Family Dive Adventures

Yap: Manta Ray Bay Hotel Dive Resort & Spa

The first time I heard the word Yap:

I really thought it sounded like the name of a fruit or some exotic critter. “What is a Yap?” I asked my good friend, Jerry Beaty of Dive Training Magazine. He laughed in that jolly, contagious laugh he has and said, “Yap, my dear Margo, is a place”. He then added that Yap was a place he thought I would very much enjoy and that I should go.

That was 2003; I have been diving for approximately 25 years now and consider myself well-traveled. I only recently within the past 7 years started exploring the South Pacific. Each year, Jerry would stop in at one of the many trade shows I attend and again put that word in my head, “Yap”.
In 2010 he popped in at my Palau Sam’s Tours family diving event and said, “Did you know Yap is just next door?”
Where is Yap? Yap is one of the Federated States of Micronesia. It’s almost impossible to find on some information sources. I plugged it into Trip Advisor and a few others and it does not come up under Yap. I could not even find it in the PADI directory for dive stores under Yap.
Yap is a cluster of tiny islands that stretch for 600 miles in the vast Pacific Ocean. Yap proper, a group of four main islands within a barrier reef, is approximately 500 miles southwest of Guam, 300 miles northeast of Palau, and 800 miles due east of Cebu, Philippines. The other islands that comprise the state of Yap extend eastward towards Chuuk, with one atoll about 80 miles to the south. Yap lies just nine degrees north of the Equator.

I travel from Charlotte, NC to Yap and that means flying to LAX, overnighting, and then on to HNL and from there to Guam and then to Yap and then to Palau… WOW! That’s what I said… Remember though, my rule of thumb is( I will never put anyone through something I’m not willing to do myself )especially when traveling with kids. THIS WAS SOOOOOO WORTH IT!

Manta Ray Bay is a perfect addition to our Palau Kids Sea Camp Family vacation. Our family dive adventures will include Yap this year on our way to Palau. June 15th departure from LAX arriving in Yap on the 16th, we will stay 7 nights at Manta Ray Bay, with 6 days of diving. We have scheduled daily activites Sun-Fri and a family island tour on Sat, with late check out before heading on to Palau. Please see our on line photo gallery .

Manta Ray Bay Resort — Is, the premiere dedicated dive resort on the island of Yap in Micronesia, designed by divers and built for divers. All of the dive facilities are conveniently located on property. Also offered, wildlife and nature kayaking, and a full range of island tours specifically designed to showcase Yap’s unique indigenous culture.

When you arrive in Yap:

It’s a very tiny airport, one terminal and as you step off the plane by ascending down the stairway to the tarmac below, you are greeted by the Yapese woman or sometimes men in their full native dress. This is very much a part of their culture, the Yapese still where their traditional clothing around the island. The women traditional dress does not include their top half being fully covered. I did not find this to be taken in any offensive or inappropriate way by any visitor or family. The women have beautiful flowered covered Leigh’s that are draped over their neck, shoulders and chest; they are a very humble and modest people. As you walk through the customs area you are welcomed with a smile and adorned with a handmade flower tiara or Leigh that is placed on your head or around your neck.

Manta Ray Bay Dive Resort:

Our rooms are ready and waiting for us, upon arrival. It is just after midnight, when we are taken to our rooms… No lifting luggage, it’s all taken care of. Presented with a comfy bed, and off to sleep the jet lag away. The rooms are themed with underwater scenes of manta or sharks etc. Manta Ray has Standard island view rooms, Ocean view rooms and Deluxe Ocean View rooms. I personally stay in the Ocean View or Deluxe rooms. I say that because you just don’t travel that far to not see what you see from an ocean view room. There is not much price difference but the ambiance is huge..

I love my room. I can’t tell you in words how breathtaking the view from the bedroom window was, so above is the picture out my bedroom window. The resort is charming and comfortable and just absolutely perfect for those that like it simple. The staff pays attention to detail and if they happen to miss one, all you have to do is ask.

When I travel:

I want to feel like part of the resort family, I want to get to know the people, the culture and I want to learn and grow as a person from my experiences. I want to take a piece of each place and hold it in my heart forever. Manta Ray Bay did just that. As keeping right in line with the places I chose for families, Manta Ray is family own, family run and family focused. Owner Bill Acker, a father, a husband and most important a family man has created a beautiful slice of paradise with his family and effortlessly shares that with each and every guest.

The resort staff is professional and extremely knowledgeable. They only want one thing from you each day and that is to see the smile on your face that says they have pleased you. Each time you are greeted, or served by the Yapese staff, they do so in a manner that is very proud yet humble as if they were representing their entire people to you.
There is a spa and it’s incredibly relaxing and well worth the experience as part of refreshing yourself from the long journey. There is also a coffee shop in the lobby that made me not miss Starbucks one bit, and for those that love an ice cold beer at the end of the day, Guests also enjoy Manta Ray Bay’s very own micro brewed beer right on the property .

