A few weeks ago, Patricia and I began our 40th Anniversary celebration by looking back at how quickly four decades had passed. What followed was a wonderful week surrounded by family, old friends, new friends, our incredible staff, and guests who traveled from around the world to celebrate with us here in Yap.

When we started Yap Divers in 1986, we certainly couldn’t have imagined what it would eventually become. Four years later, the Manta Ray Bay Hotel opened on Yap Day, March 1, 1990, and over the years it grew into today’s Manta Ray Bay Resort and Yap Divers. More importantly, a community grew around it.

We had some remarkable people helping us along the way. Geri Murphy and Paul Tzimoulis helped introduce Yap and its manta rays to divers around the world, while Mike and Vikki Musto, through Trip n Tour Micronesia, helped make it possible for those divers to actually get here. Those friendships, and many others like them, became an important part of our story.

Starting the Week with a New Generation

There could hardly have been a more appropriate way to begin our anniversary week than instructing four young divers as they earned their SSI Junior Open Water certifications.

Being a part of another generation discovering diving reminded me just how much has changed over forty years, and how much hasn’t. There is still that same excitement when someone takes those first breaths underwater and discovers an entirely new world.

The younger guests had plenty of other adventures during the week as well. They went kayaking, enjoyed a snorkeling tour together, and had an opportunity to learn about Yapese culture firsthand during a weaving class hosted by one of our local schools.

It was wonderful to watch the kids experience Yap in their own way.

Family, Old Friends and Forty Years of Memories

One of the many pleasures of the anniversary was simply having so much family and so many longtime friends together again. It was especially nice having my younger brother Pat come all the way from Dallas, Texas to spend the week with us. We got in quite a few dives together and enjoyed spending time with all the other guests and staff.

 

Our daughter Valerie and her family also came from Florida, along with our son Opie’s children, Orion and Taliyah Taylor (TT). Although Opie wasn’t able to attend, it was wonderful having so much of the family together for the week.

We were also fortunate to have Geri Murphy with us. Geri’s connection with Yap Divers goes back to our early years, and during the week she shared several wonderful presentations on the big screen aboard the Mnuw. Seeing those old photographs and hearing the stories behind them brought back lots of great memories.

There was a lot of laughter and a few reminders of just how young we were.

Celebrating Yap

Throughout the week, the resort became one big gathering place. We enjoyed live music and a wonderful anniversary banquet that spread from the Mnuw and pool deck all the way to the briefing huts and the rinse tank area of Yap Divers.

But some of the most memorable moments came when the celebration turned to Yapese culture.

The Men’s Chief Dance, performed at night, was extraordinary. Under dramatic lighting, with our guests gathered around to watch, it was one of those moments that photographs can capture far better than I can describe.

And, during the day, we were treated to a Stick Dance, a completely different performance and every bit as memorable. Together, the two dances were among the highlights of our 40th Anniversary celebration and something many of us will remember for a very long time.

For Patricia and me, that was especially meaningful. This anniversary wasn’t only a celebration of Yap Divers. It was also a celebration of Yap itself, the island that has given us so much to be thankful for over the past forty years.

And, Of Course, We Went Diving

It wouldn’t be a Yap Divers anniversary without spending plenty of time underwater.

The western Pacific had been dealing with unsettled weather in the aftermath of Super Typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi, but we were still able to find excellent diving at sites around Yap throughout the week.

And Yap delivered.

We had numerous manta encounters, spotted eagle rays on multiple dives, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, schools of yellow convict tangs in the shallows, and jacks swirling in the channels.

On many days, the experience began before anyone even entered the water. Dolphins regularly appeared alongside the dive boats, giving us an escort on our way out to the reefs.

Several of our dive groups encountered three cuttlefish that had laid eggs among the coral. The cuttlefish stayed around guarding their eggs, so quite a few of our divers got a chance to see them.

A Celebration to Remember

The week eventually came to an end the best way we know how, with everyone together for a beach barbecue.

After all the diving, presentations, dancing, meals, activities and celebrations, it was another opportunity simply to spend time together. Looking around at everyone gathered there, I was reminded again of what Patricia and I wrote at the beginning of the week.

The real story of these forty years isn’t buildings, boats or milestones.

It’s people.

It’s our staff, including those who have devoted years and sometimes decades of their lives to taking care of our guests. It’s the people of Yap who have welcomed visitors and shared their island and culture with us. It’s friends throughout the dive industry who believed in Yap and helped us introduce this remarkable place to the world.

And it’s all of you who came to visit.

Some came once. Many came back again and again. Some brought their children, and now we’re watching another generation discover Yap for themselves.

When Patricia and I opened Yap Divers in 1986, we hoped we could build a successful dive business and share this incredible island with people from around the world.

We never imagined everything that would come with it.

Forty years later, the friendships are what Patricia and I treasure most.

To everyone who traveled to Yap to celebrate with us, everyone who sent photographs, stories and heartfelt messages from home, and everyone who has been part of Yap Divers and Manta Ray Bay Resort over these forty years, thank you.

Somewhere along the way, so many of you stopped feeling like guests and simply became friends.

From our family to yours,
Bill & Patricia Acker
Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers

See More from Our 40th Anniversary Celebration

There were far more wonderful moments during the week than we could possibly fit into one story. We’ve put together an extended photo library from our 40th Anniversary celebration, with many more photographs from the diving, cultural events, kids’ activities, celebrations, old friends and, most importantly, the people who made the week so memorable.

Explore the 40th Anniversary Photo Library