Truk Blue Lagoon Resort Review...

[deepstops]

If I'm lucky enough to go again I will stay there and not on one of the liveaboards. The liveaboards were out in the same lagoon as us everyday, same wrecks, but we got to go back to shore and walk around after our morning dives and have a nice lunch. No cramped quarters or the smell of diesel.

But you won't be doing 5 dives a day either. I did a week on a liveaboard (27 dives) and three days afterward at BLDR to dive some deeper stuff and that plan worked well for me.

 

[pilot fish]

That's true, you will not be doing 5 dives a day, but not many people want to do that much. 4 was good enough for me, but most days we did 3. If you're a tech diver and you wan tthe deeper wrecks, at 165 ft and deeper, than do the liveaboard.

But you won't be doing 5 dives a day either. I did a week on a liveaboard (27 dives) and three days afterward at BLDR to dive some deeper stuff and that plan worked well for me.

 

[RJP]

No cramped quarters or the smell of diesel.

FYI - the Odyssey does NOT have cramped quarters. In fact my cabin on the Odyssey was roughly the same size as my room at Blue Lagoon. Cabins on the Odyssey are MUCH larger than any other Liveaboard I've ever been on.

Also, I don't recall smelling diesel once while on the Odyssey.

 

[pilot fish]

That's great to hear. Odyssey woud then be unlike any liveaboard I've ever heard about. Cabins the same size as the rooms at Blue Lagoon? Wow, those are very large living quarters?

I very much enjoy seeing your pics

FYI - the Odyssey does NOT have cramped quarters. In fact my cabin on the Odyssey was roughly the same size as my room at Blue Lagoon. Cabins on the Odyssey are MUCH larger than any other Liveaboard I've ever been on.

Also, I don't recall smelling diesel once while on the Odyssey.

 

[Venus]

Hi Ray .... sorry, I can't stop laughing

as you know I've just booked my trip to Chuuk
I'm going with someone I met in Egypt last month

During the planning stages of the trip she came across your Trip Advisor report, and insisted that "I book room 119 for a few days before and after Odyssey ....."

"because of that view !"
and, "if room 119 was not available then we must have one next door so long as it has the same view"



Venus :kiss2:

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...

Stayed at the Blue Lagoon Resort for three days in March
Room 119 is on the side of the resort opposite the dive shop

 

[RJP]

Hi Ray .... sorry, I can't stop laughing

Glad to be able to help!

PS - any room on that side of the resort will have pretty much that same view!

 

[Geoff_H]

That's great to hear. Odyssey woud then be unlike any liveaboard I've ever heard about. Cabins the same size as the rooms at Blue Lagoon? Wow, those are very large living quarters?

I very much enjoy seeing your pics

RJP is right, I've done a couple of weeks on the Odyssey an the staterooms are huge. Nothing about the boat could be described as cramped, and I didn't smell diesel once either.

I would dive liveaboard over land based every single time in Truk.

 

[pilot fish]

Generally speaking that's true, in most locations, but in Truk I would not do a liveaboard. The liveabords are right out in the same lagoon, mere yards from us land based divers. The liveabords did not get to any wrecks that we coud not get to, if we had asked. We also have the luxury of mobility, not to mention we paid a lot less for essentailly the same thing. It just comes down to preference. I liked that I could sight see around the picturesque Blue Lagoon and laze under a palm tree in a cool breeze.

RJP is right, I've done a couple of weeks on the Odyssey an the staterooms are huge. Nothing about the boat could be described as cramped, and I didn't smell diesel once either.

I would dive liveaboard over land based every single time in Truk.

 

[RJP]

...not to mention we paid a lot less for essentailly the same thing.

Well, actually, I did the math on that one when I was there and you probably didn't pay "a lot less" nor did you get "essentially the same thing."



If you did 3 dives a day at Blue Lagoon, with doubles, on nitrox, and ate three full meals in the restaurant, had some snacks and soft drinks on each surface interval, and 2 drinks a night...you would have paid only about $200 less than a week on the Odyssey...where you could have done 5 dives a day and not had to set up your gear, break down your gear, schlep your gear, rinse your gear, etc. The dive guides and the dive briefings on the Odyssey were worlds better that the BLR, the crew was amazing, the food was far better, unlimited top-shelf beer, wine and liquor, no long, jarring panga rides out to the wrecks and back, fresh-baked cookies, muffins, sushi, shrimp, or myriad other delicacies during surface intervals, 300+DVD titles in the library, tons of reference materials...the list could go on and on.

If you were able to do 5 nitrox dives a day - which you really can't - in doubles at Blue Lagoon it would actually cost you more to dive there for a week than on the Odyssey, and you still wouldn't have gotten "essentially the same thing."

Not saying a week of diving at Blue Lagoon wouldn't be great - and I can see why some would prefer it to a liveaboard - but the idea that it's "a lot cheaper for the same thing" is a complete myth, and should NOT be used as criteria for choosing one over the other.

 

[JackConnick]

I've stayed there a couple of times and it's about as the OP has stated, decent rooms, nice people, very nice grounds.

However the restaurant is pretty much hopeless. It's not just on island time, it's on outer space time. A cheeseburger for lunch took 2 hours to get, a dinner, 3 hours. The waitresses are space cadets. What's bad is that there are NO other options.

I've done two trips on the Odyssey and agree with all posters, best liveaboard going. Awesome food too.

Jack