Chuuk trip!!

[frenchiedvr]

Heading to Chuuk in April. We will be on the Odyssey. Does anyone have any words of wisdom regarding the Odyssey. Have heard great things about it. I know all the wrecks there are awesome, but are there any "must do" dives??? Thanks!!!

 

[RJP]

Heading to Chuuk in April. We will be on the Odyssey. Does anyone have any words of wisdom regarding the Odyssey. Have heard great things about it. I know all the wrecks there are awesome, but are there any "must do" dives??? Thanks!!!

"Must Do" dives? All of them! But seriously, it's sort of a silly question on a liveaboard, as you won't really have a say in terms of what dives are on the agenda. I was in Truk for 17 days (3 at Blue Lagoon and 14 on Odyssey) and did 57 dives in 17 days. I highly recommend getting there a day or two early and doing some dives that the Odyssey doesn't get to, like the I-169 submarine, etc.

Here's the view from my room at Blue Lagoon...

And a link to my review of the Blue Lagoon Resort.

No "words of wisdom" needed for Truk Odyssey - just enjoy! It ruins you for diving any other liveaboard, all of which pale in comparison.

 

[akdeepdiver]

Here are my lessons learned from being on it this summer:
1. If you dont have a Nitrox cert, get it before you go. Especially since nitrox is free.
2. Take a large travel/coffee mug if you are a coffee drinker. The coffee cups on the boat are small and you refill them a lot faster.
3. If your buying wood carving souveniers, dont buy in town, the wood carvers come on the boat near the end and they will negotiate for good prices.
4. I took a memory card for my camera for each day diving. That way its easy to catalog what ships you dove on. Just be sure to mark the cards.
5. After the last night diver is done, stay up till they throw the food scraps overboard. Its nice to drink a beer while watching the sharks feed on them.
6. Take two computers to dive with so if one goes bad, you still can dive.
7. Dive with the guides when you can, they deffinitly know the wrecks.
8. Take all the extra batteries you need. What you dont use, give to the dive guides, they take them home and use with thier families.

Any other questions, shoot me a PM.
Myles

 

[TaraBelt]

My husband and I were on the Truk Odyssey in January of this year. We were part of a group that had the entire boat booked. My husband got what we later came to know as skin bends. We were not impressed with the "ho=hum" attitude of the captain and crew. They tried to convince him that he had a cold or the flu. Another diver got the same illness. She had had it twice before and recognized it as a type of bends. Thank goodness. We had to nearly beg for the oxygen and then we could not get the ship's "doctor" to give us any diagnosis or suggestions for treatment. We told them that we wanted to call DAN and they highly discouraged it. They also did nothing to make a telephone available to us to do so. After a day of suffering and taking oxygen and finally feeling a bit better, my husband decided that he could continue to dive but would be super cautious on the first dive back in the water. To their credit, we had several "babysitters" on that dive. That made us wonder why they would not admit that he had the bends when we were on the boat and treat him accordingly. My advice would be to be well informed of the symptoms of any illness that you can get from diving so that you can self-diagnose and treat yourself. The rest of the liveaboard experience with them was great. Were it not for our "medical incident", I would recommend them highly. The diving in Truk is superb. Enjoy!

 

[Beatlejuice]

Here are my lessons learned from being on it this summer:

2. Take a large travel/coffee mug if you are a coffee drinker. The coffee cups on the boat are small and you refill them a lot faster.

Valuable advice! I'm going in July and I'll be sure to bring one!
Thanks!

 

[Wayan]

.............My husband got what we later came to know as skin bends. We were not impressed with the "ho=hum" attitude of the captain and crew. They tried to convince him that he had a cold or the flu. Another diver got the same illness. She had had it twice before and recognized it as a type of bends............

note that there is a Hyperbaric Unit In Chuuk which has 24/7 telephone support from a HBO Dr.

 

[mjh]

We had a great time on the Odyssey and found the crew and boat to be excellent.

Trip Report with suggestions.
Aquablue Dreams
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Aquablue Dreams

 

[Wil]

I just returned (Oct 12) from a week onboard the Truk Odyssey. The service they provide is fantastic!

In short, observations from my trip:
- Use NITROX, it's included, Daily mix is usually 30%. For deepr dives (Shotan/San Francisco Maru) they'll reset the mix to 24%. No individual NITROX mixes.
- Use the Dive Guides they offer, they all want to go diving and can take you to exactly what you want to see quickly. All the dive sites are great!
- Wear bathing suits and tee-shirts while onboard.
- When ashore; Women should wear something more than bathing suits. For the ladies, respect the Chuuk culture and cover up to below the knee.
- If traveling back to the US through Hawaii, you'll clear customs there. A 75min "layover" makes for a hectic transit through customs and immigration, but it can be done.
- The choice of tanks onboard are 80AL, 108Steel, and Double 80AL. If you desire to use Doubled 80AL and/or a pony bottle, you must request it in advance. Make it known on the documentation they provide in advance.
- O2 costs extra
- Label your charging station plug ins.
- Good advice from Myles on the wood carving purchases. The last day they'll bring them onboard and they have nice stuff.
- Odyssey will meet you at the airport and take you back for the trip home.
- Don't expect to go "out on the town", other than TrukStop Hotel and Blue Lagoon, there's nothing in town for you to see or do.
- You'll depart the ship around 0900 on your last day. Make plans to either stay at the Blue Lagoon or TrukStop Hotel for the day/evening. Flight out of Weno is usually 0220 Monday mornings. We went back to the TrukStop and had a great time. Dinner on the night you pull back in (Saturday) is on you. I recommend enjoying the Blue Lagoon restaurant that evening and having the Odyssey's tender take you back at a preset time.
- We used .5mm full suit, a 2mm shortie is fine too. We had jellyfish and a full (light weight) suit is recommended. I doubt you'll get cold, even diving 4-5 times a day, as we did.
- If you need or want something, ask the crew, they are there to ensure you have a great time, and you will.

If you have questions, send a note, I'll be happy to provide information.

Safe Diving,
Wil