California Diving News - Travel: Bikini Atoll

Majuro and Bikini Atoll
Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, almost equal distance from Hawaii, Japan and Australia lies the Marshall Islands. The Marshall’s are made up of hundreds of islands and atolls spread across a couple hundred of miles of ocean. Bikini Atoll and the Bikini Lagoon is the most famous of these islands due to the large number of naval vessels sunk there during the US testing of atomic bombs just after the conclusion of WWII. The stopping-off point for trips to Bikini and the capitol of the Marshall Islands is Majuro. In addition to being the capitol, Majuro is a world class dive destination in itself.

Majuro features diving for any taste. By simply stepping out the door of your hotel and slipping into the lagoon you can dive on coral heads with abundant life. A bit farther out in the lagoon you can find a WWII plane stuck nose down in the bottom and a sunken freighter. Also in the lagoon, lying 80 feet down, is “The Parking Lot.” Following a line across the bottom you will find a dozen or more ambulances, trucks, and specialty vehicles that were dumped at the end of the war. Huddled inside the wreckage you are certain to see all kinds of life, including the elusive Lion Fish. Taking a quick jaunt outside the natural breakwater puts you in the open ocean with the big critters and allows drift dives with depths from 40fsw to well over 200fsw.

Bikini is a wreck diver’s paradise and the ultimate place to get away from it all. While on Bikini it is not uncommon to never see any trace of other humans (no planes flying over and no boats on the horizon). And the beaches—oh, the beaches—they are spectacular. Where else in the world can you walk on the beach for miles and the only footprints are yours. Bikini is also home to a plethora of history, including the largest diveable ship wreck in the world, the aircraft-carrier USS Saratoga. And you can also dive the Nagato which was the ship Yamamato was on when he ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Apagon and Pilot Fish submarines, battleships, destroyers, airplanes, and landing crafts. Dive operations are run in an extremely professional manner and while the diving is deep, those with good buoyancy skills and some common sense, can dive Bikini in relative comfort.

For information on diving in Majuro and Bikini, visit the following web sites: www.bakodivers.com and www.bikiniatoll.com