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Bikini Atoll

Duration 11 nights Ex-Sydney

Next tour June 2022

Booking reference S24231

Intro

Bikini Lagoon in the Marshall Islands is the final resting place of some of the finest and most famous WWII-era naval vessels. A huge assortment of types litter the lagoon floor, from mighty battleships and carriers to destroyers, submarines and smaller transports and landing craft.

Includes:

  • Tour Leader Joey Pool & Lee Johnson
  • Strictly limited to 12 places
  • Fly Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines return ex-Sydney to Majuro via Honolulu
  • Australian departure taxes and applicable airline taxes
  • Return airport transfers
  • 10 nights aboard MV Truk Master Liveaboard
  • 1 night accommodation at Best Western Airport Hotel, Honolulu
  • Twin share accommodation
  • All meals while aboard the Truk Master
  • Drinking water, tea, coffee, juice & soft drinks
  • 2-3 dives per day
  • 12L single tanks, weights & dive guide services

Does not include:

  • Bikini dive permit $500 USD - payable on arrival
  • Departure taxes $15 USD - payable upon departure - Marshall Islands

 

In 1946, following the end of World War II, the United States gathered together a "mock" naval fleet in order to test the effects of atomic bomb blasts on a large naval fleet. They named it Operation Crossroads and designated Bikini Atoll to be one of the sites for the explosive tests.

More Operations followed suit; from land, on the reef, on the sea, from the air and underwater. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States tested a grand total of 67 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, of which 'Castle Bravo' on Bikini Lagoon in 1954 is the best-known. This 15-megaton TNT hydrogen atomic bomb was a thousand times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It left a crater in the lagoon of 2 kilometres wide and 76 metres deep. Bikini Atoll was opened for diving in 1996, allowing divers to experience some of the most historic and unparalleled wreck diving in the world.

Bikini Atoll is the final resting place of some of the most significant warships in history. The US aircraft carrier "Saratoga" heads this list together with the HIJMS Nagato, the flagship of the Japanese Navy. Along with other ships such as the Arkansas (battleship) and the Apagon ( submarine).

This area has been untouched for 40 years and has very prolific sea life including sharks, tuna, marlin, turtles and much more.

Recommended for Technical Divers Only

Due to the nature of the environment at Bikini Atoll the diving conditions are considered to be very advanced. Dive Adventures recommend that only divers with the appropriate training and skill levels and who are confident and experienced divers even consider going to Bikini. Depending on the needs of each group, there is a minimum of two deep dives per day. If time and nitrogen levels permit there could be diving later in the day on reefs at shallower depths. Diving on the Bikini wrecks is respectfully recommended for technical divers only with a minimum of PADI Tec 40 level or equivalent, with wreck experience, as the average depth of the wrecks is around 50 meters (150 ft).

To get the most out of your dives in Bikini Atoll, highly recommended are:

  • TDI – Advanced Nitrox & Deco Procedures
  • IANTD – Tech Nitrox
  • NAUI – Tech Nitrox & Deco Techniques
  • ANDI – Technical Nitrox and
  • PADI – Tec 50
  • Depth limits given by the Cruise Director must be followed and wreck penetration is not allowed without a dive guide.

Radiological Status

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories have carried out extensive research and monitoring of Bikini Atoll. Their reports state that in general the environment poses no radiological danger. However, there are some very low amounts of residual cesium deep in the soil that could be absorbed into plants with deep root systems, such as coconut trees. If these plants are consumed in large quantities, over a long periods of time, an unacceptable level of cesium may be absorbed by humans. "The potential dose [of radiation] to a person swimming in the Bikini Lagoon or diving on or around the sunken ships is so low … that it can be considered essentially zero."

From

$14,632.00

Per Person