Diving and Snorkeling Guide to Truk Lagoon, Pohnpei and Kosrae For 2016

Book excerpt: Diving & Snorkeling Guide to Truk Lagoon, Pohnpei & Kosrae New for 2016, with updated images and wreck site information. These islands in the Federated Sates of Micronesia hold the best wreck diving sites in the world as well as amazing reefs, deep dropoffs and isolated atolls. Truk Lagoon (Chuuk) was the site of the famous WWII air raid Operation Hailstone that lasted three days and sunk dozens of Japanese ships in the waters of the vast inner lagoon. Today, they are “shipreefs,” historic wrecks adorned in corals and full of marine life. For history lovers or reef divers, these amazing sites have the potential to fill every diver and snorkeler with sensory overload. East of Truk is Pohnpei and Kosrae. Pohnpei has amazing natural beauty above and below the surface with a mysterious ancient city, many waterfalls, high mountains and a huge barrier reef. Two atolls also lie offshore. It is famous for mantas, sharks and beautiful corals. Kosrae is also a natural wonder with little development and extremely healthy hard coral reefs. It has natural forests and a special mangrove dive. This guide is intended to bring to the diver the most popular and unique dive sites of Truk Lagoon (Chuuk), Pohnpei and Kosrae, islands in the north-central Pacific Ocean. They are known for their incredible shipwrecks, wide array of beautiful hard corals, variety of fish and amazing dropoffs. There are over 130 full color images and island maps. Approximate dive positions are shown on maps and each site is introduced with general location, most frequently dived depths, type of dive that can be expected, the dominant marine life and the logistical requirements. The author is internationally published marine photojournalist Tim Rock, who has lived in Micronesia for three decades.