Yap or Palau...which to dive first

[Karen Dancheck]

My husband and I are planning a trip to Yap and Palau in 2014. We are flying from the East Coast and will most likely stop over in Hawaii just to catch up on sleep on the way there. We'd like to spend 10-12 days in Palau and 4-5 days in Yap. Seems a bit tricky with the flight schedules. It looks as if we do Yap after Palau then we get into Yap at 3:15am on a Sunday, dive Sunday & Monday and off gas on Tues, then depart Wed at 3am. That schedule seems exhausting. Looking for some travel advice!

Thanks!

 

[Shasta_man]

I've only done Palau. My perception is that Yap can be good diving, but you'll likely end up with better diving in Palau due to more diversity of sites. So I'd do Yap then Palau otherwise Yap might not so exciting after spending 10-12 days diving Palau's walls, etc. including mantas in German Channel. There is history and beauty on land as well in Yap so depends on what will be most exciting to you.

Be certain to check on diving on Sunday in Yap. Some places don't work on Sunday's and that includes taking you diving. That might not apply where you are going in Yap but confirm that.

It's a shame they based the clocks on the main continents because these island locations always fly at 3 AM or some other ridiculous hour to get into civilization, ugh, at a decent hour.

 

[Deep Water Dan]

I live out here, so I can go to either Yap or Palau on moment's notice and without much planning. I've been to Yap three times, twice this year. I've only been to Palau twice. My next trip that direction is going to be to Yap again. I prefer the more relaxed diving atmosphere and culture of Yap. That and having mantas pass a few inches over my head. Again and again and again and again. Vertigo Wall beats the hell out of the Blue Corner for shark action, hands down. At Blue Corner, the sharks swim way out in front of you. At Vertigo, they swim into you. And there can be upwards of 50 of them. The diving in Palau is spectacular and not to be missed. But it can get pretty hectic, like when you dive the Blue Corner with 50 or more of your closest dive buddies. No problems diving on Yap on Sunday. I always do a manta dive the morning prior to departure (i.e. I dive Saturday prior to the Sunday morning flight). The manta station is at about 15 feet and I do it on Nitrox. Leaves plenty of time to off-gas. Personally, I'd add a few days to Yap. While it's still relatively unspoiled. BTW, my profile picture was taken on Yap a couple of months ago. That picture is uncropped and I wasn't zooming.

 

[bbarada]

We did that trip in 2010 on Continental Airlines. We live in San Francisco, and we flew from San Francisco to Honolulu, then to Guam, then onto Yap. We went to Yap first, for 4 days (3 days of diving) then on to Palau. Back then you got into Yap about 1:30 in the morning. We dove Yap the next day. Then we boarded the flight to Palau about 1:00 in the morning and it's only an hour flight to Palau.

The flight to Palau originated in Guam, stopped in Yap, then continued onto Palau.

Hope you can get the same connections.

 

[docbonezz]

I just got back form Palau about a week ago. It was nice, but before you decide how many days you are going to spend at each I would first look at "WHEN" you are going. There wasn't much going on in Palau in mid April. I thought thee would always be big stuff in Palau. There was lots of gray reef sharks, but no mantas or much of anything else. So just look into what is going to be around the time of year you are wanting to do your trip. Yap may be better than Palau. It was also the rainy season in Palau. It did not rain constantly but it did rain a lot.

The other thing you should look into is who you are going to dive with in Palau. I have been to Palau twice and both times I dove with Sam's Tours. If I go back I will not dive with Sam's Tours again. Very un-organized. Forgetting divers lunch and not coordinating dives with packages they had paid for were things I saw. I had 5 days of diving while in Palau and the first three days we did the same dive sites. From the first day we were there we wanted to dive Peleliu. Although we did Blue Corner, Blue Holes and German Channel three days in a row. When you are on the Blue Corner and Blue Holes dive sites, Peleliu is just a few miles away.

 

[guamrider]

Hi, I agree with Deep Water Dan on Yap. I've been to both over 70 times since 1985 and regularly take divers to both places. I'd go there first but make sure you plan your trip to dive there on the high tides in the morning. The main manta "station " as Dan said is only 15-20 ft deep and well inside the outer reef. This makes it very susceptible to tide water changes.

To get the clearest water (vis could be up to 40-50ft) you really have to plan around the tides. Take a look here.

As far as the flights as concerned we really have no choice. Every United flight out here to and from the islands are all designed to feed the Guam to Hawaii flight at 6am or so in the morning. Check the flight on Delta through Japan, they tend to be cheaper. Personally, I'd wait until next September to book your flights as there's a very good possibility that some interesting flight changes into Guam will be out then.

There's more travel info on Yap here.

Hope this helps.

 

[Karen Dancheck]

Thanks for all the info! With our air miles on United, that is the airline that we would fly. I was just wondering...I see that a lot of the flights that get into Guam, get in in at 10:05pm and depart for Yap at 11pm. :55 does not seem like enough time to allow! Any thoughts on this?
Thanks

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Hi Karen,

I'm working with Chris at Palau Dive Adventures and both Manta Ray Bay and Yap Pacific Resort. We usually route folks on United. The last couple we sent started on the US west coast and did Yap first, then flew to Palau arriving late night (like midnight-1AM). All the connections went very well for our divers. Contact me off board if you like and we would be glad to get you some details info.

Cheers, Greg

 

[Karen Dancheck]

Thanks Greg. Check your e mail!

 

[Adventure-Ocean]

You may consider flying to Guam first. They have flights that go to Yap first then on to Palau. You could get off for a few days in Yap then on to Palau on the same ticket. The flight back to Guam can skip Yap. Yap has great sea life but can be merky depending on the tides. Palau is about the best diving I've ever done. I was there in the 80's and 90's. Global warming is changing things. Have a great time. Don't miss the Blue Corner in Palau!