Anybody here been to Truk?

I'm going to Truk in March.  Never been.  Wondering what to expect.    I'll be there for 10 days doing 2x/day diving on wrecks.

kelpdiver wrote:

was there in 2011, going again in March (Pacific Master).

I'll be there the first week of March.

Are you thinking about staying with Blue Lagoon? i was with them last time, as part of a whirlwind company exit package that had me in Palau for 10 days, and Truk for 6, Hawaii for 3 more. 51 dives in 17 days.

I'm going on a Backscatter trip, booked at the Blue Lagoon from Mar 1-11.

Would love a big schedule like that, but at Truk we only do 2 dives/day.

I was one of 3 customers for a couple of days, and then the solo customer. (Mid July) The BL guides took me through the hit list of the wrecks, including the San Francisco. Could never get in a night dive however - heavy rain cancelled the one slot we tried, but I think they really didn't want to do it for one. Diving was tech light - we were doing 5-10 mins of deco often, and entered the ships to get to the engine room or key holds.

I'm quite familiar with short deco dives, mostly thanks to my Suunto Cobra's conservativeness on the 2nd and 3rd dives.

I'm not at all keen to do night dives. Haven't done one in at least 10 years. By that time of the day I'm ashore and comfortable.

Truk itself is pretty empty of things to do. Or was then. Divers come to dive, and Japanese come to honor their dead. BL did an afternoon 3rd dive on my trip. Else you might have too much quiet time.

Like I said, 2x a day. I'm not quite sure why the schedule is so light, but perhaps due to deep dives?

Flying there is a bit of a hassle, usually requiring the Guam dance. If your schedule and body allows, I'd suggest coupling it with Palau (preferably) or Yap to get the most out of the effort.

Perhaps if I'd known that when I booked in October I could have set that up, but I think it's too late to change now. Palau is somewhere I've through of before. Never heard of diving in Yap.

I am doing an overnight in Guam on the way there and back. Since it's so uncomfortable for me to fly these days (6'2" aging frame squirming for hours in too-small seats...) I booked this trip business class. I have the front row, which should be a whole lot more comfortable. And I'm attempting to put all my dive housing gear into a Pelican case so I don't have a 40-pound carryon to deal with.

This is my first solo trip to the Pacific. I've only been diving there once, aside from Hawaii and Mexico, and that was on a liveaboard with my late wife. Being Truk I'm thinking these will all be wide angle dives, but if I can get a 3rd afternoon dive in here and there I'll shoot some macro. If this trip turns out not to be too much of a travel struggle, I'll book more trips to the region in the future.

Without my late wife, it's both harder and easier to do dive travel. Harder is obvious. Easier basically just means it's cheaper since I'm only paying for one.  But I go on dive trips to do diving and photography.  I need nothing outside the dive hotel since I'm going to be post-processing dive photos every night.  In Roatan I don't even leave the resort once I'm there.

I've got a brand-new custom 5-mil wetsuit to bring, which I haven't even tried on yet. I'm hoping when I get there that I'll have time to do a good checkout dive with it to get initial weighting right. I asked in a Facebook group about diving in Truk and breaking in a new wetsuit, and I sure got a ton of garbage replies. "It's 81F - you don't even need a wetsuit." and "Wetsuits don't need breakin periods. Get your weighting right and throw away the suit if it crushes to need less weight."

Well, I just froze in Bonair for 29 dives because I was diving 81F there in an old 3-mil. I threw away that wetsuit rather than pack it home. I then ordered a custom 3-mil for my September Roatan trip.

My experience with my last two new wetsuits went like this: first dive I added 2 extra pounds of weight - and totally regretted it. The first one had me desperately finning down the entire 45 minute dive because I was underweighted. That includes 20 minutes of finning down with ongoing leg cramps. I added 2 more pounds, which was fine for another day, and then I started removing the added weight until I got down to my usual 10 - and that was a 5 mil. Last trip to August I added 4 pounds, went on a checkout dive, and I ended up having to hang onto rocks above 15 feet, so I added 2 more. Now this was a custom 3-mil, and I went from normally using 8 pounds to using 14! I dove the next day (3 dives) with 14 pounds, and by the end of the first couple of dives I could tell I was diving overweighted. I removed 2 pounds and all was well for a dive, and then I was overweighted again, and I took out 2 more.

And that was that - my new normal with that suit and fins is 10 pounds, which is 2 more than I have been diving with for the past 10 years. The reason is that I changed from my Apollo Bio-fins (very heavy) to newer fins that are more suited to photographers. Those old fins weighed a good pound extra than the new fins, which showed up in the weighting (and trim).

