sea birds and more. Now I've got my own, and it won't do you any good to beg me to borrow it. This is one of two books that I will not travel to the Pacific without. Good for travel to the Red Sea, East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Andaman Sea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii, it has 1,800 color illustrations in a 6x8 1/2 paperback format with 378 pages. $39.95.

There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent

The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.

Shipping now is our brand new, 240-page book filled with the best of the unusual, the entertaining, and the jaw dropping stories Undercurrent has published. They’re true, often unbelievable, and always fascinating. We’re offering it to you now for the special price of just $14.95.

Click here to order.

You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's Book Picks section.