Just finally got around to posting the following review on TripAdvisor, so thought I would cross-post it here as well, as there's not really a recent/detailed post on the topic...
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Stayed at the Blue Lagoon Resort for three days in March prior to a two week trip on the Truk Odyssey and then again for a day afterward. After reading various reviews here and elsewhere I figured it was going to be better than the Truk Stop but I had very low expectations, and even so was still prepared to leave a little room to be disappointed...
However, I thought the Blue Lagoon resort was a great place! Rustic? You bet! Were the beds what you'd get in a Westin? No. But look at the picture of the view from my room! Were the sheets a bit in need of replacing? Uh, yeah. But look at the photo of the view from my room! Was the bathroom what you would expect in a Ritz Carlton? Of course not! But look at the view from my room. If you had that proximity to the water and that view in a Westin or Marriott resort the room would be $600 a night. Which was more than I paid for 4 days at the Blue Lagoon including all my restaurant and bar tabs! But for the price and the location it was perfectly fine in every way!
Now, by way of context I'll let you know that this trip for me was a complete "get away from everything" trip. Just left my job and taking some time off and my wife was kind enough to grant me permission to go on a "dive trip of a lifetime" and I was not going to let anything bother me along the way. Though that is my usual mindset when traveling on vacation anyway - and it should be yours too!
I was traveling by myself for 20 days, arriving in Chuuk at noon on Friday after leaving NJ at noon on Wednesday (Newark-Tokyo, Tokyo-Guam, Guam-Truk) and was pretty wiped out when I boarded the Blue Lagoon's shuttle bus for the ride to the resort. As I heard one person who had been to Truk previously say, the bus that brought us from the airport will be the most dangerous wreck you'll encounter all week!
The grounds were very well maintained and quite nice. Not the Four Seasons, to be sure, but verdant green grass and foliage, flowering hibiscus here and there, lots of shading palm trees, etc. Check in was painless, and somewhat refreshing to my "get away from it all" mindset in these days of computerized reservation systems to find my reservation was simply recorded on sheet of paper attached to a clip-board. The front desk staff was very friendly and quite helpful. And after only a few minutes I was on my way to my room, with three staff members helping me with my bags.
Room 119 is on the side of the resort opposite the dive shop. I liked the location personally, as it was a little quieter than the other side of the resort (though in truth the whole place is quiet really) Was only a couple of hundred yards walk to the dive shop, so no big deal to me but if you want to be closer to the shop, be sure to request that side of the resort. The picture I've attached says it all when it comes to room location! In between dives or after a day of diving it was great to grab a cold drink or a beer and sit on my deck with a book and hear nothing but the lapping of the water on a little beach that would make any Corona Beer commercial proud! They also had lounge chairs you could grab and bring onto one of the beaches or simply find a spot under a palm tree to plop yourself down and relax. Grab a few beach towels from the front desk as well. (NO - they are not the type of towels you'd get at a Ritz-Carlton!)
The room itself was fine. In-room furnishings were older Rattan type but functional. Two double beds, a table and two chairs in a smallish room, but you don't fly 17,000 miles to stay in your room. There's a TV, but there's not any TV stations or cable in Chuuk, so I'm not sure what the TV is for. Some rooms have DVD players apparently, but mine did not. The front desk said they'd move one from an unoccupied room if I wanted one, but I wouldn't have turned the TV on anyway. The deck furniture consisted of simple resin chairs and table. What more do you need? Whenever I would sit out there reading my book one of the house cats - a "thinner than air" black cat - would come sit on my lap and purr for a belly rub. The air conditioning worked fine to keep the room cool, and there was a fridge that I kept stocked with beer from the gift shop and water bottles that I filled from the jug of drinking water in the bathroom mixed with some powdered Gatorade brought from home.
The bathroom was nothing to write home about; either positively or negatively. The cold water was cold, the hot water was hot, the water pressure in the shower was fine, and the toilet flushed. Again, what more do you want? There was a great big closet in the bathroom area which was great to keep all your bags spread out and dive gear sorted. I was traveling alone so I had plenty of room but I can imagine that if there were twice as many people - and bags - in the room it might have been a little tight. Still doable no problem though.
