Thorfinn — a stable wreck-diving base in Truk Lagoon

Thorfinn is for divers who come to Truk Lagoon for wrecks, not for a cruise between islands. The boat remains moored above the lagoon’s wartime fleet, so the day begins from a stable base rather than after a long overnight passage. Tenders leave for nearby wrecks while the ship stays put, keeping transfers short and making it practical to choose different sites for different dive groups. The operator describes more than 30 wrecks within a week, from accessible recreational dives to deeper and more demanding technical profiles. That range is the reason to choose Thorfinn: the ship gives a serious wreck diver a fixed working platform, a large support operation and enough flexibility for the group’s experience to shape the diving. The atmosphere is closer to a floating dive station than a conventional cruising liveaboard.

From the dock, Thorfinn looks and works like a substantial steel ship rather than a compact modern yacht. Its size gives the interior room to spread out, and its moored position means the boat feels settled while the tenders do the moving. Boarding leads into a working vessel arranged around diving: guest areas inside, camera service tables near the lounge, and low embarkation points where groups gather their equipment before heading to the launches. The ship was built in 2005 and renovated in 2008, but the useful impression is not polish for its own sake. It is a large, stable base built to keep divers, cylinders, cameras and crew moving through a remote wreck-diving operation. The main lounge, dining room and shaded upper areas make the boat easy to inhabit between dives, while the machinery and dive-support spaces remain part of its character rather than being hidden behind a resort façade.

Thorfinn’s crew is mostly Pacific Islander, with English and Chuukese spoken on board. English may need to be delivered slowly at times, but the crew generally follows quickly and the working relationship is direct: guides handle the diving, deck staff move equipment, and the boat crew rinse and stow gear after the tender returns. Local dive staff are used to prompt turnarounds and maintenance, supported by large lifting derricks for the boats’ onboard storage. The group forms around the wrecks rather than around formal entertainment. People compare sketches and camera footage in the lounge, then disappear into separate dive groups for the next briefing. In the evening, the ship becomes quieter: dinner, a film or a book, drinks at the bar, and sometimes a night dive when conditions allow. Shore excursions can also include introductions arranged by the guide.

Divers are organised in groups with a guide-to-diver ratio of about 1:4–5. The guides brief each selection in the lounge, using wreck sketches and written notes, then give the dive plan again before descent. Groups can follow the guide through the key sections or make their own discoveries within the agreed plan; penetrations are treated as buddy dives and wreck navigation is taken seriously. The minimum requirement is 50 logged dives and Advanced Open Water Diver certification or an equivalent qualification. Technical divers are welcome, but deeper or extended profiles depend on suitable training, experience and prior planning. Onboard Master Instructors can teach additional courses, including advanced, wreck, deep, enriched-air, rescue and underwater photography subjects. Launches carry first-aid supplies and emergency oxygen, and a safety cylinder is suspended at 6 metres, with another taken to deeper wrecks below 45 metres when required.

The standard cylinder is a 12-litre aluminium tank, with 15-litre tanks available as an extra. The compressors are a Bauer IK 15.1 II producing 21 cfm to 5,000 psi and a Bauer/Poseidon P 201 producing 7.5 cfm to the same pressure. DIN adaptors are available. Nitrox is available at extra cost, and the operation supports technical diving, including Trimix arrangements and extended deep profiles for suitably experienced divers. Rental equipment is available, including Mares BCDs, regulators, computers, fins, masks and lights; a full set can also be arranged. The camera setup is properly considered: two large service and storage tables, separate rinse tanks, charging points, a compressed-air gun and camera shelves on the launches. Two large covered launches handle the diving, with easy-access stairs, gear bins, camera shelves, fresh-water showers, GPS, depth sounders and VHF radios. Fresh towels and cool water are handed over after the dive, and warm-water showers are available back on the ship.

Between dives, the useful places are close to the lounge and the camera tables. The main salon has large windows, comfortable seating, a television and DVD library, music, books and reference material on fish and wrecks. Photographers can move from the water to the camera tables beside the lounge, where charging points and a compressed-air gun make cleaning and reviewing equipment straightforward. Outside, shaded deck chairs give a better place to dry off, read or watch the lagoon without committing to another activity. The boat’s fixed position changes the feel of the afternoon: there is no long transit to endure, only the short tender ride to and from the wrecks. When a dive is skipped, the gap belongs to sleep, cameras, a book or the view from the upper deck.

A typical day starts with coffee, tea and fresh baking for early risers, followed by breakfast in the dining room at 7:00 AM. A lounge briefing comes before the first departure at 8:00 AM; the tender then takes roughly 10 minutes to a nearby wreck, where the crew helps with final checks, cameras and entry. The standard inclusion provides three dives a day, with two on the last day, while additional daytime or evening dives can be arranged when conditions and the plan allow. Between dives, divers return to showers, towels, cool water, snacks and the camera tables rather than waiting through a long boat passage. After supper, a night dive may be offered when conditions permit. The ship remains moored throughout this pattern, so the working rhythm is built around repeated tender runs, briefings and surface intervals, not sailing from one site to the next.

Food follows the diving rather than competing with it. Early risers find coffee, tea and fresh baking in the lounge before breakfast, and the dining room serves a cooked-to-order American breakfast. Other meals are chosen daily by the chef from a varied menu combining Western and local food, with dietary requests taken into account. Snacks, tea, coffee, soft drinks and ice water are available through the day, which matters when the surface interval is spent rinsing cameras or preparing for the next launch. The dining room has seating for the full guest complement, so meals are one of the few fixed pauses in a day otherwise divided by briefings, tenders and wreck profiles. Alcoholic drinks and spirits are available on board, while some beverages are not part of the standard inclusions.

The cabins are air-conditioned, and the choice is mainly between private facilities and more space with shared bathrooms. Lower-deck double-and-single cabins are en suite; the upper-deck cabins are bright, with shared shower and toilet facilities. Thor’s Lair is different again, formed from two former cabins with a king bed, adjoining settee, four view windows, a walk-in closet, bar fridge and its own shower room. Every cabin category is built for two guests, though the bedding varies between a double bed with an additional berth and twin beds. Nights are therefore less about boutique styling than recovering properly between wreck dives. The saloon gives guests a cooler place to read or watch films, while the upper decks provide air and open sky. The boat stays moored, so there is no daily passage to interrupt sleep; what remains is the ordinary shipboard background of a large working vessel and the next dive waiting in the morning.

Trips begin and end at Weno Island in Truk Lagoon. Scheduled group transfers between the airport or a local hotel and the boat are included. Travellers should arrive in Chuuk the night before boarding so a delayed flight does not compress the transfer and embarkation into the diving day.

Thorfinn has installed a solar-power system with 36 panels producing up to 20 kWh, supported by a 40 kW inverter and lithium metal-ion battery storage. The system provides quieter overnight power and reduces reliance on fuel.