Yap did NOT blow me away

[pilot fish]

I think any place after 8 nights in Truk Lagoon might suffer in comparison, so I’ll try to limit this report to Yap itself and avoid comparing.

Diving:
I was unimpressed with Yap diving, on the whole. The vis was poorer than I expected, 30, 40, 50 ft, good day 60 to 70ft and reefs not that spectacular – good configuration but a bit drab. I have seen as good, and better, in the Caribbean. One thing Yap has is an abundance of manta but not much else that you could not see closer to home. Each day we left the dock at 7:30 am for the trip to the manta sighting spot: Mil Channel. We sat on the bottom at 70ft waiting for the elusive manta. Several mornings we were lucky and saw a few manta circles above and around us. It was quite a sight but I think a week of that would get a bit worn. The second dive at Mil Channel was not a great dive –no vis due to tide change. After a few second dives at Mil we asked for a reef dive, which was better, but not great.

Dive Op:

Very good. Jan, the dive op manager, is the best I’ve ever seen. The boats are not crowded and the trip out thru the mangroves to dive site very interesting and pleasant. The first dive after we arrived on the big boat was rough, due to 1 hour trip thru choppy seas. DM’s are good and do everything to make your dive easy. They set your gear up and even change tanks for you. All dives are nitrox, if you are certified. I think that is already figured into price? Gear rinse tank are good and good after dive shower at the dock. Gear storage is very good and extremely safe. You leave your BC and reg on top of your gear in the locker shelf and it will be set up when you report to the dock to board the boat..

Hotel:

Very clean, good looking, comfortable and orderly. Staff OK. Not in such a picturesque setting though – right off a road and in view of some factories .It’s not bad, but there are no hotel grounds. They have done a great job with the limited space they have though. The Indonesian schooner where the restaurant is, right off the back of resort, is very unique and fun. Pool is very pretty but postage stamp size.

Transportation there:

Forget it! Odd travel times and connections. Much too difficult and greatly diminishes any joy of diving there. You either leave the island at 5 am or 2:30 am –keep in mind you must be at the small, humid, poorly run airport two hours prior to departure. Not fun. If Yap is your only destination traveling from US, Canada or UK, give it some more thought.

Food:

OK but you can get as good, at half the price, right across the street at Oasis. You eat on an old, refurbished Indonesian schooner, which makes the whole experience interesting. Breakfast is a bit cramped, not a great selection, and a bit rushed, due to very early boat departure time.

In short, the trip to Yap was Ok but I would not rush back.

 

[deeper thoughts]

That doesnt sound like its worth the time and cost

 

[pilot fish]

That doesnt sound like its worth the time and cost

If it is your ONLY destiantion in Micronesia, then NO it is not! If it had been my only destiantion I would have been disappointed. Truk carried the day, as did Palau, from what I heard from everyone that had just come to Yap from Palau. If you're headed out that way give Truk and Palau some serious consideration.

 

[Damselfish]

I wouldn't go all the way to Yap only on a trip but I think it's good to combine with someplace else. The flight times do suck but that seems to be the case for many Pacific islands, just the way things work out with long flights, time zones, and island hopping planes.

The Manta thing can get old, but we did some wall dives that were great though a distance. We also did some nearby reefs that weren't fantastic reefs, but certainly had lots of interesting critters. I think the hard part is getting to the other diving as they tend to do the manta dives all the time. If everyone else wants to do mantas - which they probably will because thats what's promoted and why most people came there - you're kind of stuck. I think promoting the mantas so much encourages people to come the first time but doesn't encourage them to come back.

 

[pilot fish]

Yeah, that as an only destination really would be a waste. The travel times to Truk were much more reasonable, human actually.

We did a lot of other dives sites after the first manta Mil Channel site, since we all knew the second Mil dive was a waste. Good reefs but not as good as I expected it to be. It was Ok, but not great, you know?

I think they promote, over promote?, manta rays because that's it. Without that they are just another dive place. Nothing extraordinary.

I wouldn't go all the way to Yap only on a trip but I think it's good to combine with someplace else. The flight times do suck but that seems to be the case for many Pacific islands, just the way things work out with long flights, time zones, and island hopping planes.

The Manta thing can get old, but we did some wall dives that were great though a distance. We also did some nearby reefs that weren't fantastic reefs, but certainly had lots of interesting critters. I think the hard part is getting to the other diving as they tend to do the manta dives all the time. If everyone else wants to do mantas - which they probably will because thats what's promoted and why most people came there - you're kind of stuck. I think promoting the mantas so much encourages people to come the first time but doesn't encourage them to come back.

 

[ffestpirate]

Maybe the diving doesn't suck. Operator error, perhaps?

 

[pilot fish]

Maybe the diving doesn't suck. Operator error, perhaps?

Maybe you're too use to reading dive magazines? Have you been there? Do you have a different view, based on YOUR personal experience?

 

[pilot fish]

Didn't Think So!

 

[Cacia]

I just don't know if too many places could wow me, butted up against Palau.
Palau is my gold standard.

So, get any great topside shots?

and lets see the diving pictures!

 

[pilot fish]

I just don't know if too many places could wow me, butted up against Palau.
Palau is my gold standard.

So, get any great topside shots?

and lets see the diving pictures!

That's very true, which is why I avoided any comparison and wrote about my trip to Yap as a seperate event. It was Ok but not great.

I have plenty of uw shots but none above water in Yap.