We're just wrapping our 3-week Yap adventure . . .
WEATHER HAS NOT BEEN KIND . . . STILL - Here's what I posted yesterday on FaceBook: "DIVING IN YAP - DAY 19 - Yahoo!!!! Gorgeous sunrise. Sunshine ALL DAY!!!! First nice day in literally 16 days. (Rain every day and some wind to boot.) Still some rough seas so we were limited to the NE side of the island but had interesting dives including a semi-exploratory one at Goofnu Mini-Wall where instead of heading into the channel, we headed south. Amazing topography underwater. Saw some bleaching on one reef. Numerous turtles, some sharks, a couple of rays, and others of the 'usual' critters for here. But what a relief from what we've been getting so far. Tomorrow's our final dive day."
BUT WE'RE HAVING A GREAT TIME - Yesterday really showed the remaining five divers (from our overall crew of 11) what Yap can be like. I freely admit to being a bit prejudiced towards liking the place, not only for the diving, but for the overall ambiance and the attitude and attention we get from everyone at Manta Ray Bay Resort. So while it hasn't been the trip I envisioned, despite my complaining about the weather, it hasn't been the trip from hell either. The hellish part is the journey home, which starts around Midnight in Yap and involves a 2:35AM flight to Guam, 6:55AM flight tlo Honolulu, and then a redye into LAX, arriving around 5AM. But all part of what it takes to visit exotic places in the world.
WE'VE BEEN SEEING GREAT STUFF - We've had some really good manta encounters, including watch one feeding above the cleaning station, which is very unusual, sharks, rays, turtles, Mandarinfish, and bunches of other fish that you'd expect to find in the western Pacific. Here's a small smattering of what we've seen in the last week: |