OK, so my experience tells me I'll need 2 more pounds for a 5-mil than a 3-mil, and another 4 pounds for the first 2-4 dives until the wetsuit breaks in.

By the way, I do really like my custom-fitted wetsuit, from JMJ in California. I added a relief zipper to both 3- and 5-mil, and boy do I love that! I also ordered the 5-mil with wrist and leg zippers so I can struggle into it easier. I'm thinking about ordered a couple of skins to help get the wetsuit on. Two so that I can put on a dry one for the afternoon dives.

kelpdiver wrote:

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

I'm going on a Backscatter trip, booked at the Blue Lagoon from Mar 1-11.

Would love a big schedule like that, but at Truk we only do 2 dives/day.

From the description: "We’ll make two dives per day with an option of a 3rd shallow dive." If they're also doing seminars, that makes for a busy day, so I could see them excising the post lunch dive to allow for presentations. When I did the 4/day routine at Anilao with BW, it was pretty tough staying alert for the 90 minutes of discussion time per day. Just diving and getting the shots off the camera was 98% of the energy.

That was my experience in Bonaire at the Digital Shootout.  I hung in there for most of the sessions as it was all new stuff to me.  Ended up skipping out on the nightly viewings.

Odds are better than 50/50 I'll be at BL on Saturday 4th evening through Sunday midday, waiting to board the boat. Hadn't decided if we'll try to dive that Sunday, or just take it as a rest day.

REST day!!!   After flying all the way there, and only doing 2 dives per day, I'm not planning any time off.   In Roatan I just did 38 dives in 2 weeks.   Truk sounds a bit laid back, though I don't know the time it takes to get to the dive sites.

I'm quite familiar with short deco dives, mostly thanks to my Suunto Cobra's conservativeness on the 2nd and 3rd dives.

I had a Vyper on my trip. It certainly added a bit, especially with the San Francisco, as I couldn't make it understand that they had a 50/50 hang tank.

Backscatter's rep is talking about 'slinging a 40' along with my single 80.    I, of course, don't quite know what she is talking about other than having a smaller tank along somehow.    She dives twin 80's.   I think I'll feel pretty quaint with my gear.

Perhaps if I'd known that when I booked in October I could have set that up, but I think it's too late to change now. Palau is somewhere I've through of before. Never heard of diving in Yap.

Yap was one of the early places known for manta encounter, along with the curiosity of its giant stone money. For me personally, there are enough places to see mantas, with Hawaii and Socorro being more accessible. Palau is the better combo, though after 9 days of diving, maybe you've had your fix.

Since my wife died 6 years ago I've routinely spent two weeks by myself in Roatan diving 3x/day.   And often thinking of simply adding a 3rd week once I'm into my routine.   I do nothing but dive during the day.

And I'm attempting to put all my dive housing gear into a Pelican case so I don't have a 40-pound carryon to deal with.

I too found the thread in WetPixel to be compelling. Not so much for this trip, where United gives me 70lb allowances. But for my trip last month on multiple airlines (united, ANA, Eva - who I know weighs carryons), I did make the leap to a checked Pelican Air 1605. This is slightly smaller than the one that maxes out the 62 inch limit for checked bags, but weighs closer to 12 instead of 17 with the padded dividers.
In it I put the 3 strobes, the dome port, the macro port, the extensions, the arm links, and most of the video lights, divealerts, chargers. But given coverage limits, I still carry the nauticam housing in its bag as my small personal item, and the camera itself in a photo backpack. Moderate weight, but the most delicate, and expensive per pound.

I've still not carved out the foam on the Pelican.   Hope to talk myself into it this weekend.

Being Truk I'm thinking these will all be wide angle dives, but if I can get a 3rd afternoon dive in here and there I'll shoot some macro.

I'm on the fence - packing the macro is not too rough, it's one lens, a smallish port, and the float ring for the port. I did shoot a couple dives last time with macro. But I think I'd only do it on a repeat dive. This will be easier to do on the liveaboard where we might stay put for 2 dives. Otherwise, it's the debate between the really wide fisheye and the less wide 14-35.

No fisheye option for me on the Z9.  Then too, I don't much like them.

I've got a brand-new custom 5-mil wetsuit to bring, which I haven't even tried on yet. I'm hoping when I get there that I'll have time to do a good checkout dive with it to get initial weighting right. I asked in a Facebook group about diving in Truk and breaking in a new wetsuit, and I sure got a ton of garbage replies. "It's 81F - you don't even need a wetsuit." and "Wetsuits don't need breakin periods. Get your weighting right and throw away the suit if it crushes to need less weight."

