~ Dive Site Map & Descriptions
~
Here's a map of Yap's dive sites. Click
on a site for a detailed description,
then click your browser's "Back"
button to return to the map.
Manta Ridge
Located near the mouth of
Miil Channel, this is the site that made Yap famous among divers.
The gentle mantas range in size from four to fourteen feet, and
the shallow area of the ridge provides divers and snorkellers
alike with a front row seat to an incredible underwater show.
Resident schools of trevallys, black snapper, parrotfish, sharks,
moray eels, turtles, eagle rays, mantas, and even dolphins and
mahi-mahi are encountered at Manta Ridge. Travel to this site
is through the center of the island, by way of the mangrove-lined
German Channel.
Depth: 35ft/11m
Current: Slight to strong,
depending on the tidal conditions.
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Miil Channel
Miil Channel, located on
the northwest side of the island, is a thirty minute boat ride
from the dive shops in Colonia. Each morning the mantas cruise
through the channel towards the "cleaning station" for their morning
ritual. As divers nestle in the sand around the coral head, the
mantas pass inches overhead. All Yap dive shops have two rules
for this site, to preserve the experience: 1} Please don't chase
after the mantas. 2} Please don't touch the mantas.
Depth: 60ft./18m
Current: None to slight.
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Valley Of The Rays
This site, also know by
it's Yapese name, Goofnuw (pronounced Golfnuw) Channel, is the
summer home of the mantas. From May to November, divers enjoy
the mantas at three different cleaning stations in this channel.
Boat rides are about twenty-five minutes through the shallow lagoon.
Depth: 60ft/18m
Current: Slight to strong,
depending on tidal conditions and wave action outside the reef.
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Yap Caverns
Like an underwater playground,
Yap Caverns is at the southernmost tip of the barrier reef, about
forty-five minutes by boat. The caverns gets its name from the
series of tunnels and swim-throughs in the shallower depths of
the ampitheater-shaped site. Coral heads forty feet (13m) tall
reach toward the surface, and gray reef sharks, humphead parrotfish,
lionfish and sleeping whitetip sharks are virtually everywhere.
Depth: 15-120ft/5-35m
Current: Slight to strong.
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Lionfish Wall
This wall is a sheer drop
and is covered with soft corals, anenomes, schools of chubs, and
lionfish. The wall is at a corner, where the eastern reef converges
with the southwestern reef. Though currents can be strong, including
updrafts and downdrafts, the dive is a drift dive and is often
an exhilerating experience.
Depth: 20-150ft/6-45m
Current: Medium to strong.
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Gilman Wall
At a mere 15ft. (5m), the
top of the wall plunges to over 150ft. (50m). Soft corals, lionfish,
eels, black snappers, unicornfish, napolean wrasses, and humphead
parrotfishes are just a few of the sights drifting along this
wall. Visibility often exceeds 150ft. Currents can be swift, with
numerous updrafts and downdrafts.
Depth: 15-150ft/5-50m
Current: Medium to strong.
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Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom is a gently
sloping reef at the southwest corner of Yap, and is great for
a second or third dive due to the shallow depths. The corals at
this site were damaged by storm surge caused by a typhoon that
struck Guam several years ago, but the large schools of pelagics
still abound, including trevallys, snappers, barracudas, eagle
rays, and turtles.
Depth: 15-65ft/5-19m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Spanish Walls
A series of "mini-walls"
and surge channels make this site interesting for macro photography.
Reef fish are always present, and the unique coral formations
and overhangs make this a site not to be missed.
Depth: 10-80ft/3-20m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Sunrise Reef
A spectacular reef is Sunrise
reef at the north end of Yap. This shallow sloping reef offers
divers a chance to see a variety of hard and soft corals, all
intertwined in a true coral garden setting. Big snappers and napolean
wrasses abound. Boat rides are forty minutes from town, and ten
minutes from Valley of the Rays.
Depth: 25-65ft/8-19m
Current: Slight.
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Cherry Blossom
Wall
This vertical wall on the
western side of Yap is about one hour by boat. The top of the
drop-off is thirty feet deep, and is home to both grey reef and
black tip sharks. There is also a large number of unicorn fish
which usually follow the divers.
Depth: 20-150ft/6-45m
Current: Slight.
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Fanif Reef
This gently sloping reef
is home to white-tip reef sharks and turtles. Whale sharks have
been spotted by our guests here on rare occasions. Big anemones
and unusually clear water make this site a great addition to a
dive in Miil Channel.
Depth: 30-120ft./9-38m
Current: Slight to Medium.
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Fanif Wall
Usually done following a
dive in Miil Channel, this wall is dramatic. Visibility often
exceeds 150ft. There is a series of walls bowing seaward, with
a myriad of animal life converging on these walls.