The restaurant and bar staff were friendly and attentive in the relaxed "we're not in a hurry and you shouldn't be either" fashion typical of any Caribbean or Pacific island destination. Food prices were quite reasonable and the broad menu selection had plenty of choices, though keep in mind that on a tiny island in the middle of the largest ocean on the planet "being on the menu doesn't always mean the same thing as "being available today." The French toast I had for breakfast each morning was quite literally the best IÃ×e ever had explaining why I had it three days in a row. Lunch and dinner I stayed with fish for the most part, knowing it would be available and fresh. Was not disappointed! The fish and chips was made of local reef fish and was really very good. Dinner entrñÆ portion was almost enough for two, and with vegetables and rice or French fries was only $8.95. (Better food and much better price than you'd get at those Westins or Ritz Carltons I keep referring to!) Someone I had dinner with one night complained that the Fettuccini Carbonara they ordered wasnÃÕ very good, but what on earth did they expect ordering an Italian dish on a Pacific island that most US Italian restaurants can't get right!
The two bars are fine. The indoor bar by the front desk is nice for lunch to take advantage of the AC. I liked the outdoor one in the evening for dinner and a few beers. When you sit down ask them to put whatever beer you want on ice for you, as they don't seem to be terribly cold out of their fridge. Divers will congregate out there until closing time, which seems to really depend on how long the divers want to congregate. (No bugs that I noticed while there, but I never get bit by anything anywhere.)
Diving! Oh yeah, that's why I went there and that's why you're going there. Right? (If not, you had better rethink your choice of destinations!) Since I was going to be spending 14 days of diving on the Odyssey I asked the Blue Lagoon dive shop to take me to sites not ordinarily hit by the liveaboardÃÔ itinerary, and they were only too happy to oblige. There isn't a dive site in the lagoon that can't be accessed by the Blue Lagoon's boats, with a great many of them within 20-30min ride. The "pangas" that serve as day boats aren't exactly luxuriously comfortable but are typical of the type: covered for shade with a few benches, and they bring a cooler of ice water along. Depending on the sites you're diving they will either come back to the resort for a 1.5hr surface interval or they'll anchor off one of the islands where you can snorkel or explore. (Order a boxed lunch from hotel day before.) Dive guides were great. I was with Nick and Gladvin (sp?) each day and was lucky enough to only have two other divers on our boat for the three days I dove with Blue Lagoon. They didn't have nitrox during the time I was there mechanical trouble with the nitrox system perhaps? The official story at the shop was "I think the nitrox guy, he is maybe sick today? And probably tomorrow too, no?" said with a knowing smile. You just had to laugh. I rented double 80s which means they rent you a manifold and charge you for an extra tank fill. Easy to do three dives a day. Typically 9am, noon, and 3pm or so. You could probably get 4 in if you pushed them a bit on leaving early for the first one, but as deep as some of this stuff is you might not want to go crazy. (Especially if the nitrox guy is "maybe sick today" when you are there.) The guides know the wrecks in and out, and the briefings while brief were helpful. Tell them what you want to see and they will take you there.
Wireless internet access was good. You need to buy a card at the front desk which sells you access on a per MB downloaded basis. A 60mb card was $5 and lasted me the whole time I was there, checking emails and posting to ScubaBoard.com a few times a day.
Overall, if you are going to Truk to dive wrecks you will have a great time no matter where you stay, and if you regard the Blue Lagoon simply as a "base of operations" for that diving you should have no qualms about staying there. However, if you can embrace the Blue Lagoon Resort as the rustic, quirky resort in an idyllic location that it is -- forgive the frayed edges and imperfections, greet everyone with a smile, be patient with the pace, grab a cold beer after a day of diving, pull a lounge chair onto your own private beach, put your toes in the warm Pacific, open a good book, plug in your ipod, and relax -- you will really enjoy your stay here!
