Dive Review of
Blue Lagoon Resort in
Micronesia

 Palau, Manzanillo Mexico, Ohahu/Maui Hi. The Bahamas and the Carribbean. 

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

[None]  

Overall Rating

I dove Truk Lagoon after spending a pheonomal 2 weeks diving Palau. The
difference in locations was extreme. The friendly clean environment of
Palau was left behind. The Island state of Chuuk is dirty with the roads
lined with wrecked and junk vehicles. The poverty is evident and though we
had no altercations we felt uncomfortable when walking in the public areas.
All of the guide books suggest that visitors do not venture out after dark.
Evidently a combination of unemployment and alcohol creates an atmosphere
of rowdiness amongst the young men.
   I made arrangements to stay at the Truk Stop Motel, a three star
facility. We arrived and were picked up at the airport. Airport transfers
are $10 to $15 each way. Rooms at the Truk Stop were large and comfortable
and went for $100 per night. They have a dining area with a large patio
area and internet access. The food was local fare and good. There is a bar
on the property but the main attraction is a pool table. The dive shop is
not much. They barely had enough weights for a boat of ten divers and dives
were $100 per two tank dive. They did not offer Nitrox.
   I met the new dive shop manager who had arrived from the US only three
weeks before. I boarded their larger (cabin style)dive boat that could
easily handle 12 divers. their other boat had engine problems. There were 8
of us on board as we went off to dive the Nippo Maru. I had to stack 8 two
pound weights to get my 16 pounds. They had nothing larger that 2 pounders
at the time.
   The trip was a disaster. The boat had one engine out and we could only
get make about 7 MPH. The boat made a serpentine course due to the one prop
running and we were engulfed in black diesel smoke for the whole trip.
Before we left I told the dive manager that I did NOT want to do
decompression diving and I would dive my own profile and stay above the DM.
This was allowable since the DM would not go into deco. The dive plan was
inefficient due to the fact that the DM did not speak compent English and
the new dive manager did not know the sites. I however made the dives and
used my computer backed up by my trusty old dive watch. I did a 90 feet for
25 minute dive and spent 10 minutes at 15 feet. 
   As we started our two and a half hour journey back to port I had made
up my  mind to leave Truk Stop and go to the other facility. I did not fly
half way around the world to dive like this. I will give Truk STop one
credit though. They let divers dive their own profile if they desired.
There were 4 Scotts on board and they were all very competent deco divers.
They were also dissappointed in the whole operation but they were leaving
in a few days. They did ask for and received a credit for the poor
performance of the operation.
   I checked out after telling the owner that he had a facility that
needed serious attention if he desired to stay in business. I went to the
Blue Lagoon Resort. This is the only resort with a small beach and
encompasses about 15 acres. It is self sufficient with everything that you
need right there. Talk to Gloria at Blue Lagoon and she will take care of
you. All of the staff were great and they gave me the same price per room
as the Truk Stop did ($100 per day) and the rooms were better. All are
ocean view with a lanai.    
   The dive shop was very local with small outboards that had a cover for
protection from the sun. They took very good care of me and I went on my
first dive with just the DM. I spent the rest of the week diving the famous
wrecks of Truk. Nitrox was $19 per tank but they gave it to me for $15. I
made 7 dives at the Blue Lagoon and the total for diving came to $455.00. I
made a couple of dives without Nitrox and rented a back up computer for two
days. 
   I had Truk Lagoon on my dive to do list for years but as I got older I
decided that I was not a wreck type of diver. I will not do deco diving but
I did enjoy the sight of these sunken ships and the artifacts that the
local divers had placed on the decks. I left Truk wishing that I had spent
that week in Palau.      

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