Is Yap worth to stay one week?

[bearteacher.tw]

Thanks for Mike's detailed advises.

If we only can afford USD 5 for one meal, is it better to cook by ourselves in an apartment or eat out in some restaurant? We are also curious what kinds of food local supermarket sell and restaurant provide.

Besides, I checked the websites and found EMI Blue Lagoon Apartment offer cheap studio rent. Is this aprtment OK? Is it far from the town?

We are tight-budget divers and the airtickets cost too much for us. Diving is everything for us to Yap, so other payment, like accommodation and food, is smaller and better.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Mike Veitch]

Blue Lagoon is right across the street from Hilltop, both are apartments. They are close to town, in fact in town i would say. You would be better off cooking i suppose, dinners typically run over $10 per person at the restaurants. Sometimes there is fresh produce at the stores, sometimes not, depends on the last time a container ship was in...typically every two weeks...

You will find pasta, frozen meats etc no problem at the stores.

 

[bearteacher.tw]

Sometimes there is fresh produce at the stores, sometimes not, depends on the last time a container ship was in...typically every two weeks...You will find pasta, frozen meats etc no problem at the stores.

Is there fresh fruits or vegetables in Yap's store?

 

[Mike Veitch]

you can always find carrots, onions, cabbage, garlic, apples, and oranges....

Everything else is a sometimes yes, sometimes no....

 

[almitywife]

cheese mike, dont forget to tell him that you cannot find good cheese in Yap!

and despite this, hubby & i are heading to Yap in april

 

[bearteacher.tw]

Is wall dive in Yap good?

What can I expect to see during wall dives in Yap?

Thanks.

 

[Rooster]

YES!
Sharks, possibly mantas, schools of large bump head parrots, healthy coral. We saw a school of jacks that went swimming by in one direction for what seemed like five minutes. They could be seen for as far as the eye could see in both directions along the wall. The water was a little rough when we went out there. Made getting in and out of the boat a little interesting, but well worth the trip.

 

[SharkLover]

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

I was there a few weeks ago for 5 days and did 12 dives and still had a few more sites to go. It will depend on weather

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

Wall Diving is excellent! Verdigo especicially. Magic Kindom was my favorite. I went for this reason and NOT Mantas and was not disappointed. There are plenty of sites.

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

Yes it does as it is smaller and has people diving. The dive sites overall aren't as good (nor the rock islands) but for me the dive experience was better. You can easily walk anywhere in town. I found this especially useful when going out for dinner. Unlike Palau though, there is less for the non-diver


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

BTR is the BEST! Why? Because they offer individualized service.
I went diving with Dave (from the Keys) all week just him and I. They specialize in 4 people or less per boat. Don't kid yourself, bigger is not better

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.

It is dirt cheap there (hourly wage is $.085/hour). I was able to walk to different restaurants every night to eat fresh fish. I caught a 45 lb Wahoo and the hotel (Pathways) cooked it for me (I gave the rest to the staff)

See my trip report that I posted in January 06. I can't wait to get back there!

Dave P

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.