MantaFest 2023

We are extremely excited to be open again and have the privilege of welcoming back our friends and making new ones. The excitement just continues to grow with our upcoming 16th annual MantaFest (August 26 – September 9th, 2023) event and being able to have our photo/video pros back home with us along with all of our MantaFest family. We are fortunate to have our various sponsors continue their support of this event and are anxious to see which of you will be among the lucky winners for this year’s MantaFest. Please visit our website at mantafest.com to see what we have in store for this year’s MantaFest Event.

Mike Bartick

Earlier this year we were able to open for business, after 3 long years, with the commencement of our United Airlines’ Wednesday flights. In August, United promises to add back our Sunday flights which means divers can depart Guam on Tuesday or Saturday nights and return on Wednesday and Sunday morning. Covid restrictions on the island are relaxing making the environment a lot more tourist-friendly and the ability for us to introduce our new festival, BlackwaterFest. We will be hosting this event along with Mike Bartick, a world renowned underwater photographer specializing in blackwater diving and photography. Mike’s one of the bonafide pioneers of blackwater diving. Mike’s experience with blackwater diving will help make BlackwaterFest an educational, unique and safe diving experince. Learn more about Mike Bartick on his website.

BlackWaterFest 2023

BlackWaterFest will be a two-week event running September 9th through the 23rd, with manta diving during the day and blackwater by night. Each night, guests will explore the water over some of the deepest parts. of the Pacific Ocean. We will be doing two dives a night near the Yap Trench which reaches depths of over 9,000 meters. It will be a chance to discover exotic creatures of the deep blue which are rarely seen and you’ll get to experience their sighting in their natural habitat.

BlackwaterFest will help enhance your camera skills through daily photo seminars during the day before applying them on evening dives. This exceptional experience will change your outlook on the ocean’s wonders and will give you an up-close insight into her dark secrets.

If you would like to do both events, we are offering a special combo discount but if you can’t afford to spend four weeks with us, you can still enjoy the best of our two events by combining a week of each event to get the most of what Yap has to offer. Please visit our website at blackwaterfest.com to see what we have to offer for our newest event, or e-mail me directly at bill@mantaray.com and I will be happy to assist.

Marine Island Ecology Course (MIEC)

We would also like to highlight some of the things that have been happening this year at the resort from having the youngest guest of 2023 to co-hosting this year’s Marine Island Ecology Course (MIEC) with the Micronesian Conservation Coalition founded by Julie Hartup and the Yap Catholic High School. Here is a short slideshow of some of the fun we’ve been having.

Parting Shots

A few one and two-liners I’ve collected over time.

Shot 1:

COOL MESSAGE BY A WIFE: “Dear Mother-in-law, Don’t teach me how to handle my children. I am living with one of yours and he needs a lot of improvement!”

Shot 2:

When a married man says, “I WILL THINK ABOUT IT”, what he really means is that he doesn’t know his wife’s opinion yet.

Shot 3:

A bookseller conducting a market survey asked a woman, “Which book has helped you most in your life?”

The woman replied, “My husband’s checkbook!!”

Shot 4:

A prospective husband in a bookstore: “Do you have a book called ‘Husband – the Master of the House?'”

Salesgirl: “Sir, fiction and comics are on the 1st floor!”