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Stayed at the Blue Lagoon Resort for three days in March prior to a two week trip on the Truk Odyssey and then again for a day afterward. After reading various reviews here and elsewhere I figured it was going to be better than the Truk Stop but I had very low expectations, and even so was still prepared to leave a little room to be disappointed...
However, I thought the Blue Lagoon resort was a great place! Rustic? You bet! Were the beds what you'd get in a Westin? No. But look at the picture of the view from my room! Were the sheets a bit in need of replacing? Uh, yeah. But look at the photo of the view from my room! Was the bathroom what you would expect in a Ritz Carlton? Of course not! But look at the view from my room. If you had that proximity to the water and that view in a Westin or Marriott resort the room would be $600 a night. Which was more than I paid for 4 days at the Blue Lagoon including all my restaurant and bar tabs! But for the price and the location it was perfectly fine in every way!
Now, by way of context I'll let you know that this trip for me was a complete "get away from everything" trip. Just left my job and taking some time off and my wife was kind enough to grant me permission to go on a "dive trip of a lifetime" and I was not going to let anything bother me along the way. Though that is my usual mindset when traveling on vacation anyway - and it should be yours too!
I was traveling by myself for 20 days, arriving in Chuuk at noon on Friday after leaving NJ at noon on Wednesday (Newark-Tokyo, Tokyo-Guam, Guam-Truk) and was pretty wiped out when I boarded the Blue Lagoon's shuttle bus for the ride to the resort. As I heard one person who had been to Truk previously say, the bus that brought us from the airport will be the most dangerous wreck you'll encounter all week!
The grounds were very well maintained and quite nice. Not the Four Seasons, to be sure, but verdant green grass and foliage, flowering hibiscus here and there, lots of shading palm trees, etc. Check in was painless, and somewhat refreshing to my "get away from it all" mindset in these days of computerized reservation systems to find my reservation was simply recorded on sheet of paper attached to a clip-board. The front desk staff was very friendly and quite helpful. And after only a few minutes I was on my way to my room, with three staff members helping me with my bags.
Room 119 is on the side of the resort opposite the dive shop. I liked the location personally, as it was a little quieter than the other side of the resort (though in truth the whole place is quiet really) Was only a couple of hundred yards walk to the dive shop, so no big deal to me but if you want to be closer to the shop, be sure to request that side of the resort. The picture I've attached says it all when it comes to room location! In between dives or after a day of diving it was great to grab a cold drink or a beer and sit on my deck with a book and hear nothing but the lapping of the water on a little beach that would make any Corona Beer commercial proud! They also had lounge chairs you could grab and bring onto one of the beaches or simply find a spot under a palm tree to plop yourself down and relax. Grab a few beach towels from the front desk as well. (NO - they are not the type of towels you'd get at a Ritz-Carlton!)
The room itself was fine. In-room furnishings were older Rattan type but functional. Two double beds, a table and two chairs in a smallish room, but you don't fly 17,000 miles to stay in your room. There's a TV, but there's not any TV stations or cable in Chuuk, so I'm not sure what the TV is for. Some rooms have DVD players apparently, but mine did not. The front desk said they'd move one from an unoccupied room if I wanted one, but I wouldn't have turned the TV on anyway. The deck furniture consisted of simple resin chairs and table. What more do you need? Whenever I would sit out there reading my book one of the house cats - a "thinner than air" black cat - would come sit on my lap and purr for a belly rub. The air conditioning worked fine to keep the room cool, and there was a fridge that I kept stocked with beer from the gift shop and water bottles that I filled from the jug of drinking water in the bathroom mixed with some powdered Gatorade brought from home.
The bathroom was nothing to write home about; either positively or negatively. The cold water was cold, the hot water was hot, the water pressure in the shower was fine, and the toilet flushed. Again, what more do you want? There was a great big closet in the bathroom area which was great to keep all your bags spread out and dive gear sorted. I was traveling alone so I had plenty of room but I can imagine that if there were twice as many people - and bags - in the room it might have been a little tight. Still doable no problem though.
