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 take some getting used to, “Moe – gah – theen”, but that’s your basic Yap vocabulary friend making starter kit. It’s really easy to be here, this place should be called “Yap, the Island of Stone Money, strong magic and cool people”. It’s a place where traditional values are still part of everyday life. That’s the same Manta Ray Bay Resort Beach where they threw the 4th of July party. There are some nice spots on this island. Beaches are private, everything is split up into villages and family properties, including the water. If you want to use a beach, a reef, a lagoon… whatever, you can ask for permission, or be taken there. There are a lot of things that make this island special, a part of it is pure magical beauty. A Yap shore tour with the locals is not a wasted day. You could start a postcard business with a good camera and a couple of hours in Yap. Everywhere you turn there’s a story. Out there in the distance is Japanese excavator that at one time was harvesting corral to build an airstrip. The cool thing is all of this is within minutes of the resort and there’s transportation of your choice available. Everywhere you go, there’s something that will stop you and hold your attention. Yap island beauty is just like being at the shark dive, Bill’s exact words my first time were, “Go ahead and get as close as you feel comfortable” – I took him literally. Yap doesn’t have much elevation to boast, but when you get up to the ceiling you have a 360 view and can see both the Philippine Sea and Pacific Ocean. Wherever you go you will find natural beauty that you can see and feel. Each beach offers something a little different, some have huge spans of reef and you can’t even see the waves and other places the deep blue is close to the shore. We drove through mangrove, coconut and betel nut tree forests on quiet Yapese village streets for most of the morning. It’s a small island, if it weren’t for the 15 and 20 mph speed limits you could run a lap of this place in under an hour… but in Yap time, this is a half day drive. Nature is still respected, which includes the sound of it. When in a residential area, there’s no music pumping out of the car windows, and in the village you drive as fast as people walk. It’s a preserved environment right down to what you hear. Yap is a place where you can still find a natural rhythm. If it weren’t for roosters crowing in the jungle, it would be almost silent. This is what Yap looks like after getting shown around a few parts of the island. There’s two things that are huge in Yap; the ocean, and the sky. When the two come together at the end of the day, it’s worth checking out, I’ll say that. The sun doesn’t set on the hotel side of the island – so, I would highly recommend a sunset outing while you’re here in Yap… that’ll put the exclamation point in your dive day.