If the intent is to do guided penetrations, then you do want some sort of coverage, as the corridors and esp the staircases can be very narrow. So narrow you have to turn your camera sideways to navigate some spots.

No, I think I'll mostly stay outside the ships, unless the passthroughs are wide and obvious.

The pain of a new 5mm is of course the dynamics of weighting as you break it in. You will be deep a good bit of the time so that 5mm is closer to a 1.5mm. Else, I might say you're better off just sticking to the old 3. Or you could underweight, knowing the compression, but that increases the risk of ascending too aggressively at the stops, so not a great plan when deco is expected.

I wonder if anyone has accelerated this process by just throwing it overboard with some weight and letting it sit at 100 for a couple hours.

Great idea!

By the way, I do really like my custom-fitted wetsuit, from JMJ in California. I added a relief zipper to both 3- and 5-mil, and boy do I love that! I also ordered the 5-mil with wrist and leg zippers so I can struggle into it easier. I'm thinking about ordered a couple of skins to help get the wetsuit on. Two so that I can put on a dry one for the afternoon dives.

Custom sized, and the use of high end rubber makes all the difference. Getting into my 7mm Cal suit has been effortless for > 20 years. A tight skin, or even just the plastic bag routine can make it even easier if called for.

I'm thinking two skins - one for morning, another (dry!) one for afternoon dives.   I know they help get wetsuits on, but I find them problematic on surface intervals as they wick the heat right out of you as they evaporate.  I feel compelled to strip off both wetsuit and skin if it's not sunny on me.  Here, of course, not really a surface interval bobbing around on a boat.

What can you tell me about deco diving in Truk?   Not an extended deco from long, deep dives, but what you might reasonably see in a 1-tank rig?   I've done a lot of short decos in Roatan, but they were as a result of my incredibly conservative dive computer putting me in deco while everyone else was minutes away.

The trip rep was suggesting I go with a 40L spare air tank, but I have no idea how I would attach it along with my Z9 housing.   I would love to have 120L of air instead of 80 though.

Certainly seems like it will be an interesting trip for me.   Aside from a few dives in Hawaii, I've not dove the Pacific at all since a trip on the N'AIA in 2009.  I've been on relatively few wrecks, and most of my dives bottom out around 85 feet for 20 minutes.   I'm still fitting dive housing and parts into my Pelican, and wondering how much room I'll have left in the other suitcase for clothes.

At my age - 69 - I'm not looking forward to the trip, just the destination.

Sure wish my wife were alive to come with me.

Thanks for the info.  Part of this trip is to see how I handle the extended air travel at my age, and traveling alone.  I've hardly been to the Pacific region since I was young, and I've got a few places there I've long wanted to see.  I now have the money to get there, but I'm old.

I've actually been exercising every day in anticipation of this trip.  A lot so I can drag two 50 pound bags around while carrying another 25-30 on my back.   Shooting FX is heavy.

I'm fine with minimal beachwear clothing.  I've done 2 weeks at Roatan with two pair of jams and two tank tops, plus the clothes I wore on the plane in.

Part of my exercise is power walking with a backpack I'm intending to wear on the plane.  It's mostly full with a laptop and a sweater though.  And I still need to wear my waist bag with Z9 plus 2-3 lenses.  My plan to not have a roller carryon may have limits.

The 3-hour van ride from manila doesn't actually sound that bad.  I do want to do a macro location next.  I had been concerned for years though about the Duerte government, which sounded dangerous when it was in power.  Other than that, I'd love to go to the Philippines and dive.

kelpdiver wrote:

I do have this politics hangup on my mind in thinking about future trips to Indonesia as the gov has considered to slide backwards for Taliban type morality.

My late wife once went on a nice trip to Egypt with a Nile cruise involved.  That was sometime 2004 or so.   Since then there has been so much unrest in that area that she said she wondered how a woman would travel there safely anymore.

Several inviting areas around the world remain like that.  I suspect I'll not be able to safely travel to some countries on my bucket list while I still live.  I'm glad she and I managed to do trips to both China and Russia in 2016 before she died.

I do hope I'm not overstressing myself about this trip.  It's just that as I've traveled so much that I know just how tired and painful it can be.   I think I land in Guam at 2am, then I will have to retrieve both suitcases, get to hotel and then back to airport 13 hours later.   I'll have been awake for more than 24 hours by the time I get there, and the last thing I want is to lug 100 pounds of suitcases around.

