Yap and Palau

[Mike Veitch]

Any other sites to see them great mantas besides Yap?

Oh Ish i am hurt!! Its not far from Manila....

 

[ishbaby]

Yap is a dream dive :rofl: . . . was looking for something more inexpensive. Well, is there such a thing? hehe.

 

[vladimir]

Yap is a dream dive :rofl: . . . was looking for something more inexpensive. Well, is there such a thing? hehe.

Sangalakki has reliable manta sightings and is pretty close to Manila. I doubt there's a direct flight though; I went via Jakarta.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Just a thought...

While I experienced great diving in Palau, the experience that hit me hardest and has stuck with me longest wasn't underwater. We dove the invasion beach at Pelelieu. During the surface interval we went on a 3-4 hour land tour. We climbed up Bloody Nose Ridge, and checked out the Japanese howitzers still in the caves carved in the mountains, with their ammunition still there, stacked on pallets deeper in the caves. Taking that ridge must have been heartbreaking. There were tanks rusting in fields, and rifles and helmets peeking through the underbrush. Its like the battle ended and everyone simply walked away. There is a monument to those who died on both sides, thousands and thousands of young men died on Pelelieu. Standing in front of the black monument, all you could hear was the wind. I was a Marine Corps infantry officer at the time, so perhaps others would not find this as notable...but I don't think anyone could see the results of such savage combat lying around rusting all over the island and not be touched by the terrible dying that took place there.

I don't remember much about my second dive. But I haven't stopped thinking about that surface interval for over twenty two years.

Hope you're as lucky as I was. And welcome to ScubaBoard.

Doc

I read E.B. Sledge's With the Old Breed on the flight over to Palau: http://www.history.ilstu.edu/tahg/reactions/sledge_lamboley.html
It made the tour to the Beachhead, Airfield, Caves and Bloody Nose Ridge much more solemn & poignant. At the Monuments, all I could hear too --was just the wind and utter silence afterward. . .very spooky. A very sobering experience on hallowed ground. . .

 

[ishbaby]

Sangalakki has reliable manta sightings and is pretty close to Manila. I doubt there's a direct flight though; I went via Jakarta.

It's in Indonesia? I used to think it was in Malaysia. . .

 

[Mike Veitch]

Its on the island of Borneo, i think you can also get there via Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia but not sure.

 

[vladimir]

It's in Indonesia? I used to think it was in Malaysia. . .

It is in Indonesia but, as Mike pointed out, it might be easier to get to via Kota Kinabalu. From there you'd have to fly to Tawau, I guess, and on to Tarakan in Indonesia. It's been a long time since I've been there, but I'm sure it's still a hassle to get to. I stayed at Derawan Dive Resort and did dives off Derawan and Kakaban as well as Sangalakki. Kakaban has the only other Jellyfish lake outside of Palau--so the whole trip is kind of a budget Micronesia.

 

[Velour]

Thanks all! Now I just have to make it until November somehow...