A Letter from Bill Acker

When Patricia and I opened Yap Divers back in 1986, we were simply hoping to build a business where people could come to experience the incredible diving and warm hospitality of Yap. We never imagined that forty years later we’d still be here, welcoming guests from around the world, many of whom we’ve been fortunate enough to welcome back year after year, until somewhere along the way you stopped feeling like guests and simply became friends.

Oh, and along the way we built the Manta Ray Bay Hotel which opened on Yap Day, March 1, 1990.

Some of you made your first trip here in the 1980s. Others discovered Yap only recently. No matter when you first arrived, you’ve helped make the Manta Ray Bay Resort what it is today.

As we begin celebrating our 40th Anniversary this week, I’ve found myself thinking less about buildings or milestones and more about people. The staff members who have dedicated so many years to the resort, the dive guides who have shared Yap’s reefs with thousands of divers, the families who return year after year, and the children who first came here with their parents and now bring families of their own.

Those are the memories that matter. They aren’t measured in years or numbers, but in friendships, shared adventures, and the smiles that greet us every day. Looking back over forty years, those are the things Patricia and I will always treasure most.

We’ve been incredibly fortunate to spend these forty years doing something we love, surrounded by wonderful people in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Somewhere along the way, Manta Ray Bay Resort stopped being just a dive resort. It became a place where old friends reunite and new friendships begin. If you’ve ever visited us in Yap, you’ve helped make that possible.

As our anniversary celebration begins this Sunday, Patricia and I simply want to say thank you. Thank you for your friendship, your support, and for allowing us to share this remarkable island with you for the past forty years.

Here’s to the memories we’ve made together, and to many more still to come.

From our family to yours,

Bill & Patricia Acker
Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers