Is Yap worth to stay one week?

[bearteacher.tw]

We plan to dive in Yap in the middle of April and this holiday is about one week. Because we have been to Palau, we would like to dive in Yap only. But we heard some negative opinion about Yap that there is nothing except manta rays. We are quite worried about it. Please give us some clarification and suggestions:

1. Is Yap worth to stay one week? We will have 5 diving days there and plan to have three dives per day.

2. Except manta rays (of course, mata rays is our purpose to go Yap), what can we expect to see in the Yap? We don't want o see mandarin fish anymore because we saw a lot of them in Kapalai yet.

3. Compare to Palau, does Yap have some advantages on diving?

4. Is 'Beyond the Reef' this dive shop reliable?

5. We consider to cook by ourselves in the hotel when we dive in Yap. Is it a good choice? We have no idea about local living cost and what kinds of food we will have.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Damselfish]

There are plenty of things to see other than Manta Rays. The walls we went to were great and we did some dives in areas with reefs and scattered coral heads that had great critters all over the place.

The question is how good any particular shop is about taking you to other sites. So many people there go to Yap for shorter stays with the main goal of seeing mantas (or the mandarin fish) that a lot of trips will wind up doing just that. Which may result in people thinking that's all there is to see.

 

[drbill]

It would be hard for me to imagine a dive location that wasn't worth a wek stay (well, except for quarries, etc.). I've been diving one site for decades and still see new things almost every day. However, I'm a videographer so I have a real focus for my diving and always try to get better and better sequences.

A Chinese dive buddy of mine has done Yap, Palau and Guam. She liked all three and spent nearly a week at each location.

 

[divebuddy68]

This is such a great question for Mike Veitch. He is the Yap expert.

 

[Zeina]

We dove both Palau and Yap.
We loved Yap because of its atmosphere, but the diving there was not nearly as good as in Palau, in my opinion.
My trip report has photos and videos from both Palau and Yap
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=2011

 

[Rooster]

Yes it's worth a week. How many people are going? If you have a large enough group, 6+, you can usually have more of a say on where you want to go. If it's just you or a small group, then you are usually at the mercy of the group that you end up diving with. As others have said most people go for only a few days on their way to, or from, Palau. The focus of these groups is to see the mantas. If you stay a week and you haven't made prior arrangements, you might end up doing the same dives more than once. Though I love seeing the Mantas, Yap has a lot more to offer. I really like the outer wall diving. In my opinion the walls are just as good if not better than Palau is today. That being said, we just booked a trip back to Palau in April. It was a toss up between Palau and Yap. It was more the airline schedule than anything else that decided for us. You can get to Palau from here (Guam) any day of the week. Yap flights are only three times a week depending on arrival or departure. Arrivals are Sat, Wed, Thur and departures are Sun, Wed, and Fri. Hope this helps.

 

[BikerManiac]

We dove both Palau and Yap.
We loved Yap because of its atmosphere, but the diving there was not nearly as good as in Palau, in my opinion.
My trip report has photos and videos from both Palau and Yap
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=2011

Oh my...you making my decission very difficult. I was thinking about heading to Yap. But changed my mind because it's so hard/expensive to get there. So I was just thinking about heading to Palau. A round trip ticket from Hong Kong to Palau is almost $1000 (5-6 hours away) I guess is high season.

Now looking at your pictures I will have to think really hard.

Would be OK for a single diver?

 

[bearteacher.tw]

Dear Mike Veitch

Could you give me some advice and suggestions?

Thanks very much!!

 

[Mike Veitch]

Yes it is worth one week/5 days of diving. April is still great manta mating time, so you will see lots of them! The walls are also great down south, the caverns, the big schools of anthias.

I would suggest arriving on April 12 and leaving on the 19th. That would be Wed-Wed. with the full moon in the middle of your stay. Full moon gives the biggest tide exchange and therefore the clearest water in the manta channel.

Beyond the reef is a good dive shop, Dave the owner is very professional and he has personalized small groups. I am not sure what hotel you will be in so don't know if you can cook in your room. THe only place i can think of where that is possible is at Hilltop Apartments which rents apartments on a daily basis , none of the hotels have kitchens in the rooms.

 

[ChrisM]

We did Yap for a week a couple New Years ago and wish I had two weeks. Not just for the diving, although we really enjoyed Gilman Wall and Yap Caverns, but Yap is just a laid back, my kinda place. I'd go back in a second.