Muck Diving in Micronesia

Despite its name resembling a term used to describe people who have trouble remembering small details, a trip to enjoy the muck diving in Micronesia will be wholly memorable. Micronesia is a sub-region of Oceania, composed of thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean, including the archipelagos of the Caroline Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Mariana Islands and the Marshall Islands. The geographic region encompasses five independent countries (the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau) and contains some of the best muck diving on the planet, with plenty of big pelagic zones and WWII wrecks to boot.

Yap

While a mere mention of the name conjures images of manta rays in most divers' minds, Yap is an island group located in the Caroline Islands within the Federated States of Micronesia and is also one of the top destinations for muck diving in Micronesia. A dive trip to Yap allows you to follow a dive with myriad mantas and several sharks with a dive scouring the bottom for frogfish, crocodile fish and leaf scorpionfish. Dive sites like Slow & Easy and Yap Caverns reveal cryptic critters and a plethora of nudibranchs alongside various juvenile fish, while a shallow sunset dive at Slow & Easy is ideal for patient photographers to capture that iconic mandarin fish mating shot.

Chuuk Lagoon

For those who prefer metal to mantas, Chuuk Lagoon boasts the best wreck diving in the world and is another great destination for enjoying muck diving in Micronesia. Formerly known as Truk, Chuuk Lagoon was the Empire of Japan's main naval base during World War II until a major U.S. attack, Operation Hailstone, sent many of the ships to their resting place at the bottom of the lagoon. Shallower wrecks like the Betty Bomber and the Fujikawa Maru are ideal for spotting muck diving critters. The silty surfaces inside the wrecks host an array of nudibranchs, shrimp and flatworms, while the soft corals and feather stars are home to shrimp, soft coral crabs and ghost pipefish.

While these dive locations seem like they are quite literally half a world away, our team of expert dive travel specialists have put together some epic itineraries to make the most of the long journey times. For the truly intrepid, we can even put together a grandiose around-the-world-in-18-days itinerary, including city breaks in Manila and Los Angeles either side of a week's diving in both Palau and one of either Yap or Chuuk-an itinerary to put Phileas Fogg to shame and make Jacques Cousteau jealous.