Summertime is dive time… almost every day we are rolling into ripping conditions. These days I’m averaging 10 to 14 gigs of media a day… here’s a few snaps from last week. We have been getting it all in stunning visibility and the summer manta show only gets better when there’s a ball of dancing rays in courtship over the reef. You can’t leave the island without seeing a manta ray and Yap’s shark experience, Vertigo. We’ve been logging 90+ minute dives with sharks in sparkling clear water – Vertigo is a very special dive and it’s unique to Yap and the Philippine Sea reef – this is where you get as personal as you are comfortable with a dozen sharks in every direction. The way to really bring home the Yap-experience is to mix in the island and culture with your diving, the most interesting things here are out in the villages. Visiting Yap is an experience and there’s a few things that are musts that everyone has to get here. Cool off in the pool with an ice-cold coconut while the dive staff rinses your gear… order an appetizer and get ready for a couple hours with one of the guys here in the Manta Ray van. Once you get out into the villages, the learning starts. There’s something to see everyday and most of it can be done in a small group after your dive – village walks, stone money bank tours, lunch with a local family, private beach time… or third and fourth tanks. Arguably one of the most beautiful things to see in Yap is a ceremonial dance in traditional attire. This is a Yapese warrior dance by Tomil municipality being performed at the living history museum – the culture here is still very much alive and it’s a special experience, you can feel the strength of human spirit in their war cries while hibiscus skirts fly through the air. This performance was across the street from Manta Ray. After a few hours checking out what makes this place so interesting, you’re back at the pool thinking about yellow-fin sashimi and a cocktail… then checking the dive board for tomorrow’s schedule. This is what it looks like in Yap, right now… and as close to real-time blogging as island time allows these days – ripping diving, stuff to see, people to meet and an experience to go home with.  

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Custom Yap Dive Package

I introduced some custom Yap packages recently that ensure you get a memorable experience that already include the best-of-Yap activities with your diving. The first one I’m introducing is a Scuba Diver Girls’ press week clone. The Scuba Diver girls had a great time in Yap and it still holds a place in their top destinations that you have to see. Their dive week was a blue water safari with a relaxed schedule allowing for some spontaneity. We basically loaded the boat with Nitrox, sometimes lunch, and just left out into the blue looking for water that made us have to get in it. Dive plans left plenty of room for catching sun or even taking a nap in between dives on extended surface intervals for longer bottom times and deeper diving. After the blue water party we took to the island for some gold sand beach time, stone money photos, walks down stone paths, coconut cocktails at sunset – each day we ventured out to get a little Yap. We’re offering this same experience exclusively to the Scuba Diver Girls network, and of course, our readers.