Yap is famous for its clear waters where schools of tuna, dolphins and reef fish are found in abundance. While the clear waters and sheer drop-offs provide plenty of incentive to explore the underwater delights of Yap, it’s the manta rays that provide the main draw to this island of ancient traditions and fascinating legends.

Yap is not just renowned for it’s manta rays, but is one of the world’s foremost destinations for getting up close and personal with these magnificent creatures. Nothing can quite compare to the sight of a 4-metre manta hovering just a metre away from you. There is no other place on earth where they can be seen on such a consistent basis year 'round. This fact has catapulted Yap to the top on all lists of the finest diving attractions in the world.

Contact us; let us know your interests, and we’ll put together your ideal dive package. Remember - We’ve dived there!

The manta’s come in great profusion to visit cleaning stations – an area of coral heads where mantas and sharks visit daily to be cleaned, similar to a car wash. The cleaner fish hurry about the giants’ bodies, gills and mouth removing parasites as they go.

The local dive operator's ‘look don't touch' policy means that the mantas are used to divers and will approach closely without fear. It’s not uncommon to have a Manta settle down onto a diver on the reef as they enjoy their cleaning experience and seem to relax onto the coral. It’s a photographer and videographers dream destination.

Diving aside, Yap is the most intriguing island in Micronesia. It is a land steeped in ancient traditions, fascinating legends, and peopled by one of the most distinctive cultures in the Pacific.

Attractions like the huge ancient stone money discs and stone money banks, along with the marine life and mangrove forests highlight a visit to this unique outpost

Contact us; let us know your interests, and we’ll put together your ideal dive package. Remember - We’ve dived there!

Yap Dive Sites

1 Eagle's Nest
Eagle Rays come in squadron formation to feed at this barrier reef site in 20 to 130 feet of water. They can usually be found around a coral head in 50 feet of water. [top]

2 Gilman Tip
The pristine coral growth along the southernmost point of Yap's barrier reef attracts a large number of fish. Bumphead Parrotfish, Whitetip Reef Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, moray eels, groupers and Copper Sweepers can all be seen as divers drift along in the swift current. The vertical wall is carpeted with hard and soft corals. Pilot Whales have also been spotted here. [top]

3 Lionfish Wall
Sharks are sometimes seen resting along the bottom of this wall, which plunges from 20 to 130 feet. Lionfish can be found in the cracks and crevices of the wall. Groupers, snappers and soldierfish hunt within the coral growth along the wall. [top]

4 Yap Caverns
Whitetip Reef Sharks can be found resting on the white sandy floor in 60 to 20 feet at this site just past Lionfish Wall. There are a number of cleaning stations in the area, frequented by sharks and Trevally Jacks. Grey Reef Sharks can be found at 80 feet near the northwest side of the caverns. The caverns are well lit and easy to explore. [top]

5 Goofnuw Channel
Manta Rays are found in this channel during the months of June to October. Many of the coral heads in the channel are cleaning stations. Merry-Go-Round, Manta Rock and Car Wash are can be explored in one dive. [top]

6 Shark City
Divers can see a multitude of sharks in this area before heading up to the Manta cleaning stations in Goofnuw Channel. Whitetip Reef Sharks are found resting on the sandy bottom, and during the summer months, packs of Grey Reef Sharks patrol the area. [top]

7 Garden Eel Flats
East of the Manta cleaning station in Miil Channel is a sandy area in 40 to 60 feet of water where divers will find corals and many fish. A short swim away is a sloping wall covered in gold and red gorgonians. The sandslide starts in 25 feet here and falls past 70 feet, where there is a channel with corals, seafans and small fish. Garden Eels live in the sandy area here. [top]

8 Manta Cleaning Station
Manta Rays have begun to visit this new Miil Channel site in recent years. The dive begins in 20 feet of water, so divers can spend a good amount of time here, and snorkelers can enjoy it on days with good visibility. Watch for Manta Rays traveling up and down the channel. They come to the cleaning station to be picked free of parasites by Bi-color Cleaner Wrasse, Micronesian Wrasse and Three-spot Dascyllus. [top]

9 Manta Ridge
This is Yap's most famous site and one that virtually guarantees Manta Ray encounters. Divers drift up Miil Channel on the incoming tide. The 90 foot deep bottom is a gray expanse of gravel, smooth-worn stones and coral: on the left, the channel wall rises straight up to break the surface. Lying about the bottom are White-tip Reef Sharks. More active sharks, Pacific Grays, patrol ceaselessly up and down the channel. Divers move down the channel edge until they come to the coral mound that marks the Manta cleaning station. The small pinnacle rises to about 33 feet. Huge Mantas, some of them 12 feet across the wings, make their grand entrance, swooping toward divers in staggered, single file.  [top]

10 Miil Point
This is usually the entry point for divers on their way to Manta Ridge or Manta Cleaning Station. There is a hard coral covered wall to explore in 30 to 90 feet of water, and divers may see Eagle Rays, Whitetip Reef Sharks, eels, groupers and jacks.[top]