Dive Review of
The Village Hotel in
Micronesia/Pohnpei

Cozumel, Belize, Cayman Brac, Curacao, Dominica, Tobago, Hawaii, &
Bahama

Dive Conditions

We were given a maximum depth and must return to the boat with 500 psi.  Go
to safety stop when you are at 700 psi.  

There was no rinse tank for camera or other gear on the small boat, and no
camera facilities other than to purchase film at the resort, and the same
for in the town of Kolonia, although we did not search for camera
facilities in town. Power 110 volts 60 Hz are available 24/7 at the resort.  

Overall Rating

We arranged the trip through Lisa Wallner of Trip-N-Tour (Continental Cool
Vacations) and she does a great job.  It takes a while to get to Pohnpei
via Los Angeles, with an afternoon and night on Hawaii, before island
hopping Majuro and Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands and Kosrae in the
Caroline Islands finally arriving at Pohnpei. That is 6 hours 22 minutes
waiting in airports, and 13 hours seven minutes flying time. The Village
Resort was the first recipient of Overseas Private Investment Corporation
(OPIC) Ecotourism Award and is listed as such in the Congressional Record
June 4, 1991. Bob, Patti, and son Jamie Arthur are really great and will do
anything in their power to help you.  There are twenty thatched-roofed
ihmws (Bungalows). None are air-conditioned, but all do have a variable
speed ceiling fan and we were comfortable most of the time. (If
air-conditioning is desired try the Joy Hotel in Kolonia. There are other
dive operations in Kolonia). Ours had a view of the lagoon and nearby
islands.  It was 20 feet by 26 feet with two queen waterbeds, a love seat
and chair, and a coffee table. All have a bathroom with shower only, sink,
toilet, and lizards (They like to chew on blue and green colored plastic
items, and move along the rafters so watch out for droppings).  Do not
bring food or sweet beverages to your room, as those tend to attract other
critters like rats. Hot water was always available and the water is safe to
drink.  Tours are arranged at the front desk for anywhere you want to go.
We toured Nan Madol, Kepirohi waterfalls and hiked Pohndolap Mountain (A
pretty vigorous hike all up hill for 1.7 miles). We were there during the
rainy season October through December (They get 400 inches a year in the
mountains), but we had lots of sun every day. We were never caught out in
the rain except while diving. We have plastic ponchos that work great and
fit in a pocket. Everything seems to start at 9:30 AM at the front desk
whether touring, diving, or bumming a ride to Kolonia.  The van goes in
many days and will let you ride free. Meals are really great and there is a
good variety for breakfast lunch and dinner. You can get food and drinks
anytime between 7 AM and 9 PM, although the bar officially opens at 4:30
PM. The dive shop basically has no repair parts and very little equipment
that I would use. One regulator without the bite piece forced the renter to
use the secondary reg as primary, and the gauges had water inside, bring
your own gear or dive elsewhere. It is a short downhill walk to the boat.
They take your gear down on a truck, and use a van to transport divers back
up at the end of diving. They have three boats, a 25 and 27 feet covered
skiff with two 60 hp outboards and a 23 feet skiff with a single outboard.
There was only five divers maximum during our dives. The seats consist of
flotation seat cushions, one for the bottom and one for your back. No water
for rinse tanks for camera or other equipment, but drinking water is
available although sometimes cups are not. I suggest you bring a bottle of
water. There was no oxygen, medicine kit, compass, gps, or radio on the
boat. There was a cell phone and we were always in site of land. The boat
rides are 10 minutes to 60 minutes of mostly very smooth water to get to
dive sites. Manta Road dive site is 10 minutes away and we dived it once
but no mantas.  We looked from the boat on two other occasions, but no
mantas. We did see white tip and gray reef sharks, large jacks, tuna, bump
head parrotfish and napoleon wrasse on every dive. There were loads of
anemone fish, butterfly fish, several eagle rays, and lots of other small
fish.  Most coral showed signs of bleaching. No wet suit is needed with the
warm water, a skin works fine. Dive master and boat captain were good with
informative pre-dive. Lunch with a drink is ordered from the hotel the
night before and eaten on the boat during the 1 1/2 hour surface interval.
The return boat trip sometimes includes a trip through the mangroves, which
is pretty cool. The boat is usually back by 3:30 PM. Night diving is
available but we did not take advantage of it. 

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