Yap?

[Jonathan Bird]

OK, so taking my discussion of mantas to a new thread, let's talk Yap. Who has been there, and what do you think? Tips? Thoughts? Tim Rock....I'm counting on you here buddy!

Jonathan

[Mike Veitch]

Tim who?!?!? He tends to hang out in the Caribbean these days.... :p

He doesn't really know much anyway.. :D

WEll, all depends what you want.

Mantas: mating season with anywhere up to 30 mantas (thats the max i saw on Feb 26, 2005, i still remember the date...) basically is best around full and new moon in Feb, Mar, April. This is in Miil channel, the viz not the best, depth ranges down to about 80 feet at the deep cleaning station. Best done on nitrox. The mantas line up in a row and the males chasing the females, pretty cool. But they can move quick! Females trying to get out of the way, i personally think this season is better for video than photo....

Aug, Sept, Oct: on the other side of the island at Goofnuw Channel. This is around the time they feed, Sept especially. They tend to start feeding at half moon and continue on for 3 or 4 days toward full or new. THis channel is closer to the sea and tends to be clearer water, the current is stronger at times, and it is shallower, about 50ft. When not in feeding mode (which they do at the surface and can be a great snorkel...) they hover over a pinnacle type cleaning station or go in circles around it if more than 3 of them are there. When there are 3 or more they will hover right over the divers and clean with bubbles. If only 2 they usually sit on top of the station and we get butt shots... :p

I find this season to be far superior for photography than the mating season. Also they can number up to 8 or 10 when feeding...
But, if you are lucky and hit those special days when they are mating.. wow, amazing to see...

Also, summer season (we are north of equator) tends to be flatter water so most dive sites around the island are accessable. During winter the trade winds are up and can be limiting for dive site options...

Hope that helps.

Mike

[chris bangs]

Tim who?

Yap is also great for macro. mandarin fish at night and a great macro site that you can fill a 2GB card with many different subjects on a single dive.

Sea Moths too but I do not have to go to Yap any more to find them. found em across the street from the Dive shop I manage.

[Jonathan Bird]

Mike, thanks very much for your post here and the e-mail you sent me. I e-mailed Bill Acker to work on setting up my trip and he has been absolutely fantastic and helpful. What a great guy! I don't think I have EVER dealt with the manager/owner of a hotel/dive operation that has been so quick to respond and so thorough in answering my nagging questions. What a pleasure to deal with someone like that. He clearly loves Yap and wants others to experience it as he does. (He was glad to hear that I was planning on staying more than a few days. Apparently a lot of people just swing by Yap for a couple days on the way to Palau and you just can't get all the photo ops in a few days).

So the answer is, I'm putting together a 10 night (9 days of diving) trip for October 2008. I know, it's 2 years away, but my 2007 is completely booked already. Two years gives me plenty of time to set everything up and do it right. I'm looking forward to it already. As someone who has been to Kosrae, Pohnpei, Kwajalein and Chuuk, I am familiar with the wonderful diving in Micronesia and the Marshalls.

Mantas, a shark feed, great macro, clear water, nice reefs....hoo boy, sounds like good fun. And even with airfare, it's only marginally more expensive than a trip to the Revillagigedos.:cool:

Jonathan

[Jonathan Bird]

This is a great manta video I found on ocean.com. Check it out. It was made in Palau I think, not Yap, but still cool!!

http://www.ocean.com/film.asp?locationid=0&resourceid=7413&ProdId=&CatId=48&TabID=&SubTabID=

Jonathan