Dear Dirty Dozen Team Member,
We have closed out our Bikini Atoll 2025 season with one heck of a trip!
Read on for our Bikini Atoll September 2025 Trip Report, plus availability for upcoming 2026 and 2028 Bikini seasons.
6 SEPTEMBER 2025 - TOUCHDOWN!
#teamdd embarked on our expedition vessel off the island of Ebeye. All 15 team members arrived safely, 2-3 days before departure, and ensured all luggage arrived in one piece!
After initial boat and safety briefings, we were off on our 28-hour steam to Bikini Atoll.
8 SEPTEMBER 2025 - BIKINI ATOLL IN SIGHT!
#teamdd arrived in Bikini Atoll. Dive Safety briefings were done in the morning, and we spent the entire day on USS Saratoga, getting to know this incredible aircraft carrier sunk by the Baker Test in Operation Crossroads.
First dive was a nice and easy warm-up dive on the outside of the wreck, and in the afternoon, we started on progressive penetrations.
10 SEPTEMBER 2025 - LINE LAYING!
#teamdd went on a fantastic dive on the USS Lamson in the morning, followed up by a relaxed dive on the USS Saratoga in the afternoon. We also continued with our Line Restoration Project started earlier in the season.
Here's the current status from our #CV3LineRestorationProject, which aims to restore and improve all penetration lines on the USS Saratoga:
CIC: All lines replaced and cleaned up.
Scullery: 1 Galley, Messhall, and Officer’s Lounge lines replaced (Dyneema) and cleaned up. 2 Galley line OK, scheduled for replacement.
Main Line: Dentistry replaced (Dyneema) and cleaned up. Main line replaced.
Dive Locker: Helmet line replaced and cleaned up. (Dyneema)
Drysuit and Galley Line in Dive Locker: Replaced and cleaned up. (Dyneema)
Machine Shop: Replaced and cleaned up. (Dyneema)
We will continue work on this project throughout the trip and into 2026, as we strive to progressively bring every single penetration up to a uniform safe standard.
HUGE thanks to Dan Sun @dansuntitanium for supplying titanium tools and arrows, and Kevin Pang @southjerseyscuba for donating 800m of Dyneema line.
And as always, we couldn’t achieve what we do without our #teamdd members for contributing their time and effort.
11 SEPTEMBER 2026 - STEPPING ASHORE!
Halfway through the expedition, and #teamdd set foot on Bikini Atoll itself today, spending a well-deserved afternoon off-gassing while hiking the various trails. This was after a 3-hour dive on IJN Nagato.
13 SEPTEMBER 2026 - STARGAZING!
One of our guests was an astronomy buff, so the Captain agreed to turn the lights off on the upper deck so we could do some stargazing.
Although it was a bit cloudy, we still caught some amazing views. It was difficult to pick out constellations because there were so many stars beyond those that are normally visible.
Thanks to David Hillner for the awesome shot!
16 SEPTEMBER 2026 - FINAL DAYS!
Finishing up our September Dirty Dozen Expeditions trip to Bikini Atoll today, and we returned to Kwajalein to dive the Prinz Eugen.
We did the pilot study on our long term DAN Research SPLASH study. More about the progress of this exciting project in a future newsletter.
Overall great conditions and a fantastic #teamdd made for lots of really good laughs and stunning exploration.
We are sad that 2025 Bikini season is over - but looking forward to our 3 trips in the 2026 season with Adam Wood and Mark Powell as special guests. There is one spot left on all 3 dates - this is your chance to join us!
That pretty much wraps it from us this time around. As usual, we hope you have a lovely week ahead but remember, if you feel lonely, we are here to chat Dirty.
Best,
Aron Arngrímsson and the DDE Team