The Manta Ray Bistro, the Island's finest restaurant with a great view of the lagoon, is also located on the main deck of the S/V Mnuw, a turn of the century South Seas Schooner that you will dine on. Breakfast is served on the main deck, lunch on the middle deck and dinner up at the Crow’s Nest, where I enjoyed the daily sunsets with a tropical drink. Kids enjoy the firing of the real cannons off the main deck at 4pm.

Stand back, they are very loud. The infinity pool with a waterfall slide and some coconut smoothies served to entertain the kids each afternoon along with fishing off the dock with the local kids.

The dive operation and the diving are superb:

I love the small boats (no crowds) fast and can get to some pretty awesome dive sites not easily reached with larger boats. The dive crew is amazing! I did not touch my gear from the first day that I placed it in my locker. Each morning it was on the boat and waiting for me. I like my gear set a little higher on my tank and I prefer small tanks as I have a few disks in my back Id love to replace. I showed my dive master just once and that was all that was needed. I do enjoy the valet dive service; I’m now 46 and my cowgirl diving days are behind me. Give me the pampering any day. My gear was rinsed and clean even tuned up my reg. At the end of the week, all I had to do was pack it.

Each dive was better than the next. No disappointments. Manta, manta and more manta, or did you want sharks. How could it get much better? Manta Ray Bay lives up to the name. I had never seen Manta until now and it’s a check mark off my bucket list.

How cool was it for little Zebedee Wakely at age 11 getting certified in Yap with Annie Crawley. She and I dove with him on his final dive at Manta Reef. I’m not sure how his dad is going to explain to zeb he started at the top. First dive with Manta and the rest of the week with sharks, this kids going to be famous, I know it. When we pulled up on the first shallow site just up a ways from Manta Reef, the kids were all excited about a shark dive. It was incredible, little black tips just perfect size for the kids to enjoy. I think we wore Ocean Annie out as the kids and I dove that same site 3 more times because we loved it so much.
Adults dove some of the best sites Yap had to offer including many of the staff favorites. Fresh baked bread and tea each day was presented when we returned from our first dive and a boat and crew ready to go right after lunch for those that did not get enough. The dive shop is called Yap Divers, they offer dive equipment rental, free NITROX, full service photo center and all PADI dive courses.

Other excursions included:

A trip to a local village, snorkeling off beautiful beaches, a traditional canoe ride, a cultural journey full of history at the Stone Money Bank and we even toured some of the WW1 relics.
I truly enjoyed Yap. I highly recommend it for anyone and everyone. It’s safe it’s fun and its wonderful diving, culture and history. It is the perfect add on or stop over to Palau for either 7 night or 4 night stays. I hope you will join us this summer for Yap and Palau family weeks.

by Margo Peyton.

Here are a few links to follow: http://www.mantaray.com/index.php ,
Yap Visitors Bureau site for more information: http://www.visityap.com/culture.html

History: For Yap family dive adventure photo album please click here

Yap is belived to have been settled by a seafaring people from the area today known as eastern Indonesia and the southern part of the Phillipines sometime around 1500 B.C. By 1525 A.D. the portugese explorer Diego da Rocha arrived in Yap.

By this time the Yapese are well known among the indigenous people all over Oceania as expert sailors and navigators.

During the 1870s both Spain and Germany lay claim to Yap. Papal intervention by Leo XIII decides the issue in Spains favor, but by 1899 they sell Yap to Germany.

In 1919 the Japanse take control of Yap. They are to remain until the end of WWII, when Yap is occupied by american forces.

Today Yap is part of the Federated States of Micronesia, which also contain Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. The FSM is a sovereign nation with a seat in the UN, but is closely allied with the US through a Compact of Free Association adopted in 1986. Under the agreement the FSM receives financial aid and various other benefits, such as the US Postal Service handling the mail. US Dollars are the official currency of the FSM.

English is widely spoken in Yap, even among the Yapese. There are no less than four major traditional languages: Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian and Satawalese. Yapese is spoken on Yap proper, the others on the outer islands.

The Yapese have managed to maintain their unique culture while selectivly adopting desirable improvements from the west. Modern schools have created a very high level of literacy and good health care is readily available.

The people living on the northernmost of the four islands comprising Yap proper: Rumung, have chosen to avoid contact with western civilization as much as possible. They generally do not encourage visitors, and have even removed the old bridge that connected Rumung to Yap proper!

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REMINDER: ALL US PASSPORTS MUST BE VALID FOR UP 6 SIX MONTHS PRIOR TO EXPIRATION DATE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY. AIRLINES ARE ENFORCING THIS

All schedules, itineraries and package inclusions are subject to change