Take a journey through the wonders of Yap. From stone money, to cultural dances, to Yapese "highways", to traditional fishing and anciant mariners, you will be sure to experince the richness of Yapese life.
Yap is belived to have been settled by a seafaring people from the area today known as eastern Indonesia and the southern part of the Philippines sometime around 1500 B.C.
Yap is probably best known among non-divers as the Land of Stone Money. Up to 12 feet in diameter these massive stone discs rate, without competition, as the largest coins in the world.
The Yapese have managed to maintain their ancient culture better than anywhere else in Micronesia. The heritage and traditions of the Yapese people are carefully nourished to preserve the Micronesian way of life.
Bill Acker, founder of the Manta Ray Bay Resort and Yap Divers, is proud to share his love of Yap and diving with guests from all over the world. A resident of Yap for almost 30 years, Bill is eminently qualified to make your Micronesian dive experience one that you’ll never forget. Bill and his family own and operate the Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers.
Welcome to The Manta Ray Bay Resort. We are a small, 4-star resort located on the wonderful island of Yap in Micronesia. Enjoy your stay in our luxurious, individually themed rooms. Delight your tastes at our floating restaurant, the Mnuw Restaurant and Bar. Dive in to adventure with our expericed dive team. Relax into bliss at our Taro Leaf Spa. Welcome to paradise.
Our resort offers many different package and activities for everyone to enjoy the wonders of Yap. From our hotel & diving packages to island tours to kayak adventures to spa treatments, our resort offers packages individually tailored to you.
There are many special times to visit Yap and the Manta Ray Bay Resort, like Yap Day, MantaFest, and during the manta ray mating season. Plus, we have partnered with the best resort operators and vessels in the region to offer truly unique and luxurious experiences.
The Mnuw is the most unique restaurant and bar in Micronesia if not the world. She is a 170ft (55m) Phinisi schooner from Indonesia with 3 dining decks, 2 bars and her kitchen all on board.
The Manta Ray Bay Resort was built FOR divers, BY divers. Our harborside dive center, Yap Divers, has everything you’d expect from a PADI 5-star facility and SSI Platinum Dive Center, and so much more. Yap Divers is a full-service facility with modern boats, rental gear, dive shop, camera bays, gear rinse and storage.
The Taro Leaf Spa takes the best of everything that is Yapese to bring you an experience that will, relax, energize, invigorate, revitalize and harmonize you.
Come experience all that Yap has to offer. From exclusive, world-class diving to vibrant mangroves to pristine beaches to a fascinating history to a rich, anciant culture, Yap truly is a wonder to behold.
Serving only 1,000 divers a year, we offer our guests crowd-free dive sites and VIP service. Yap has a resident population of manta rays and several shallow cleaning stations where divers can see mantas year-round. And, Yap is more than just mantas! We have great blue water diving, shark diving, wall diving, critter diving, black water diving and large schools of big game fish!
Among the mangroves you will go were none can go but by kayak. There are no roads, no way to bring a powered boat in and no habitation, there is but you and nature. This is the perfect way to explore one of the few ecosystems on this planet that remains untouched by man.
Imagine looking over the side of the boat into ink blue water so clear that you can see fish swimming 100 feet below you. Imagine being on a boat 20 yards from the edge of the reef, looking across the turquoise colored lagoon to the verdant, green tropical island in the background. You cast your lure into the surf breaking on the edge of the reef and then boom – a huge black Giant Trevally comes from the surf line and attacks your wooden bait. The fight is on.
The Manta Ray Bay Hotel’s Concierge staff offer a complete range of land tours specifically designed to showcase the unique island culture of Yap. Everything from the famous stone money and stone money banks, to traditional thatched roof men’s houses, centuries old stone paths which are still used to connect the various villages, to the flora and fauna.
On Yap you can spend all day on a private beach with your partner, dive buddy or group in the village with no one else around. We arrange private beach trips, group events, parties and BBQs.
The Taro Leaf Spa takes the best of everything that is Yapese to bring you an experience that will, relax, energize, invigorate, revitalize and harmonize you.
Here you will find out the latest goings on in Yap, photo galleries of visiting pros and visitors alike. Plus, a library of wallpapers for your desktop and mobile devices.
Give a big welcome to Kudakwashe “Kuda” Lusinga, Manta Ray Bay Resort’s new head chef, blends Zimbabwean and Yapese flavors with standout dishes like Stuffed Pork and Dovi Chicken. Inspired by his uncle and a passion for cooking, Chef Kuda brings creativity, culture, and fresh ideas to the Mnuw restaurant, delighting guests with innovative cuisine.
Throughout the years we have been honored to host several top professional photographers and videographers. From Paul Tzimoulis to William "Bill" Macdonald. From Marty Snyderman to Andy Schumacher. From David Doubilet to David Fleetham plus many, many more. We are very honored to be able to share some of the images captured in Yap by these great friends.
Imagine the thousands of divers who have visited us over the years. Now imagine the wonderful memories they captured via photographs both above and below water. We want to share these with you and ask you to consider posting your memories of Yap and the Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers.
We know it can be a daunting task to book travel to Yap with diffeent time zones, the International Date Line and often confusing flight schedules. Let us help you make getting to Yap a warm, tropical breeze. Ask Bill!
Here you will find the latest information about the latest on flights to Yap. There are both international and regional carries currently servicing the island. And, for flight help you can always Ask Bill!
Jump onboard Popou for a full day with the man who started it all.
Bill makes it a point to put down the keyboard and saddle up his BC to show his guests a good time on the reef with a personal tour of the biggest water Yap has.
The southern reef of this island is home to big water wall diving in clear blue currents with exotic sea life that you can almost touch.
Bill posted up a couple of weeks ago with an Orca report from the same area, and another time this season boasting mating spinner dolphins right outside the Caverns.
This dive report comes from the newest named dive site “Buena Vista”, named by a guest touring the southern walls with Bill and Nico a few weeks ago. Wall diving in Yap is shadowed by the Manta Rays and Shark diving, but there’s miles of rich reef to drift.
This dive we came across three cuttlefish, two as a pair and a third later on at the same site.
We came across the first pair as a group at 60 feet and everyone got their pictures.
These guys (or gals) put on an impressive light show of changing color and flashing patterns. At times they appeared dark brown and red, seconds later almost entirely white and other times the same color as the reef they hovered over.
Shooting cuttlefish is interesting because you never know what you’re going to get.
I shot over four hundred photos of three cuttlefish this dive.
While reviewing my index sheet it showed that at times the fish is totally camouflaged with the reef, and minutes later in front of deep blue water the same fish looked like it had a light bulb inside.
I stayed with one fish for the remainder of my dive just draining the batteries of my strobes. After about 40 minutes my wrist was beeping and I was starting to get scolded by my computer.
I stayed with the fish for another ten minutes leaving myself enough air to come up from 97 feet with a short deep stop and a long safety stop, ending my dive with less than 200 psi.
I don’t know much about cuttlefish, what they eat, what eats them or how to tell a boy from a girl… but they are one of the most interesting things to spend time with on the reef, visually spectacular.
Personal Family Owned Experience
Diving with Yap Divers is where you can get in the water with the people and family that invented tourism here. Still nearly 30 years later Bill, as well as his wife Patricia, guide small groups and get you into the water you want, and onto the exotic sea life you came to see. Days like this include lunch onboard and three tanks on the outer reef with your hosts.