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Dive Review of Manta Ray Bay in
Micronesia/Yap

Manta Ray Bay: "ONE TRIP - TWO DIVES-OF-A-LIFETIME", Mar, 2019,

by Ken Kurtis, CA, US (Contributor Contributor 17 reports with 5 Helpful votes). Report 10887 has 2 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Here's one of the dives-of-a-lifetime:

We started out fairly benignly, dropping in behind a protected corner at 5:03PM, according to the time-stamp from my camera. Ran into a nice Titan Trigger about two minutes later and then were meandering along. Six minutes into the dive, the first of SEVEN different mantas appeared, coming down the channel from the cleaning station and heading towards open ocean. After that, we saw the lead fish in what would become a huge school of Whitetongued Trevallies. Then another Titan followed by a Flagtail Trigger. Then the second manta, followed two minutes
later by the third. Then an iridescent blue Goatfish I’d never seen before, followed by some Whitetips in the sand, over whom were circling a small school (about a dozen) of juvy Gray Reef Sharks. A little later on, there was a huge Map Puffer getting cleaned, some Blackfin Barracuda passed by overhead, a few more mantas came down the freeway, then we ran into an enormous school of Bigeye Trevallies and in the midst of them were concealed a small squadron of Eagle Rays (maybe a dozen), which morphed into a large school of Humpback Wrasse. A couple of more Whitetip Sharks passed by, followed by a large school of Black Snappers, then a few more mantas flying down the sides of the channel, our big school of Whitetongued Trevallies (whose outliers we had previously seen), more Black Snappers, more Bigeye Trevallies, some Longbar Goatfish, a large aggregation of One-Spot Snappers, some Humpnose Bigeye Bream, and then it was all topped off by a final manta fly-by while we were at our safety stop.

My full trip report: [reefseekers.com link]

150-image slideshow: [reefseekers.com link]
Websites Manta Ray Bay   [same]

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving I dive all over the world on a regular basis (please don't hate me).
Closest Airport Yap Getting There LAX-HNL-GUM-YAP. No matter where you start, your only option is to get to Guam and the United down to Yap.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 73-83°F / 23-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 2
Water Visibility 30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No time/depth limits (other than don't go into deco). Most dives around 60 minutes but we did a few that approached 90 minutes.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas Squadrons
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 5 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 4 stars
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By GAIL MORRIS in CA, US at Apr 07, 2019 06:12 EST  
We are currently in Yap, and seeing much of the same! Hooray!
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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