For the serious wreck diver, few destinations carry the historical weight and profound underwater presence of Chuuk - Truk Lagoon. This remote Micronesian atoll is the final resting place for a silent armada, a fleet of Japanese warships, aircraft, and cargo vessels sent to the depths during the pivotal 'Operation Hailstone' of World War II. To explore this submerged museum is to embark on a journey through time. The Pacific Master liveaboard is your dedicated expedition vessel, purpose-built to facilitate this unique exploration with space, capability, and a focus on diver comfort.
Understanding that space is a premium on any extended liveaboard cruise, the Pacific Master was custom-designed with diver logistics in mind. Originally built for operations on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, its 30-meter steel hull offers an exceptionally roomy platform for a maximum of just 20 guests. This generous guest-to-space ratio, a legacy of its prior life accommodating larger groups, means you'll never feel crowded. The vessel segregates its cabin options: upper deck staterooms feature private en-suite facilities, while comfortable lower deck cabins offer budget-friendly, shared bathroom arrangements. This thoughtful layout caters to different diver guest preferences while maintaining a communal, expedition-focused atmosphere on board.
Life above water is centered on relaxation and camaraderie. The expansive, air-conditioned main lounge serves as the social and informational heart of the liveaboard, featuring a dining area, large-screen TVs, and a well-stocked library - ideal for post-dive briefings or sharing the day's discoveries. For those seeking sun and sea breezes, a large sun deck with loungers and a shaded alfresco seating area provide perfect vantage points. A dedicated camera room with workstations underscores the Pacific Master liveaboard's commitment to supporting underwater photographers who come to document these historic sites.
Where the Pacific Master truly excels is in its engineered dive operation, designed for efficiency and safety in a demanding environment. The spacious dive deck is a standout feature, famously equipped with multiple freshwater showers and rinse tanks to minimize post-dive queues - a critical detail for managing a full schedule of dives. Diving is primarily conducted directly from the vessel's platform via 2 sturdy ladders, with 2 tenders always on standby for added flexibility and safety. The liveaboard is fully set up to support technical divers and rebreather enthusiasts, featuring a dedicated decompression bar and trained crew, making it a versatile choice for divers seeking extended bottom times on these iconic wrecks.
Choosing the Pacific Master means aligning with a liveaboard operator with a proven, decades-long pedigree in running specialized dive expeditions. Their operational philosophy prioritizes safety, expert local knowledge, and a respectful approach to these war graves. The crew's familiarity with Chuuk's labyrinth of wrecks, currents, and conditions transforms a dive trip into a guided historical expedition, ensuring you experience the highlights - from the immense holds of cargo ships to the poignant artefacts within - with context and confidence.
A trip to Truk Lagoon is not a typical dive holiday; it is an immersive historical survey. The Pacific Master liveaboard provides the robust, comfortable, and capable base from which to undertake this journey. It is for divers who appreciate space, operational excellence, and a no-fuss environment that puts the destination first. If your diving ambitions include tracing the lines of history etched in steel on the seafloor, the Pacific Master is your gateway to the legendary Ghost Fleet.
There are 12 cabins onboard. 6 cabins are located on the upper deck, all with ensuite bathrooms. 1 is a Premium cabin with a double bed, and 5 are Classic cabins with a lower double bunk bed and upper single bed. The 6 cabins on the lower deck share 5 bathroom facilities on the main deck. 2 are twin share cabins with 2 sets of bunk beds, and 4 are single cabins with twin bunk beds.
All the cabins have:
- Air conditioning
- Private bathroom with hot water shower and hand basin (Premium and Classic cabins only)
- Windows and portholes on upper deck
- Bath towels
- Bedding
- Daily housekeeping
- Cabinet and shelves
- Fire warning system
- Fire extinguishers
- Life jackets
- Mains outlet 220 volts (Australian style sockets) - 24 hours per day
- Luggage space
No. of bathrooms / showers - 11 / 11 - hot water
Truk Lagoon
Trip highlights: great macro life/ marine diversity
Diving environment: advanced divers, off the beaten track, wreck diving
Dive sites and activities: Fujikawa Maru, IJN Fumizuki Destroyer, Yamagiri Maru, Shinkoku Maru, Nippo Maru, Heian Maru, San Francisco Maru, Gosei Maru, Hoki Maru, Rio de Janeiro Maru, Submarine L169, Mitsubishi G4M Betty Bomber
Day 1
Step aboard the Truk Pacific Master liveaboard at the dock in Weno, and you’ll feel the shift in pace immediately. After settling into your cabin, the cruise director gathers everyone for a cool drink and a relaxed introduction to the crew, the vessel, and the days ahead. Paperwork is quickly sorted, leaving you free to unpack, explore the dive deck, and get to know your fellow guests as the lagoon steams gently in the late afternoon light. Dinner is served, and by the time the anchor light glows above, you’ll be asleep in your cabin, ready for the first descent in the morning.
