almitywife
Vegemite Mod
Trip Report Yap, Micronesia - Part 1!
Hubby wanted to see Mantas and after a few false starts in Queensland we decided to go to Yap.
To get to Yap was a bit of a journey;
Flight details were:
Sydney to Cairns: 7hr layover in a very deserted international airport
Cairns to Guam: 32hr layover in a very fun town loved Guam!
Guam to Palau: the most miserable 5hr layover I have ever experienced
Palau to Yap: quick flight to get where we needed to be
Yap to Guam: 8 days later starting our journey home with a 12hr layover in Guam
Guam to Cairns: arrived in Australia at midnight and a 12hr layover in Cairns
Cairns to Sydney: home again now to plan our next trip!
Most of the flight times were past midnight and we eventually arrived in Yap at 3.30am!
Advise to those planning a trip to Yap - fly directly to Manila and then a flight to Yap and save yourself a lot of travel time plus arrive in Yap at a very reasonable 7pm. The flight from Guam to Yap is usually a little over an hour but because we are forced to fly to Palau first the trip took almost 9 hours from Guam.
Things we didnt know when we booked:
Time your trip with a full moon in Yap we were just lucky that we did but we had no idea at the time that this was the best thing for mantas!
If you havent got your nitrox cert, get it for this trip! During our trip nitrox was free, but we were the only 2 using it on our boat other than the guide, and as all the dives were at a consistent 20mtr depth it was greatly appreciated.
If you into or want to get into photography or video, contact the photo professional at Yap (and fellow SBer) Mike Veitch for a 2 day course!
I also suggest carrying a safety sausage. I usually dont carry one but there was a lot of boat traffic plus a strong surface current so for peace of mind keep one on you for just in case.
Yap Divers will do everything for you or as little as you like. Each morning we would get down to the shop early to set up but it seems most people preferred to have the guides collect their gear and set it up. Heheheh, in fact, we even saw some people ring the front desk so a porter would go to their room to carry their camera down to the boat.
Mid way during our trip, a group from the Palau Wet Pixel Shootout arrived in Yap so on our last night we were given a presentation of their Palau trip great shots!!!!
2 techno things I didnt go for in Yap.
The week we where there the owners were setting up a huge projector screen on the boat/restaurant. The soccer World Cup was one of the things they planning on watching plus photo shootout presentations. Although a good idea, by the second night of movies I was getting a bit fed up with the sound blaring (killed off every conversation in the restaurant) plus I could no longer hear the water lapping outside our balcony. Next door was the Water Inn and a few of their guests where grumbling to me about the sound system blaring away also. It did seem to go no later than 11pm but I would like to hear that the novelty wears off and they keep it for only Friday and Saturday nights in future.
The other thing is that during our trip they installed fibre optics all along the boat/mast ect so on our last night we were woken at 1am by blazing flashing colours of red, blues and greens. Again I hope the novelty of this wears off and they turn it off at a reasonable hour.
3 techno things I did go for in Yap!
Our mobile phones did not work!
No TV!!! Although you have a TV and DVD player in your room (DVDs available at the front desk), there is no TV station on Yap.
They are building an internet/IT room and I like this idea. Otherwise next door is a very good internet café that charges $6USD per half hour.
Yap!
Fantastic! Loved it and very happy to go back!!!!
We stayed at: Manta Bay Hotel
We dived with: Yap Divers at Manta Bay Hotel
http://www.mantaray.com
Arriving in Yap:
We arrived at 3.30am at a chicken shed of a airport with very dim lighting and was already having fun despite the time and because of the chaos but they do seem to be building newer airport facilities.
The staff of Manta Bay Hotel has this part down pat. Our names on a list, a bus waiting for us, plenty of staff to take our bags in a separate truck. You are given your room number when you get on the bus and during the trip to the hotel you are given a run down on the hotel operation and can ask any questions you might have, including the dive schedule for that day. Once at the hotel you are shown your room and the bags are delivered.
Our Room:
The room we had was fantastic! (room 214-ocean view). The best dive trip room weve had in all our years of dive trips. Huge room with two queen sized beds. The beds are firm and comfortable and a quick look under the sheets shows me that the owners have spent money on these brand new furnishings. Brand new air conditioner is running but quickly turned off to enjoy the ocean breeze coming thru our balcony windows and the shower is huge and spotlessly clean, although can be a bit slippery but placing a hand towel on the shower floor stoped any near falls.
