Trip Report Yap trip

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Sometimes things work in your favor.

I was recently sent to Yap for work. Of course I schlepped along my dive and photo gear. Simply too far to go without at least one dive! As it turns out work ended quickly and I was able to get 4 dive days in. A total of 13 dives. The island, above and below the water line, will live with me till I'm gone. A very special experience.

Travel: 29 hours door to door. Rather daunting when you're preparing. If I had gone on my budget it would have been coach the whole way. Not fun. As it was, being a business trip, I sat up front.
Even with lay down seats (the 777-300 Polaris class is pretty sweet) it is just a lot of time stationary (yet moving very quickly SOG). The food was not too bad and had I been drinking, well I can see how that could be a problem, there is no shortage of drink.
Connections were easy. San Antonio> Houston> Honolulu> Guam. I did give myself a 4 hours layover in Guam. There are only two flights a week through Guam so I needed to make sure there was plenty of time for my bags to connect. No bags= no work or play. This plan worked, in that all the bags made it. It also failed, in that I got to Guam at 7pm (local) for an 11:40pm flight to Yap. Killing 4 hours in an empty airport after 24 hours of travel is..... tedious. Didn't want to fall asleep and miss the flight and anyway, there was nowhere to lay down.
Boarded the flight at 11:00pm and arrived at Yap International at 1:15AM local. Airport was quaint but bigger than I expected. It was also hopping for 2am! As this is one of the few flights each week and the vast majority of passenger were locals gather goods in Guam, there was quite a bit of activity. Families meeting family. Large cardboard boxes stacked high and sweating in the humidity. Trucks being loaded and welcomes being made.
The Manta Ray Bay Resort van and staff was there to shuttle me and my bags to their property. Turned out I was the only guest arriving that morning. The shuttle van was newer and in good condition. Cooler full of iced down bottled water and clean cloths for a rag bath. Quick intro and 15 minutes later we arrived a the resort.
To be honest, I remember the travel if I really sit down and think it through but I was so tired at that point it's all a bit of blur. I seem to look back on this trip with nothing but good thoughts. My brain has displaced any suffering or discomfort. I assume this is a coping mechanism. Same reason people keep having kids......

 

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Resort: I somewhat remember arriving. The staff is very understanding in regards to their clients diminished mental capacity and basically dump your bags and body in your room. Yap is 15 hours ahead of San Antonio so jet lag was a challenge but I set an alarm for 7am local and began the process.
The moment I emerged from my room I was greeted repeatedly by complete strangers; "Good morning Mr. Erik!, How are you today? Mogethin!?" It is one of their core values, great each guest by name. Nice touch. The entire staff is so amazingly friendly, upbeat, making eye contact, understanding, well versed and helpful.
The resort itself is clean, and maintained. It is much nicer than I imagined considering the location but is maybe showing a bit of age (if you look hard enough). My room was very nice. Suite with a king bed, plenty of storage, consistent/quiet A/C, hot water. etc. (Water is drinkable for the weak western gut). My room (106) had its own yard! Small patch of grass, some lawn chairs and a plunge pool, all tucked up to the seawall. The plunge pool I laughed off. Seemed a bit gimmicky. I was flat out wrong. After a long sweaty work day or dive day it was amazing. Clean and a couple of degrees below air temp, it was fantastic.
The restaurant, an old wooden sailboat moored in front of the resort was quaint. It's rough but cared for and has a nice homey feeling. Worn wooden floor planks creak under your feet and a very mild sway can be seen if aligning a window sill with the shore line. The food, though not a huge selection to work with, was always prepared well. Never under or over cooked. Good portions.
The restaurant is closed for lunch and most Sundays so keep that in mind.
The night before a dive, when you order dinner they will ask you for your lunch order too. As noted, the restaurant is closed for lunch but they do make you a lunch, the morning of your dive, to take on the boat.
Side note: There are two other recommended restaurants, both tied to hotels. The ESA Restaurant served a decent lunch. Oceana offered the most options with a bit more gourmet flair. Both are walkable from Manta Ray Bay.

Dive op: Yap Divers is connected to Manta Ray Bay. They run it as a separate operation but all the money (tips and payments) are handled through Manta Ray Bay.
Yap Divers has a couple smaller, fiberglass center consoles set up for diving. Tank racks. A solid swing down ladder off the port side. A cooler of ice water and one with hot tea (nice touch!). As well as hot, clean hand towels after the dives to help with nasal nudibranchs....Twin yamaha four strokes are reliable and quiet. No real camera storage though. I brought some extra towels and kept my rig between my feet.
The building has sizable, breathable dive lockers. For photo nerds (guilty) there are (maybe 10?) lockable camera tables/cabinets. Each with a dedicated microfiber towel, flexible desk lamp and and air tank with a hose and nozzle to dry your rig. I never used the lock (I saw no sign of crime/theft anywhere on the island.)
There are dedicated rinse tanks for each type of gear and nice, large stainless drying racks. Though I never really noticed these as I only touched by gear on board. The staff shuttles everything except cameras to and from the boat.
Tanks, AL80s, were (mostly) 3100psi and 35% Nitrox blend
There is a guide and captain. They may switch roles at any given time. We also had a Dive Master Intern join us.