The day I get to Truk I land about 5pm.  No idea how long it will take to get to the resort, but I suspect it will be dark.   The next day I start diving with a new wetsuit and no idea how much weight I will need.

Suspect by the start of day 2 of diving I'll be happy again.

I had a travel agent book my flights, and she said everything checked through.

But...

A Backscatter rep emailed to mention that if your layover in Guam is more than 12 hours they will not hold your bags and I will have to pick them up, then recheck them later.

This happened to me going to Roatan last year via Houston.  I overnighted in Houston, and I had to pick up the bags and recheck - very unexpectedly.   One reason I'm trying the Pelican case was that incident, because I was only set up for very limited luggage 'experiences'.  I had two suitcases, one roller carryon and a waist bag.   The problem, of course, is three rolling bags and only two arms.   Dragging bags from the car to checkin isn't hard, but dragging them through the Houston airport all the way to the (onsite) hotel was far more effort than I had intended to spend, and checking them back in wasn't fun either.

So, two suitcases, my waist bag, and somehow a backpack is the plan...    Two rollers, two arms = good.  Waist bag = good.   Just not sure how to carry the backpack and waist bag at the same time for any distance.

And all this is basically because of a 230mm dome port, when it comes down to it.  My god that thing is a logistical nightmare!

kelpdiver wrote:

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

I had a travel agent book my flights, and she said everything checked through.

But...

A Backscatter rep emailed to mention that if your layover in Guam is more than 12 hours they will not hold your bags and I will have to pick them up, then recheck them later.

ultimately, I think this comes down to if the gate agent will check it through or not. The 12 hour bit is a policy, but generally (?) not done. I think with your stop being just over the 12, and you being a friendly older fellow for whom this is a burden, you may be able to nudge this in the right direction.

I'll try to play up this angle.  So it's at the start - in Phoenix - that the check-thru decision is actually made?

I avoided the potential, and the potential overnight, by electing to take the famous Island Hopper variant - the 12 hr, 4 stop 737 that hits every atoll on the way. I'm hoping for some views on this daylight flight. On the way back, I do have the 15 hr layover and may experience it.

Argh!

I had a miserable experience flying back from Suriname via Miami a few years ago.   I certainly don't want to spend another night sitting on a cold floor waiting for the checkin counters to re-open at 5am.

And all this is basically because of a 230mm dome port, when it comes down to it. My god that thing is a logistical nightmare!

the $$$ nauticam WWLs look like a potential way to avoid this...until you see how much they weigh! I'm content with the synthetic 210.

I do this (230mm dome port travel) partly with the idea that "I can still do it now, in a few years I won't be able to and would regret missing the chance."

I still don't want to go back to a 'lesser camera'.   Underwater is by far the most challenging photography I've ever done, and I want the most capable camera in my hands in challenging conditions, not another point-n-shoot.   But I'm at a weight limit now, perhaps exceeding my capabilities at this age a bit.  Like you said, some of those Nauticam specialty lenses are amazingly heavy.  With price tags to match.

I'll be happy learning how to use the 14-30 more/better.   Based on remaining space in the Pelican, I might not even take the macro lens, port and ministrobes.

Anyway, once I'm there, the travel there shouldn't matter anymore, and once I'm back I'll hopefully not remember it negatively.   For one thing, I'm booked in business class and am flying in the front row.

kelpdiver wrote:

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

I'll try to play up this angle. So it's at the start - in Phoenix - that the check-thru decision is actually made?

Yes - that person is checking in your baggage and tagging them with the path they will take, which is PHX -> HNL (or via LAX?) -> GUM -> TKK. Is it United the entire way, or are you using someone else to get to HNL? It is a codeshare?

OK, looking more closely at these flights.  I'm not sure what I was looking at before in terms of times in Guam, but they are 'better'.   Still 13 hours, but I land at 7:20pm local time and leave at 8:20am the next day.   All United flights.  22 minutes from PHX to LAX, 6 hours from LAX to HNL, and 8 hours from HNL to Guam.    Bags checked through or not, I'm going to be quite tired at the end of that.  And I probably won't be able to sleep the night before either.

I flew EVA from Cebu to Taipei and then United to SFO. On the way out, it was United to Japan, then ANA to Taipei, and EVA to Cebu. All booked via United. We did have to pick up our luggage on the way out in Taipei, but only because we were changing airports after the overnight. It was a weird itinerary, but it saved us $700 each.

