Dive Review of The Village Hotel in
Micronesia/Pohnpei

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The Village Hotel, Nov, 2005, by Henry Ziller, CO, U.S.A. ( Top Contributor 38 reports with 21 Helpful votes). Report 2198.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	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.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Belize, Cayman Brac, Curacao, Dominica, Tobago, Hawaii, & Bahama
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, currents, noCurrents
Water Temp	83-88°F / 28-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-110 Ft/ 12-34 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	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.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	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.

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Dive Review of The Village Hotel in Micronesia/Pohnpei

The Village Hotel, Nov, 2005,

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 The Village Hotel in
Micronesia/Pohnpei