Core Days
Waking up inside Truk Lagoon is unlike anywhere else. The water is glassy, the palms on the fringing islands are still, and below you lies the ghost fleet of Operation Hailstone. Over the coming days, you’ll move from wreck to wreck, each one a time capsule fused with reef life. The dives are not a checklist - they are explorations. You might enter the hold of the Fujikawa Maru to see Zero fighter fuselages resting among soft corals, or drift through the engine rooms of the Shinkoku Maru, where telegraphs still read ‘Finished With Engines’ and clouds of glassfish swirl past medical bottles on silted shelves. On the San Francisco Maru, depth and darkness reward experience: tanks and mines still lashed to the deck, 50 metres down. The guides know each wreck intimately. They will show you the periscope of the Submarine L169, the bow guns of the IJN Fumizuki, and the Betty bomber lying in the shallows, its wings spread as if in final flight.
But the wrecks are not merely historical. Coral growth has reclaimed steel and wood with equal vigour. Nippo Maru carries a tank on its foredeck, now painted in pastel sponges. Heian Maru, a submarine tender, has become a vertical reef where barracuda patrol. Yamagiri Maru offers long penetrations for the trained and equipped, while Rio de Janeiro Maru and Hoki Maru reveal cargo - sake bottles, artillery shells, even a bulldozer lying as it settled 70 years ago. Between dives, the rhythm is easy: surface intervals are spent comparing notes over lunch, downloading photos, or simply watching the lagoon change colour as clouds pass. The Truk Pacific Master liveaboard allows technical divers the flexibility to explore deeper with appropriate gas and support, while recreational divers find ample adventure within the limits.
Evenings often bring a night dive on a shallow wreck or pinnacle, torches revealing sleeping turtles and hunting lionfish. And always, the stories continue at dinner: what was found, what was felt, and what waits tomorrow.
Final Day
You wake to the smell of coffee and the knowledge that one more dive is not possible. Breakfast is a shared, reflective affair. The crew handles your luggage, and the transfer meets you at the dock for the short ride to Chuuk International Airport. As the boat shrinks in the distance, you realise the logbook is full, but the memory of those silent, coral-draped wrecks will follow you home.
[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].
The galley staff offer a choice of international and local cuisine over 3 meals per day, served buffet style in the air-conditioned dining area. Breakfast is bacon, baked beans, sausage, hash browns, eggs, raisin loaf, French toast, banana pancake. Lunch could be Shepherd’s pie, vegetable stir fry, pork peppercorn. Dinner might be beef curry, garlic prawns, BBQ ribs, pumpkin soup. Fresh fruit and a selection of tasty treats are served for those that feel peckish between meal times.
A range of fruit juices, soft drinks, black, green and aromatic tea, as well as instant and freshly brewed coffee are available. Guests can also order spirits, beer and wine from the cocktail bar. There is a ‘ships only’ bar policy (meaning you cannot consume your own alcohol onboard).
There are usually 4 dives per day to explore the wrecks of lagoon onboard the Truk Pacific Master liveaboard, with ample relaxation time.
MORE TRIP DETAILS
Dive experience: Advanced certification and 50 logged dives are recommended for safaris in Truk Lagoon. While most of the wrecks in Chuuk are within recreational diver limits, it would be highly recommended to be qualified to dive to at least 40m and to have experience of wreck penetration.
Cruise price per person includes: Local hotel/airport transfers to-from the boat, cabin accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, hot drinks, soft drinks, dives (as detailed in the trips above), 3 experienced dive team members, tanks, weights and weightbelts, sales tax.
Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Scuba equipment rental (USD 342 per week), diving computer (USD 12 per day), SMB, port and park fees (7 nights - USD 195, 10 nights - USD 250), diving and evacuation insurance. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash USD or credit card).
Optional extras: Alcoholic drinks, nitrox fills for enriched air certified divers (USD 150 per week), torch (USD 10 per day), 13.2 litre tank (USD 6 per day), underwater scooter. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival. Note: prices of items purchased onboard are subject to change.
How to get there: The Pacific Master uses a port on Weno Island, approximately 1 hour drive from Chuuk International Airport (TKK). Transfers are provided from local hotels/airport. Boarding time on the first day is at 2 pm, but you can arrive any time on the first day since the vessel will only depart on the next day. The boat returns to its mooring on the penultimate day and disembarkation is at 7 am on the last day. There will be 2 dives scheduled for the last full day of the trip. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.
For more details on how to get there, including airlines, see our Chuuk travel information section.
Non-diver rate: 10% discount on published prices.
Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): This is optional - single travelers may choose to share a cabin or pay a supplement of 80% of the normal published price for their own cabin. There are 4 dedicated standard cabins available on the lower deck for this purpose, although single travellers could reserve an upper deck cabin too if they prefer.
Dive clubs and group discounts: Pay for 9 guests and 1 additional person can join the cruise free of charge in the lowest priced cabin (total 10+ guests).
Whole boat charter rate (per night): Pay for 18 guests and 2 additional persons can join free of charge in the lowest priced cabin.
Click to view product. Special discounted trips highlighted in yellow
