Dive Review of Odyssey Adventures in
Micronesia

Other dive reports on Odyssey Adventures

Other Micronesia reports
Subscriber Content Preview
Active subscribers go here

Odyssey Adventures, Apr, 2012, by Edward Leibowitz, NJ, US ( Contributor 13 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 6524 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I’ve been to Micronesia in the past and always found the diving to be excellent. I’m a once-a-year recreational scuba diver. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to TRUK, since I heard that is very deep diving to view the Japanese merchant ships sunk during World War 2. I was also fearful that the divers and Odyssey dive guides would be excellent divers that would want to have nothing to do with a once-a-year recreational diver. This did not turn out to be the case at all. Both fellow divers and staff were very helpful. I normally take my diving vacations in May, but the April 2012 issue of Undercurrent mentioned a discount of $1000 through Reef and Rainforest on the Odyssey from April 13-23. Since I’m retired, I was able to go on this trip taking advantage of the discounted price. I remember the Monday morning briefing prior to diving. JJ who ran operations on the boat told us that diving here was not like diving in the Caribbean. He said that we get a fair share of bends cases due to the depths of the wrecks. At this point I was ready to ask him to be transported to the mainland so that I could travel to Palau or Yap for a more recreational type diving operation, even though I paid close to $5000 for this trip. My first dive of the week was the Kiyosumi. Depth was 70 feet. When I told the staff I was a bit fearful, they gave me a private dive guide. Being that I was the oldest diver on the Odyssey that week, I had a private diving guide the entire week. Sam, Madison and Kimberly proved to be excellent diving guides. At first, I only wanted to view the wrecks. However later in the week I was penetrating the wrecks with my personal dive guides. As the week progresses you dive deeper wrecks. JJ and his staff told us that the best wreck to dive was the San Francisco Maru at a depth of 165 feet which would be a decompression dive. For me it wasn’t, since Madison and I viewed this wreck very quickly. Diving guides recommended 15 minutes viewing the San Francisco at a depth of 165 ft. Madison and I spent about 5 minutes going from bow to stern of San Francisco. I did 19 dives on the Odyssey and did not have to decompress on any of the dives. You should be certified nitrox up to 40%, since this allows you more bottom time to view the wrecks. Although not truly needed, I would recommend using a combined nitrox and air computer to better monitor the times you can spend at various depths. You have the option of using aluminum 80’s or steel 105’s or doubles. All week long I used the steel 105 tanks. If you don’t want to dive the San Francisco, the staff will take you to a shallower dive site. Everybody on the Odyssey dove on the San Francisco the week I was there. The Odyssey tows a smaller boat, which would have been used on the alternate dive at a different site. The Odyssey has an excellent dive platform and practices safe diving. There is a bar 11 feet below the boat containing a scuba tank which can be used to off-gas or breathe air if needed while off-gassing. A scuba tank is placed on the San Francisco, should anyone need to use it. In addition to the scuba tanks on the San Francisco and the eleven foot bar, one of the dive guides stays at a depth of 10-20 feet with an additional scuba tank to breathe from should it be needed when returning from the San Francisco. For all of the dives, except the San Francisco tanks were filled with 30% nitrox. For the San Francisco tanks were filled with 24% nitrox. This was the first time on a scuba vacation, that I spent the entire week wreck diving. The good part about diving from the Odyssey is that you can do safe recreational wreck diving without being wreck certified. I’ve been taking dive vacations once a year for the past 30 years. The Odyssey has the best diving operation and is the best dive boat that I’ve encountered in all my years of diving. The Odyssey staff is very obliging and makes every effort to be helpful. Incidentally nobody got bent the week I was diving on the Odyssey. The Odyssey also offers a technical wreck week a couple of times a year for certified wreck divers. I got to Guam on April 14. The flight to Truk would not be leaving until 7:45 PM April 15. I obtained the services of a tour guide and enjoyed the 4-hour tour of Guam. If you have the time, I strongly recommend a guided tour of Guam. Our group had an 18 hour layover in Truk after leaving the Odyssey at 8:00 AM on April 22. We took day rooms at the Blue Lagoon Hotel on Truk. After settling in the hotel our group chose to do a 4-hour tour of some of the neighboring islands surrounding Truk with a tour guide. We had to do quite a bit of walking in extremely hot and humid weather over somewhat rocky terrain. I don’t recommend this tour. Mike Hoppe of Reef and Rain Forest did an excellent job in putting this trip together in a very short timeframe. The airfare to travel to Truk although high in price was much better than any airfare I could have obtained on my own. I highly recommend the Odyssey and the Reef and Rainforest diving travel agency.
Websites	Odyssey Adventures
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Malaysia, Caribbean, Phillipines
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	25-100 Ft/ 8-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I don't do underwater photography

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here

Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 468 dive reviews of Micronesia and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

Other dive reports on Odyssey Adventures

All Micronesia Dive Reviews and Reports
Diving Guide to Micronesia
Diving Reviews for All Dive Destinations

Featured Links from Our Sponsors
Interested in becoming a sponsor?

Reef & Rainforest, Let our experience be your guide -- Reef and Rainforest

Reef & Rainforest is an agency for travelers that scuba dive. Looking for sharks, wrecks, kayaking, tropical islands? We specialize in adventures to Micronesia.

Want to assemble your own collection of Micronesia reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

Undercurrent Home

Page computed and displayed in 0.13 seconds

Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email. And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent
Get a free monthly email and a sample issue!

Dive Review of Odyssey Adventures in Micronesia

Odyssey Adventures, Apr, 2012,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Odyssey Adventures in
Micronesia