Extraordinary Diving Around The World
YAP
Over 100 Manta Rays live year round in the waters surrounding Yap. In the winter (usually December to late April) the Mantas congregate in even greater numbers in Mi'l Channel for the mating season. During the summer season, they spend their mornings in Goofnuw channel in the Valley of the Rays. Every morning, huge Manta Rays cruise into protected channels that penetrate the barrier reef. They come to "Cleaning Stations" where small specialized reef fishes called cleaners pick off tiny parasites that the Mantas pick up in blue water while feeding. The Mantas slowly circle the cleaning station and frequently pass within inches of the observing diver's heads. Small Mantas are generally about 8 feet from wingtip to wingtip. The larger rays are up to 14 feet across. During the Manta mating season (December to late April), processions of as many as a dozen of the huge Rays can be seen cruising back and forth in Mi'l channel.
Yap holds a special prize for divers - it is the home of the Giant Manta Ray These marvelous, winged creatures appear daily and will spend hours hovering in the warm currents within feet of the diver. Yap boasts over 30 different dive sites, including the Manta Ridge, Gilmaan Wall, Yap Caverns, Lion Fish Walls, Milli Channel and Valley of the Rays.
Yap is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, the westernmost state of the Federated States of Micronesia. The "island" of Yap actually consists of four continental islands (hence the alternative name of the Yap Islands). The four are very close together and joined within a common coral reef and entirely formed from an uplift of the Eurasian plate. The land is mostly rolling hills densely covered with vegetation. Mangrove swamps line much of the shore. An outer barrier reef surrounds the islands, enclosing a lagoon between fringing reefs and the inner edge of the barrier reef.Colonia is the capital of the State of Yap. It administers both Yap proper and some 130 atolls reaching to the east and south for some 800 km (500 mi). 2003 population was 6,300 in both Colonia and ten other municipalities. The state has a total land area of 102 km² (38.7 sq mi). Yap is perhaps the most traditional of the Federated States of Micronesia's four states.
Best time to go:
Air temperatures remain in the 80s year-round. For land travel, there's little difference between the wet and dry season, although January through March is considered the most comfortable season because of lower humidity and slightly cooler temperatures. Water temperatures remain in the mid-80s(°F) year-round.
Typhoons (Hurricanes) are most frequent between August - December but are rare in Yap.
Add Ulithi on to your Yap dive trip and stay with the Ulithi Adventure Resort. Ulithi is the fourth largest lagoon in the world, and, until very recently, has not had a diver in the water. Why? It's remote and isolated with a little, nonprofit Christian airline flying there. And, very importantly, there has never been a hotel or dive shop until now.
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