This morning the place to be, was on the reef. Just as we warmed up and dried off, weather-wise, it turned wet, grey and just plain nasty out. The good news was, it doesn't rain underwater and there's a boat captain paid enough to sit on the surface chewing betel nut and getting poured on...

This afternoon on a 3rd dive, Alex took us on a Pacific side reef tour that gave us a little surprise. We rolled off the boat together and turned over to see 100+ feet of vis and a swarm of humphead wrasse on our way down the reef slope. After gliding down to about 90...

Yap Divers and the Manta Ray Bay Hotel celebrate 25 years as a PADI member. Regional Manager Michael Janssen is on the island to personally thank and congratulate Bill and Patricia on their silver PADI membership anniversary. In the photo is Patricia, Bill, Michael and Jan the dive op manager. That's 25 years of being...

Things have been busy here at the resort on the video front. We have Jim and Patricia testing out brand new Sony HD video cameras with Amphibco housings out on the reef. There's some new Manta Ray Bay promo material in the works, some of it I'll leak here before it flies back to Michigan...

Part of the Island's charm are the stories and folklore about Stone Money. The other day diving O'Keefe's Passage, Gordon showed me some encrusted buried treasure. Stone Money is still valued and traded today. The value is based on each piece's story about it's journey to Yap. The harder it was to get here, the...

Thanks Bruce for your comments on the Lap around Yap post... he gave the ole, "Yeah, yeah, show me what we really come for..." - Roger that. Today we're looking at some quick selections pulled right off of Marc's Nikon D300s. He was nice enough to walk his camera down to the photo shop and...

We have a real mystery brewing on the island. A couple days ago our guest Eric from Bakersfield, CA brought back a photograph of a fish, that so far, has not been identified. [caption id="attachment_1759" align="aligncenter" width="625"] Unidentified Mystery Fish[/caption] The whole 8 pound fish almanac came out more than once and we aren't any...

I'm happy to be the one to pass this information. I've been checking this place out and sure enough it's the real deal island paradise. First, let's cover some basics about getting around and being in Yap. Saying hi - "Mogethin" is the standard greeting, it has a little pronunciation spin on it that will...

Meet Martyn and Paulina from Cambridge. They just wrapped up a week in Palau then pulled a "honeymoon" line in and out of the water here in Yap. They managed to hit a 4 day window and be the only divers on the schedule. They had the shop, boat dock, boats and dive sites to...

We have just had the pleasure of welcoming back Tom & Shirley Wills and their granddaughter Rireanna.  This was their 4th trip to Yap and needless to say, they are now truly part of the Manta Ray Bay Resort family.  Tom and Shirley are originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, where Rireanna lives with her parents...

Lee Webber from MDA in Guam is here and has written a nice column about his Manta Fest week. [caption id="attachment_1058" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="New Cleaning Station"][/caption]

Dear Friends, I have just received the following from Gisela and Carsten Kaufman who were in Yap shooting a feature documentary on the manta rays of the world.  The Yap portion featured Dr. Kathy Townsend, the Lead Scientist for Project Manta at the University of Queensland. We haven’t seen the film yet but these folks...