There is some very good news regarding airline service to/from Yap. Starting in October, PMA (https://www.pmapacific.org), our local airline serving Yap’s Outer Islands for over 40 years, will fly between Yap and Palau on a regular schedule which allows divers and non-divers alike to enter Yap via Palau or to combine Yap and Palau easily....

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 This mandate has since been rescinded by Yap's Governor, the Honorable Jesse Salalu, on the 20th of August in a letter to the FSM President.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!!!

When meeting people for the first time, the most asked question of me is "Why Yap – what is it about this place that made you make it your home"? The answer to this question, at least for me, is very simple – the people. The Yapese people are the nicest people I have ever been associated with and every day I am on this island, surrounded by my family, friends and co-workers is a blessing. Life has been very good to me. This brings me to today's main topic – Graduation Season.

Folks, I am not complaining at all. Despite all the setbacks and challenges, I consider myself a lucky man. In late November 2021, Patricia and I underwent surgery for her to receive one of my kidneys and we are still in the Philippines. She is doing really well and we are hoping to be approved for travel soon. Being able to travel again will be a relief, but the question is: "where to go"?

I’m sure that for some, if not most of us, we pictured a different situation when asked this question 4 months ago. In August/September, everything looked so promising. More people got vaccinated and despite the Delta-variant being dominant, it looked like the Holiday season would be kind of “back to normal”. Some of you were ready to travel again, planned that long postponed visit to family or friends or thought a stroll over a Christmas market would be possible again. And then Omicron surfaced.

It’s good I’m not superstitious – or maybe I am – but having to write in my 13th blog post that we won’t be open this year, can’t be a coincidence can it? The President of the FSM has extended the declaration of public health emergency to January 31, 2022!

Divers within a certain age bracket, but also music lovers from younger generations for sure know the Beatles’ song “Octopus’s Garden” that was released in 1969.

Initially my plan was to write a blog every three-to-four-weeks, but scrolling through the Facebook posts, I realized it has been eight weeks or so since the last time you heard from me. Is there nothing to share with you? On the contrary, lots of developments are in progress, but none of them give us the answer to the question: “When?”.

It is heartbreaking to see countries around the world struggling to get their citizens vaccinated. Long lines, people showing up for their shots but are sent home without one, people cutting in line, traveling to locations other than their home area, months-long waiting lists... the stories are many. Patricia and I turned in our vaccination...

While writing down the title of this blog, I got curious where, how and when the phrase “There’s always light at the end of the tunnel” originated. After browsing for an hour or so I gave up as there are so many different versions that I decided that everyone has his/her own tunnel. Therefore, everyone...

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and boat trips with my grandkids is something I’ve been looking forward to for many years. Having the “luxury” to pick any day of the week instead of being on the boat with our divers for a few days every week, kind of “bothers” me though. At the...

Among all the – almost depressing – news from around the world there’s also some good news that reaches our shores. We’re very proud to have been voted in the top 25 of resorts for the (South) Pacific region which included Australia and New Zealand. Knowing that there are more that 20,000 resorts/hotels in this...