 

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Diving: Great...but....
4 days of diving. 4 dives on day 1 and 3 dives a day for the following 3 days.
It started with a navigation through German Channel, bisecting the island, passing through the most dense, healthy mangrove forest(?) I've seen anywhere. Thoughts of men waging war here was overwhelming. In this era, though, it was simply breathtaking.
At this point my feeble mind began making some observations. There was no trash. None! Not a single plastic bottle, styrofoam cup or can hidden in the roots or at the bottom of the channel.
Then the life. Skittering back and forth along the banks were Archerfish and other mangrove dwelling characters. In great numbers and varied sizes.
There was no clear-cutting or sign of man. Just life. Pure, unmolested life.
Then clarity really hit. I was only only paying customer on the boat! With the guide and intern I had two subject spotters for 7 dives! I've never had a boat and guide to myself. What a treat. It led to a very low-key experience. Very personal. Very relaxed.
No dive time limits!! Just minimum air. No pace to keep. No silting, ducking, waiting. It was as close to a solo beach dive I think one may expect.
On the first dive sharks surrounded the boat. Black tips, silver tips and greys. Hitting the water revealed well over 100' vis! 84f and calm seas. More sharks than I have seen in one place (I don't do feed dives). Large schools of fish in many ranges of size and color. Healthy, very healthy hardcorals. From the breakers to edge of the wall, solid coral. Though very little soft coral.
It only took one dive for the team to realize I am a slow roller. I comb over small areas for a long time. This may have attributed to bonding. We (the staff and I) enjoyed the pace and freedom. Averaging 80 minute dives in subject rich environments. Including a couple shallow dives over 120 minutes, with no complaints from the staff!
Though Yap is known for the big stuff (sharks and mantas) the macro is very good! So after some talks we restructured our future dives. We planned wide angle and macro dives with contingencies (I shoot a DSLR so lens changing not optimal on the boat). It was a nice mix of Macro and Wide angle diving for my four days.

 

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The "but":

First; maybe I was spoiled. No, I WAS spoiled for two days. Private boat, private guides. But, after two days we were joined by a group of 6. Very nice group of Germans and Austrians. Good divers, good buoyancy and air consumption. No problem with them at all. That said, we were back on schedule. Covering lots of ground and a bit shorter dives. I found myself falling way behind (kinda accidentally on purpose...) and slowly catching up when the safety stops began. The real problem was 7 divers and 3 staff on board. This, bringing with it the required tanks, food, drink and gear for three dives. After 7 hours tiptoeing around this boat it gets a bit taxing. There is also limited shade up front. As the group was a group I sat upfront with the crew. We already had a relationship and it worked well. That said, my knees and shins got a good burn day 4. It was just too many people on such a small boat. So I guess my 4 days balanced out .

Second; on one dive I had a hard time descending. Maybe a little air trapped in my BC? That's when I did the double take on my pressure. It was 310psi, not 3100! Back up to the boat for a swap. Didn't take long and no damage done. I take full (well, most) responsibility. As a diver we are all required to check our own air and gear prior to each dive. I dive AI so the DM cannot see what the pressure was. Nor did I bother more than a quick glance as I was 'in the groove" and feeling confident. But how did that tank get on board.......

Third; the diving itself. Yes, it is fantastic! My only other regional comparison is Puerto Galera in the Philippines. That said, the amount of fish/critters at Yap, in both quantity and species, was about half of Puerto Galera (other than sharks). It is still 10x better than the Carribean but not as good as PI.

Fourth; the guides are not very well versed in the critters they have. Of the things I could not identify I did not get much help identifying them from the staff. This is rather minor. The key is they found them. There are plenty of books and online sources to sift through for those answers. Most of which has already been done.


The Island: Very special

This is a special place. It is not easy to get to. Not hard but much easier, cheaper options exist in the region. That also means less than 1000 tourists a year. No trinket shops, chain stores, crime... For me this is a true paradise.
This does make for limited supplies and high costs. Fuel and food are pricey. (no one takes AMEX and the ATM did not work for me so take extra cash). Diving was a bit costlier than I was used to as well, but again, fuel.
The people of the Philippines were the kindest, most hospitable culture I had come by, until Yap. Even the Filipino I worked with had to say "Everyone is so nice!". The Yapese have a great sense of pride. It is the cleanest place I think I have ever been. Like the mangroves, the roads and parking lots are free of litter. Things are trimmed or natural. Jungle or tidy (that's NOT a personal grooming metaphor). Just a simple, relaxed, happy pace to live. Maybe it's the Betel Nut....

I would love to return one day but between cost, time and so much more world to see, I'm not sure it will happen. Maybe a couple days after the next trip to the area. Only time knows. For now, even with the "Buts" it will remain an 8 of 10. Not too bad in my world.



Here is a link to a quick video/slideshow I posted with a few of the critter and some resort detail.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions.