Bikini Lagoon offers some of the best wreck diving in the world. But is it safe?
 The purpose of Operation Crossroads (1946) was to test the effects of the atomic bomb on ships. All of them were rigged for combat, with fuel tanks full, live munitions and bombs on board, airplanes on the flight and hangar decks. Although most of the 71 ships in the tests were damaged to some degree, only 21 actually sank. The rest were so heavily contaminated with radiation that all were scuttled in the deep ocean, sunk in gunnery exercises or scrapped.
Ever since the tests, the U.S. Department of Energy and its predecessors have been monitoring radiation at Bikini. Background radiation today is less than any large city. The soil, however, contains radioactive cesium, which concentrates in the plants and their fruit. Therefore you can?t eat anything that grows there; all food is imported.
A half century of time has cleansed the wrecks of radiation; the real danger for scuba divers is depth. With the bottom of the lagoon at 170-180ft (51-54m), every dive requires decompression.
Divemaster Fabio Amaral explains, ?We aren?t really a technical environment here. It?s like a twilight zone between that and recreational diving. A tech diver can bring all his toys and have a lot of fun. Advanced recreational divers will learn that deco diving won?t kill them or get them bent - in addition to a lot of new skills.?
 A three-level trapeze dangles from the dive boat, with stainless steel bars 20ft (6m) long. Hanging from onboard tanks are a half dozen second stages on long hoses, providing a 75 percent oxygen mix for the 20 and 10ft (6 and 3m) stops. This reduces decompression time by one-third. But for a greater safety margin, deco times are computed as if using air. In three years, among divers of all ages and varying ability levels, there has been only one mild case of bends.
During my week on Bikini, six of 14 dives were on the Saratoga. We barely scratched the surface of her possibilities. Consider that this 880ft (265m) ship (the only diveable aircraft carrier in the world) is longer than the Titanic, with 140ft (42m) of vertical relief from her keel to the top of the island.
You come to Bikini for world-class diving, not for the night life or the cuisine. Beachfront rooms are Spartan, but air conditioned and clean. Dining is mess hall style, with plenty of food, but cooked the Army way. A notable exception is fresh sashimi (sliced, raw tuna) - and it doesn?t glow in the dark. Fishes caught in the lagoon and nearby waters are safe to eat.
Bikini?s divable wrecks include:
- Anderson - 348ft (105m) American destroyer
- Apogon - 312ft (95m) American submarine, sits upright in 180ft (55m)
- Arkansas - 562ft (170m) American battleship, lies upside down in 180ft (55m)
- Carlisle - 462ft (140m) American attack transport, depth 170ft (51m)
- Gilliam - 426ft (130m) American attack transport, sits upright at 180ft (55m)
- Lamson - 341ft (104m) American destroyer
- Nagato - 708ft (215m) Japanese battleship, lies upside down in 170 feet (51m)
- Pilotfish - 312ft (95m) American submarine, sits upright in 175ft (53m)
- Sakawa - 532ft (162m) Japanese cruiser
- Saratoga - 880ft (268m) American aircraft carrier, sits upright at 180ft (55m)
The population of Bikini Island is 22, nearly half of whom work for the dive center. The others are Department of Energy personnel and their contractor. The only Bikinian is Edward Maddison, a dive guide. During Operation Crossroads, the 167 natives were moved to Rongerik Atoll, with promises that they could return after the tests. Fifty years later there are more than 2,000 Bikinians, living on Kili and Majuro in the Marshall Islands and in the United States. Until the atoll receives a clean bill of radioactive health, they cannot return.
Travel Details
Getting there: Continental Micronesia?s Island Hopper from Honolulu stops in Majuro (the capital of the Marshall Islands). After an overnight stay, catch the weekly Air Marshall Islands flight to Bikini.
Electricity: 110 volts, 60 cycles, with U.S. plugs
Currency: U.S. dollars are the official currency throughout Micronesia.
Language: Marshallese and English
Dive gear: Single steel 104s are standard, with doubles available for heavy breathers or those with BCs rigged to accept them. On a single tank, I usually had 1,000 psi left when reaching the nitrox decompression stages.
Note: Be sure to bring a computer that won?t lock out on extended decompression diving. Click here for a list of recommended computer models and other equipment from Bikini?s head divemaster.
A special message from Jack Niedenthal, Trust Liaison for the People of Bikini: Bikini is now in its 5th season. It was featured as the opening show of the Discovery Channel's Shark Week in August 1999 via a live broadcast starring Al Giddings. As we enter this season, we find that for the fifth straight
year our bookings have increased. It is also important to note that since opening in 1996, even though we do all decompression diving, we have never had to send anyone to a recompression chamber. Safety is our first concern. Our
best advertising has come from our past customers, which says a lot about our operation.
|
