A lot of our friends, including us, have been looking forward to the opening of the FSM borders, which was scheduled to happen on the 1st of August. However, due to a quick rise in positive covid cases on Yap from returning residents who proudly represented our island at the Micronesian Expo held in Pohnpei last month, resulted in Yap State implementing a government mandated 7-day quarantine for all travelers entering Yap. This mandate has since been rescinded by Yap’s Governor, the Honorable Jesse Salalu, on the 20th of August in a letter to the FSM President. So Yap’s borders are finally opened for all visitors!!!

However, for the next several months there will only be one flight a month into Yap, but the state government is working with all concerned parties on negotiating flights with United Airlines so we will keep all our friends posted with flight schedule updates across all of our social media platforms.

As our world is now having to live with a new “normal” that includes covid, the acceptance of new travel protocols is inevitable. For Yap, the pre-travel requirements are a completed vaccination card showing two vaccination shots and at least one booster shot. The Government health department also highly recommends everyone to wear a mask when in public areas. We have our own Covid-19 Safety Policies which you can find here.

Aerial Shot of Yap. Photo: Tim Rock

Apart from all the covid related issues, we are proud to announce some good news that is happening with our resort family. First, I would like to thank Ruud van Baal, who has been with us since April of 2016 as our general manager and is now calling Austria home. We wish Ruud continued success in his new career endeavor. We have seen many changes around the world due to this pandemic even in our small corner of the world, and because of these changes it has made me realize and appreciate how fortunate my family and I are to be a part of this beautiful island’s community. Yap has many things to offer, from its culture to its ecosystem to its marine life, but nothing surpasses the heartbeat of Yap, which is family!

Because of this epiphany, my family and I have decided that simplifying our business model is the best way to go and ‘keeping it in the family’ is the method of choice. So, I’d like to re-introduce the oldest of our four kids, Jessica “Numie” Acker as our new General Manager, her husband Francis “Ruwie” Gilmoon, as our new Dive Operations Manager, my niece Darlene Giley (currently our Reservations Manager) as our new Hotel Manager and Michael Ranganbay, who has been with us for over twenty years in various capacities, as our new Food & Beverage Manager.

Darlene Giley – Hotel Manager

Francis Gilmoon – Dive Ops Manager

Numie Acker – General Manager

Michael Ranganbay – F & B Manager

Detlef Trux. German Concierge, Second Mate at the Crow’s Nest Bar

You might be wondering what happened to our past food & beverage manager, Detlef Trux and the answer is absolutely nothing! In fact, Detlef has been given an honorary position as our German Concierge and my second mate at the Crow’s Nest Bar.

We have had to let many good folks go because of the pandemic and they will all be missed, but the few that we have kept in the wings will honor those that have moved on by continuing to be a part of our Manta Ray Family and showing the best of Yap to all our friends.

They say that ‘third time is the charm’ and we are taking this to heart with many new things to offer in 2023! We will be offering a Grand Re-opening Special, a re-vitalized Mantafest and a new BlackwaterFest.

Parting shot

Peeing on My Flowers

A little old lady was walking down the street dragging two large plastic garbage bags behind her. One of the bags was ripped and every once in awhile a $20 bill fell out onto the sidewalk.

Noticing this, a policeman stopped her, and said, “Ma’am, there are $20 bills falling out of that bag.”

“Oh, really? Darn it!” said the little old lady. “I’d better go back and see if I can find them. Thanks for telling me, Officer.”

“Well, now, not so fast,” said the cop. “Where did you get all that money? You didn’t steal it, did you?”

“Oh, no, no”, said the old lady. “You see, my back yard is right next to a Golf course. A lot of Golfers come and pee through a knot hole in my fence, right into my flower garden. It used to really tick me off. Kills the flowers, you know. Then I thought, ‘why not make the best of it?’ So, now, I stand behind the fence by the knot hole, real quiet, with my hedge clippers. Every time some guy sticks his thing through my fence, I surprise him, grab hold of it and say, ‘O.K., buddy! Give me $20 or off it comes!’

“Well, that seems only fair,” said the cop, laughing. “OK. Good luck! Oh, by the way, what’s in the other bag?”

“Not everybody pays!”