Cool, though it does sound a bit out-of-the-way to go via Japan.

I once flew military air with my father (Colonel at the time, in 1971) on quite a journey across the pacific.  Travis Air Force base in CA to Hawaii, then stops in Midway, Wake, Guam, Clark Field in the Phillipines, Saigon (sat on the tarmac for a while), and finally Bangkok.

Anyway, once I'm there, the travel there shouldn't matter anymore, and once I'm back I'll hopefully not remember it negatively. For one thing, I'm booked in business class and am flying in the front row.

I think this works in your favor. If it is discretionary as I think the 12 hr policy to be, United is certainly more inclined to accommodate the person who paid the Business premium. I think I would broach the subject early on asking the person to confirm the bags will be checked thru to Truk. This is a normal question on a multi leg like this. And if the person brings up the 12 hr policy, remind them that it's 2am to 2pm after a really long day for you (soft) - which was their schedule, not your's (aggressive if needed).

Boy, I'm glad you told me this info, so I have a chance to affect my fate!

i expect, and certainly hope none of this comes up for you. Unlike Taipei or Hong Kong, Guam doesn't offer held luggage service which is how I've dealt with planned stopovers at the end of my dive trips.

Well, as long as I am expecting to have to drag the bags to the hotel and back, I'm mentally prepared.   And of course I've been making an effort to eliminate one rolling bag.  I figure I can take my waist bag off and wrap it around the handle of my suitcase, and then I can just wear the backpack.   The backpack will be lighter than the camera bag...

Ultimately I plan to be rich enough to take my own Lear jet and let someone else carry my bags!

kelpdiver wrote:

Pack your clothes for carry on, maybe? It's the lightest stuff. There's not much going on with this island beyond the resort, so also not a tall demand for variety in attire.

Won't be room in my carryon...

See if they can assign you room on the bottom floor, closest to the boat. Unless BS has made arrangements, you might be stuck carrying it to/from hotel room every leg. Let the younger guys haul their's upstairs.

I'll carry it back to the room at lunch regardless as I generally want to change batteries, but I've just found out that there is a camera room by the dock to leave your camera at lunch so you don't have to lug it around.   Maybe I'll make use of that to change batteries, if it is much of a walk.

I also found out that they have dive lockers for my gear at the dock.  Sounds like the Divi Flamingo setup in Bonaire.   That will work fine for me.

(If you can tolerate the travel hassle to get here, then it's time to consider Anilao. Non stop LA or SF to Manila, then 3 hour van ride. And more seahorses and frogfish than John Wayne could handle. People can and do debate Lembeh vs Anilao, but one is a lot easier for Americans to get to. )

Ouch - 15 hour flight from LAX to Manila!  That's even long than the flight I had to Shanghai.

I did business class to Truk, and that was $4K.  With price increases this year I'd hate to budget for that to Manila, but I'm not sure my body could tolerate 15 hours in cattle class anymore.

kelpdiver wrote:

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

I'll try to play up this angle. So it's at the start - in Phoenix - that the check-thru decision is actually made?

Yes - that person is checking in your baggage and tagging them with the path they will take, which is PHX -> HNL (or via LAX?) -> GUM -> TKK. Is it United the entire way, or are you using someone else to get to HNL? It is a codeshare?

For me, it was United all the way.  I found out that Guam is quite the pacific region hub.

I overnighted in Guam in both directions, forced to retrieve bags due to longer-than-12-hour layover. (13 hours.)

I flew EVA from Cebu to Taipei and then United to SFO. On the way out, it was United to Japan, then ANA to Taipei, and EVA to Cebu. All booked via United. We did have to pick up our luggage on the way out in Taipei, but only because we were changing airports after the overnight. It was a weird itinerary, but it saved us $700 each.

The pain of having to claim/recheck bags was extreme for the other divers, some of whom worked for Backscatter and had 6-7 big Pelican cases.   There were several rebreathers there, and they didn't seem that travel-friendly.  And a couple of large underwater scooters in big square safe-like Pelicans.

They to a man (and woman) opted to change return flights back through Truk to take a 2am flight from TKK.  This allowed them to have their bags checked through without the reclaim in Truk.

Of course they still had to deal with claim/reclaim at the first US airport.  I found out how incredibly horrible it was to have to deal with only two bags in Honolulu.  I think United is sucking hind tit there - they had the WORST locations, and it meant a very long slog.