Each room is themed after a marine animal, we had Chromodoris but there is eagle ray, hammerhead shark ect. The room theme is complete with prints on the wall, matching bed covers and shower curtains all matching the theme.
Dive Facilities:
Next morning we go downstairs with our dive gear and again you can see that the owners of this place arent skimping on anything. Outside the dive shop are 3 beautiful Bali huts with plenty of seating. Inside are camera tables with lockup storage 2 different table heights is a nice touch as hubby is 6ft tall. We have also been issued each a storage area for our dive gear both shelf and hanging areas complete with hangers.
They have 3 big tiled wash tubs set up with fresh water and underwater lighting and 2 camera rinse tubs plus 2 showers near the tubs to rinse yourself off.
Outside the dive shop is a huge whiteboard and Jan (Belgium guy), the shop manager, already has you listed down for a boat and dive. There are double boat dives in the morning, followed by a 3rd dive in the afternoon if you are interested and then either a dusk/mandarin fish dive or a night dive. Shark feed dives are available but a minium of 10 people are needed.
If you need to hire gear they have an excellently organized setup for that also.
Tanks 32% nitrox from a membrane system and air available, I would hate to count how many tanks they own and they have a fulltime staff member filling tanks all day.
The Restaurant:
The restaurant is a big 3 levelled Indonesian boat moored just 20mtrs from the hotel lobby the food is great! No need to go elsewhere, in fact the week we were there people ate elsewhere and were sick that night. The hotel has its own micro-brewery (Stone Money Brewery) with 2 types of beer on tap and a full bar. Oh, and if not in the mood to leave your room, room service is available.
Front Desk & Tours:
The front desk has a souvenir shop next to it for shirts, jewellery, hats ect and they have a fridge so you can get bottles of water or soft drinks without having to go to the restaurant. BTW, the hotel filters the water so the tap water is safe to drink and if you want a mini fridge in your room just ask and they will deliver one we were told.
They also have a tour schedule available for kayaking, village trips ect for you to book.
The Pool:
During some down time check out the infinity pool with the manta tile mosaics. Drinks served to you while lazing on the comfy deck chairs is a nice way to spend your non diving day before your flight home.
Hubby wanted to see Mantas and after a few false starts in Queensland we decided to go to Yap.
To get to Yap was a bit of a journey;
Flight details were:
Sydney to Cairns: 7hr layover in a very deserted international airport
Cairns to Guam: 32hr layover in a very fun town loved Guam!
Guam to Palau: the most miserable 5hr layover I have ever experienced
Palau to Yap: quick flight to get where we needed to be
Yap to Guam: 8 days later starting our journey home with a 12hr layover in Guam
Guam to Cairns: arrived in Australia at midnight and a 12hr layover in Cairns
Cairns to Sydney: home again now to plan our next trip!
Most of the flight times were past midnight and we eventually arrived in Yap at 3.30am!
Advise to those planning a trip to Yap - fly directly to Manila and then a flight to Yap and save yourself a lot of travel time plus arrive in Yap at a very reasonable 7pm. The flight from Guam to Yap is usually a little over an hour but because we are forced to fly to Palau first the trip took almost 9 hours from Guam.
Things we didnt know when we booked:
Time your trip with a full moon in Yap we were just lucky that we did but we had no idea at the time that this was the best thing for mantas!
If you havent got your nitrox cert, get it for this trip! During our trip nitrox was free, but we were the only 2 using it on our boat other than the guide, and as all the dives were at a consistent 20mtr depth it was greatly appreciated.
If you into or want to get into photography or video, contact the photo professional at Yap (and fellow SBer) Mike Veitch for a 2 day course!
I also suggest carrying a safety sausage. I usually dont carry one but there was a lot of boat traffic plus a strong surface current so for peace of mind keep one on you for just in case.
Yap Divers will do everything for you or as little as you like. Each morning we would get down to the shop early to set up but it seems most people preferred to have the guides collect their gear and set it up. Heheheh, in fact, we even saw some people ring the front desk so a porter would go to their room to carry their camera down to the boat.
Mid way during our trip, a group from the Palau Wet Pixel Shootout arrived in Yap so on our last night we were given a presentation of their Palau trip great shots!!!!
2 techno things I didnt go for in Yap.
