Trip Report Palau and Yap
| Ever since I first starting diving, Palau and Yap have always been near the top of my list for places to visit. Divers whose experience far outweighed my own, a seemingly endless number of articles, and specials such as Blue Planet and IMAX films focused my attention on these special islands. |
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I remember vividly watching the IMAX film, The Living Sea, and dreaming of traveling to Palau. This special highlighted several aspects of Palau, including the famous Jellyfish Lake and a bit about the culture of these islands. From then on, I knew Palau was a “must dive” destination for me! |
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After returning from this trip to Palau and Yap, I can tell you it was worth the wait! So many times we build up a location to be bigger than life, only to end up a bit disappointed with reality. I was worried this would happen with my fascination with Palau.
To my great surprise, my expectations were exceeded with the amazing diving and incredible scenery. More sharks than I could count, schools of fish numbering in the thousands, Manta Rays in German Channel, and the famous Blue Corner and Jellyfish Lake all headlined our time in Palau. I thought this was as good as it gets, but we added to the adventure with an add-on to Yap.
Yap and Manta Rays are synonymous, it seems, in diving nomenclature. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could see enough Manta Rays. I was wrong! We spent several dives in Goofnuw Channel watching anywhere from one to five Mantas at the cleaning station, each pass getting closer to the divers.
In photography, we have what we call the “money shot”, that one moment when we capture animal and diver in the perfect shot or sequence that we all talk about over dinner. In all my years of shooting, I have never had so many shots that qualify!
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But to talk about Yap and only mention the Manta Rays would do this island a disservice. The diving along the southern walls was excellent, a kayak through the mangroves provided both a history of the island and a great workout, and one would be remiss to skip the nightly Mandarin Goby mating ritual. This dive, located among the shallow staghorn coral, offers a very unique experience that was tops on my list. No trip would be complete without seeing this incredibly colorful fish performing its’ nightly dance to find a mate. |
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So with this trip in the books, I can safely say it’s as good as people say. In case you haven’t heard it enough, make sure Palau and Yap are high on your list of places to dive!
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