Anyway, once I'm there, the travel there shouldn't matter anymore, and once I'm back I'll hopefully not remember it negatively. For one thing, I'm booked in business class and am flying in the front row.

I think this works in your favor. If it is discretionary as I think the 12 hr policy to be, United is certainly more inclined to accommodate the person who paid the Business premium. I think I would broach the subject early on asking the person to confirm the bags will be checked thru to Truk. This is a normal question on a multi leg like this. And if the person brings up the 12 hr policy, remind them that it's 2am to 2pm after a really long day for you (soft) - which was their schedule, not your's (aggressive if needed).

None of that worked.  Even when my TKK-GUM flight was delayed to the point of only a 12 hour layover, I had to reclaim the bags there.

What REALLY helped was flying business class.  Priority bag tags at least meant my luggage got out quickly, and I was allowed one 70 pound bag.  Which I needed!

i expect, and certainly hope none of this comes up for you. Unlike Taipei or Hong Kong, Guam doesn't offer held luggage service which is how I've dealt with planned stopovers at the end of my dive trips.

Ultimately it wasn't that big a deal for me, with only two suitcases.  I had my usual Thinktank waist bag, plus a backpack I wore on my chest.   I was OK with having my bags with me in the room as I had packed a set of travel clothes in it.  And my toiletries were there.   Guam no problem - Honolulu big problem.   Or better to say big effort.

My Pelican case worked well, though I haven't yet opened it since I got home. I assume all is well inside.

I tried using Smarttags (android-based system) for the first time and loved it.   Allowed me peace of mind being able to tell my bags were at least in the same town as I was, and on one flight I must have sat right over my Pelican.   Made it easy to find the bags coming up the carousel too.

My long flights (to/from Hawaii in either direction) had lay-flat seats in business class, and that was a game-changer for comfort.  I got decent naps on the four longest flights.  Not TKK/GUM or LAX/PHX short hops.  Still was about 36 hours coming home from Guam, but I'm still awake 8 hours after I got home.

Well, now I know what I didn't when I got to Truk.   Deep dives are the norm, and single tank divers like me were in the minority.  It was doubles plus a spare or rebreathers plus a spare, and trimix.  Scooters too, and now I know why they are needed with rebreathers.

I was one of only 3 (out of 17) divers using a single tank.   I did not get to dive the San Francisco Maru because my Oceanic Islander BCD was deemed to be unable to hook a spare tank to.  Not sure why, but when everyone else did that dive, I ended up on another boat with a fairly new diver.  (He had neither light nor dive computer, which made the wreck penetrations interesting.)

I preferred being on the 'beginner boat', and I talked the other single-tanker to join use for the rest of the trip.  On the other boat we had 35 minute dives (95-120 feet), and then had to sit for another hour and  a quarter for the last diver to come up.  On our own boat, we could do a hour interval and get a second morning dive in. (And take the afternoon off).

I have lots of picks, many of which I think are pretty good of wreck penetrations.

Those penetrations pushed my out of my comfort area, until my comfort area started to include them.  I came out with rust all over parts of me as I dragged myself through narrow parts.

Made me think how dangerous it was to not have a second independent source of air in those passages.  An equipment failure there could easily have me dying in 30 seconds.

I did 16 dives, skipped two due to ear issues.

I wore my 5 mil, and I never got cold.  3 mil would have worked, and certainly would have been easier to dive in.   The 5 mil couldn't get down at first, with 16 pounds.  I ended up with 21 pounds for a couple of days.  Then I realized air was getting trapped in my hood, so I poked a hole in it.  Immediately dropped down to 16 pounds.  Late in the trip I got down to 14, but didn't want to try 12 and risk a problem at the safety stop.  I dive with 10 with my 3 mil.

The Z9 worked well.  In fact I just wasn't using the viewfinder and eventually took it off, putting back the standard Nauticam finder.  Just used the back monitor the whole time.  Mirrorless feature.  I had no problems using 3d Tracking, firmware 3.01.   I also mapped the Fn4 button to ISO which meant I could press it with my left thumb and spin the ISO speed dial with my right hand.   (Used to have to reach left hand over to right side to hit ISO button.)  So for almost the first time, I started modifying ISO values when I went into cargo holds.  Usually ISO 500 (iso-less setting there) but sometimes 800-1000 in darker areas.  Some anemone shots got me back into the ISO 64-250 range.  F8 and 1/160th.

Never did use any of the macro stuff I brought, though there was plenty of macro to shoot if you looked.   And that was just on top of the wrecks.  The 14-30 with Sea and Sea IRC seemed to do quite well.