The restaurant and bar staff were friendly and attentive in the relaxed "we're not in a hurry and you shouldn't be either" fashion typical of any Caribbean or Pacific island destination. Food prices were quite reasonable and the broad menu selection had plenty of choices, though keep in mind that on a tiny island in the middle of the largest ocean on the planet "being on the menu doesn't always mean the same thing as "being available today." The French toast I had for breakfast each morning was quite literally the best IÃ×e ever had explaining why I had it three days in a row. Lunch and dinner I stayed with fish for the most part, knowing it would be available and fresh. Was not disappointed! The fish and chips was made of local reef fish and was really very good. Dinner entrñÆ portion was almost enough for two, and with vegetables and rice or French fries was only $8.95. (Better food and much better price than you'd get at those Westins or Ritz Carltons I keep referring to!) Someone I had dinner with one night complained that the Fettuccini Carbonara they ordered wasnÃÕ very good, but what on earth did they expect ordering an Italian dish on a Pacific island that most US Italian restaurants can't get right!
The two bars are fine. The indoor bar by the front desk is nice for lunch to take advantage of the AC. I liked the outdoor one in the evening for dinner and a few beers. When you sit down ask them to put whatever beer you want on ice for you, as they don't seem to be terribly cold out of their fridge. Divers will congregate out there until closing time, which seems to really depend on how long the divers want to congregate. (No bugs that I noticed while there, but I never get bit by anything anywhere.)
Diving! Oh yeah, that's why I went there and that's why you're going there. Right? (If not, you had better rethink your choice of destinations!) Since I was going to be spending 14 days of diving on the Odyssey I asked the Blue Lagoon dive shop to take me to sites not ordinarily hit by the liveaboardÃÔ itinerary, and they were only too happy to oblige. There isn't a dive site in the lagoon that can't be accessed by the Blue Lagoon's boats, with a great many of them within 20-30min ride. The "pangas" that serve as day boats aren't exactly luxuriously comfortable but are typical of the type: covered for shade with a few benches, and they bring a cooler of ice water along. Depending on the sites you're diving they will either come back to the resort for a 1.5hr surface interval or they'll anchor off one of the islands where you can snorkel or explore. (Order a boxed lunch from hotel day before.) Dive guides were great. I was with Nick and Gladvin (sp?) each day and was lucky enough to only have two other divers on our boat for the three days I dove with Blue Lagoon. They didn't have nitrox during the time I was there mechanical trouble with the nitrox system perhaps? The official story at the shop was "I think the nitrox guy, he is maybe sick today? And probably tomorrow too, no?" said with a knowing smile. You just had to laugh. I rented double 80s which means they rent you a manifold and charge you for an extra tank fill. Easy to do three dives a day. Typically 9am, noon, and 3pm or so. You could probably get 4 in if you pushed them a bit on leaving early for the first one, but as deep as some of this stuff is you might not want to go crazy. (Especially if the nitrox guy is "maybe sick today" when you are there.) The guides know the wrecks in and out, and the briefings while brief were helpful. Tell them what you want to see and they will take you there.
Wireless internet access was good. You need to buy a card at the front desk which sells you access on a per MB downloaded basis. A 60mb card was $5 and lasted me the whole time I was there, checking emails and posting to ScubaBoard.com a few times a day.
Overall, if you are going to Truk to dive wrecks you will have a great time no matter where you stay, and if you regard the Blue Lagoon simply as a "base of operations" for that diving you should have no qualms about staying there. However, if you can embrace the Blue Lagoon Resort as the rustic, quirky resort in an idyllic location that it is -- forgive the frayed edges and imperfections, greet everyone with a smile, be patient with the pace, grab a cold beer after a day of diving, pull a lounge chair onto your own private beach, put your toes in the warm Pacific, open a good book, plug in your ipod, and relax -- you will really enjoy your stay here!
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