The week we where there the owners were setting up a huge projector screen on the boat/restaurant. The soccer World Cup was one of the things they planning on watching plus photo shootout presentations. Although a good idea, by the second night of movies I was getting a bit fed up with the sound blaring (killed off every conversation in the restaurant) plus I could no longer hear the water lapping outside our balcony. Next door was the Water Inn and a few of their guests where grumbling to me about the sound system blaring away also. It did seem to go no later than 11pm but I would like to hear that the novelty wears off and they keep it for only Friday and Saturday nights in future.
The other thing is that during our trip they installed fibre optics all along the boat/mast ect so on our last night we were woken at 1am by blazing flashing colours of red, blues and greens. Again I hope the novelty of this wears off and they turn it off at a reasonable hour.
3 techno things I did go for in Yap!
Our mobile phones did not work!
No TV!!! Although you have a TV and DVD player in your room (DVDs available at the front desk), there is no TV station on Yap.
They are building an internet/IT room and I like this idea. Otherwise next door is a very good internet café that charges $6USD per half hour.
Yap!
Fantastic! Loved it and very happy to go back!!!!
We stayed at: Manta Bay Hotel
We dived with: Yap Divers at Manta Bay Hotel
http://www.mantaray.com
Arriving in Yap:
We arrived at 3.30am at a chicken shed of a airport with very dim lighting and was already having fun despite the time and because of the chaos but they do seem to be building newer airport facilities.
The staff of Manta Bay Hotel has this part down pat. Our names on a list, a bus waiting for us, plenty of staff to take our bags in a separate truck. You are given your room number when you get on the bus and during the trip to the hotel you are given a run down on the hotel operation and can ask any questions you might have, including the dive schedule for that day. Once at the hotel you are shown your room and the bags are delivered.
Our Room:
The room we had was fantastic! (room 214-ocean view). The best dive trip room weve had in all our years of dive trips. Huge room with two queen sized beds. The beds are firm and comfortable and a quick look under the sheets shows me that the owners have spent money on these brand new furnishings. Brand new air conditioner is running but quickly turned off to enjoy the ocean breeze coming thru our balcony windows and the shower is huge and spotlessly clean, although can be a bit slippery but placing a hand towel on the shower floor stoped any near falls.
Each room is themed after a marine animal, we had Chromodoris but there is eagle ray, hammerhead shark ect. The room theme is complete with prints on the wall, matching bed covers and shower curtains all matching the theme.
Dive Facilities:
Next morning we go downstairs with our dive gear and again you can see that the owners of this place arent skimping on anything. Outside the dive shop are 3 beautiful Bali huts with plenty of seating. Inside are camera tables with lockup storage 2 different table heights is a nice touch as hubby is 6ft tall. We have also been issued each a storage area for our dive gear both shelf and hanging areas complete with hangers.
They have 3 big tiled wash tubs set up with fresh water and underwater lighting and 2 camera rinse tubs plus 2 showers near the tubs to rinse yourself off.
Outside the dive shop is a huge whiteboard and Jan (Belgium guy), the shop manager, already has you listed down for a boat and dive. There are double boat dives in the morning, followed by a 3rd dive in the afternoon if you are interested and then either a dusk/mandarin fish dive or a night dive. Shark feed dives are available but a minium of 10 people are needed.
If you need to hire gear they have an excellently organized setup for that also.
Tanks 32% nitrox from a membrane system and air available, I would hate to count how many tanks they own and they have a fulltime staff member filling tanks all day.
The Restaurant:
The restaurant is a big 3 levelled Indonesian boat moored just 20mtrs from the hotel lobby the food is great! No need to go elsewhere, in fact the week we were there people ate elsewhere and were sick that night. The hotel has its own micro-brewery (Stone Money Brewery) with 2 types of beer on tap and a full bar. Oh, and if not in the mood to leave your room, room service is available.
Front Desk & Tours:
The front desk has a souvenir shop next to it for shirts, jewellery, hats ect and they have a fridge so you can get bottles of water or soft drinks without having to go to the restaurant. BTW, the hotel filters the water so the tap water is safe to drink and if you want a mini fridge in your room just ask and they will deliver one we were told.
They also have a tour schedule available for kayaking, village trips ect for you to book.
The Pool:
During some down time check out the infinity pool with the manta tile mosaics. Drinks served to you while lazing on the comfy deck chairs is a nice way to spend your non diving day before your flight home.