Yap Island
About Yap Island
Think Sharks and Giant Manta Rays swirling around you. Imagine steep walls and caves where you are at 30 metres (100ft) and you can go down to 60m (200ft) and along the wall for 50 metres (160ft). Imagine tiny creatures and vibrant reefs full of fish, and all of this on a tiny island with a great hotel, friendly people and an international airport. This is the world of Yap.
Yap State is made up is a series of Islands in the western Pacific ocean called the Western Caroline Islands. Yap is a state within the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap is one hour from Guam, which is only three hours from Manila and Tokyo. Yap was put on the global diving map by one man. His name is Bill Acker. Bill came to Yap as a peace corps volunteer and stayed on. He developed a business on Ulithi island and then created Yap Divers in Colonia on Yap Island. A visit by Paul Tzimoulas of Skin Diver Magazine opened Bill’s eyes to the resident Manta Ray population of Yap. Soon enough Yap was the place to go to dive with Manta Rays. But as the world shark populations came under pressure, the conservation policies of Yap meant that Yap is now famous for its shark diving. Grey Reefs, Silver tips, Mako’s White-tipped reef sharks and black-tipped reef sharks can be seen on the island.
The Manta Ray Bay Hotel
Soon realising that people from around the world wanted to come to yap, Bill Ackers built the Manta Ray Bay Hotel. The hotel was often called the best little hotel in the Pacific and has an excellent multi level bar and restaurant based on a stunning refurbished Indonesian Schooner called the Mnuw. This is island ingenuity at its finest. The hotel rooms face the sea and the garden, they are all are well appointed with TV, Air Conditioning, superb bathrooms and showers. Wifi is available in the lobby for free, and there is a great infinity pool. Most important of all, the staff of the Manta Ray Bay Hotel are so friendly, helpful and honest.
In addition to the hotel, Bills dive centre Yap Divers has excellent macro dives, black water dives and now Bonfire dives. Working in conjunction with some of the most famous black water dive centres in the world. With Mandarin fish abound the mandarin fish dive can be done every evening. There are some small shallow wrecks of Japanese aircraft to add to the whole picture. Finally there are reefs of gorgeous hard coral kilometres long in 50m clear blue water with schools of jacks and passing sharks. Bill has created yet another Yap divers speciality.
Getting to Yap
Getting to Yap is actually quite easy but there is no getting away from the fact that Yap is a small island many miles from anywhere big. For years the US Navy would issue a contract to an airline to do the run. This first went to Pan Am, which was found to be lacking. The contract was then passed to Continental Airlines, who agreed to operate the route in return for access to the Tokyo Route. United Airlines and Continental Merged and now fly twice a week to Yap from Guam. They are the only airline that currently serves Yap but their Pacific service is good and as Bill Acker is fond of saying “One of the world’s smallest Islands is served by the world’s biggest Airline”.
Prices can, however, be quite high from anywhere to Yap. In order to get to Yap easily and cheaply, when you are ready to book email us, and we will put you in touch with our great friend Bill Acker. If you choose to buy from him, he has negotiated rates from Manila and Tokyo to Yap for $760-$1100. This is often half the price of the standard fare.
We find that from Europe and the USA, it’s easiest to go through Tokyo. You can fly from London to Yap with two changes of plane and arrive at about 0400, You sleep in and dive the next day or afternoon. We do it all the time.
Yap Island - Price Guide:
A week is too short to explore Yap. We recommend a 10-day trip in Yap, or a week in the Philippines and a week in Yap. We are happy to book your Manila-Yap-Manila flights. A week in Yap starts at $1550 but we strongly recommend upsizing your package to include nitrox, 4 dives a day and lunch. Yap is beyond doubt a bucket list location.
We tailor make all itineraries to Micronesia but a general figure is $1550 for a week in yap with 5 days of diving (x2 dives per day) bed and breakfast. We can add Mandarin dives, afternoon dives and other meals as required. We can also add Island tours and other items, or you can book these in the resort at no extra cost.
Simply let us know when you want to go to Yap and for how long, we will send you the best possible price and our suggestions. If you are coming through Japan, you may wish to dive in Okinawa and Ryuku Islands, we can organise this for you as well. Indeed Japan and Yap make a great combination. See our Japan page for details.
For those who want to include Palau in their itinerary, we have excellent contacts with Fish and Fins and can combine your holiday with them. The flights from Manila-Yap-Palau-Manila are often less than $760.
So do get in touch for all your land-based requirements.