1. Is Yap worth to stay one week? We will have 5 diving days there and plan to have three dives per day.
I was there a few weeks ago for 5 days and did 12 dives and still had a few more sites to go. It will depend on weather
2. Except manta rays (of course, mata rays is our purpose to go Yap), what can we expect to see in the Yap? We don't want o see mandarin fish anymore because we saw a lot of them in Kapalai yet
Wall Diving is excellent! Verdigo especicially. Magic Kindom was my favorite. I went for this reason and NOT Mantas and was not disappointed. There are plenty of sites.
3. Compare to Palau, does Yap have some advantages on diving?
Yes it does as it is smaller and has people diving. The dive sites overall aren't as good (nor the rock islands) but for me the dive experience was better. You can easily walk anywhere in town. I found this especially useful when going out for dinner. Unlike Palau though, there is less for the non-diver
4. Is 'Beyond the Reef' this dive shop reliable?
BTR is the BEST! Why? Because they offer individualized service.
I went diving with Dave (from the Keys) all week just him and I. They specialize in 4 people or less per boat. Don't kid yourself, bigger is not better
5. We consider to cook by ourselves in the hotel when we dive in Yap. Is it a good choice? We have no idea about local living cost and what kinds of food we will have.
It is dirt cheap there (hourly wage is $.085/hour). I was able to walk to different restaurants every night to eat fresh fish. I caught a 45 lb Wahoo and the hotel (Pathways) cooked it for me (I gave the rest to the staff)
See my trip report that I posted in January 06. I can't wait to get back there!
Dave P
bearteacher.tw:
We plan to dive in Yap in the middle of April and this holiday is about one week. Because we have been to Palau, we would like to dive in Yap only. But we heard some negative opinion about Yap that there is nothing except manta rays. We are quite worried about it. Please give us some clarification and suggestions:
1. Is Yap worth to stay one week? We will have 5 diving days there and plan to have three dives per day.
2. Except manta rays (of course, mata rays is our purpose to go Yap), what can we expect to see in the Yap? We don't want o see mandarin fish anymore because we saw a lot of them in Kapalai yet.
3. Compare to Palau, does Yap have some advantages on diving?
4. Is 'Beyond the Reef' this dive shop reliable?
5. We consider to cook by ourselves in the hotel when we dive in Yap. Is it a good choice? We have no idea about local living cost and what kinds of food we will have.
Thanks a lot.