Depth: 30-120ft./9-38m
Current: Medium.
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The Barge
One of the closest reef
sites to Colonia dive shops (less than ten minutes), this sloping
area is full of hard corals with high peaks and deep surge channels.
Divers often find sleeping nurse sharks under the ledges. Lots
of table corals and chrinoids make this a great night dive location,
as well as for a third dive, or a one-tank dive just to "get your
feet wet."
Depth: 30-100ft/9-32m
Current: Slight.
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Peelack
Channel
One of our favorites, Peelack
offers a little bit of everything. Hard and soft corals, schools
of fish, sharks, turtles, eagle rays, mantas, leopard sharks,
stingrays, lobsters, octopi, cuttlefish...divers have seen just
about everything at this location. This dive is best done as a
drift dive into the channel on an incoming tide.
Depth: 40-120ft/12-38m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Main Channel
A dive in Yap's main channel
entrance can be exhilarating. Timed just right, Beyond The Reef
will take you to view the remains of yet another shipwreck, circled
by schooling trevallys and black snapper. In May of 2001, Dave
was witness to a rare sight--a school of Hammerhead sharks. Excited
by his find, Dave returned to the site the following day. He was
disappointed that there were no Hammerheads, but even more elated
when a large manta ray was circling around a cleaning station.
As we are always on the lookout for new cleaning stations, this
find was important to the future of Yap's dive industry.
Depth: 40-120ft/13-40m
Current: Medium to strong.
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Gabach Channel
Also close to the Colonia-based
dive shops is this deep channel, loaded with WWII artifacts. The
channel is a sheer drop, lined with stunning corals and rock formations.
Eagle rays, nurse sharks, groupers, and snappers are found at
this site. The reef outside the channel is covered with large
mushroom-shaped coral heads. There is plenty to see at Gabach.
Depth: 10-100ft/3-32m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Turtle Cove
This cove on the western
side of the island is located just south of Fanif Wall and offers
divers a variety of fish and aquatic life in a small area. As
divers reach the far bend in the cove, schools of reef fish, barracudas,
trevallys, and snappers congregate around the divers, with an
occassional shark cruising by, and of course, lots of turtles.
Most divers prefer to stop and watch the action.
Depth: 40-80ft/13-26m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Purple Haze
Purple Haze is a new site
discovered and named by our dive club members while exploring
potential dive sites. Located north of Cherry Blossom Wall on
the west, Purple Haze is a dramatic wall covered with mushroom-shaped
coral heads. Though fish life is minimal, the wall is usually
quite clear and the coral formations outstanding.
Depth: 35-150ft/11-50m
Current: Slight to strong.
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Big Bend
On the western side of
Yap there is a dramatic curve in the reef line; divers call it
Big Bend. The reef begins like a wall, then at about 60ft. (18m)
angles downward to over several hundred feet deep. Reef fish,
whitetip reef sharks, blacktip reef sharks, and turtles are common
sightings along this wall.
Depth: 15-150ft/5-50m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Eagle's Nest
Similar to the famous manta
dives, this coral head and sloping reef serve as a cleaning station
for eagle rays, which repeatedly circle the area. This site can
be visited June through October, when the Trade Winds diminish.
Depth: 45-60ft/14-18m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Eden
Discovered and named by
Beyond The Reef's staff in October 2000, this site starts as a
sloping reef that leads to "rounding the great corner"
at the South Tip. Large grey reef sharks, turtles, schools of
red and black snapper and stingrays will fill your field of vision
on this spectacular dive. A favorite site of the guides, too,
as we finish the drift on the dramatic drop-off called Lionfish
Wall.
Depth: 40-70ft/13-21m
Current: Slight to very
strong.
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Cabbage Patch
Close to Big Bend on the
west, Cabbage Patch is named for its vast array of gently sloping
lettuce corals, vibrant green in color, somewhat resembling a
cabbage patch. Huge schools of Yellowfin Tuna have been spotted
at this site, along with schooling Barracudas and occassional
reef sharks.
Depth: 20-70ft./6-21m
Current: Slight to medium.
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End Of The Wall
Situated between Magic Kingdom
(a gentle slope) and Gilman Wall (a steep vertical wall) at the
south tip, End Of The Wall is a blend between a wall and sloping
reef that is home to a wide variety of creatures big and small,
from eagle rays and sharks, to lionfish, anenomes and unicornfish.
Depth: 20-100ft./6-33m
Current: Slight to strong.
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End Of The Land
A little north of Eagle's
Nest, where the island ends, lies the site known as End Of The
Land. The top of the wall is at 60ft, with the vertical wall plummeting
downwards to more than 180ft. The wall is blanketed with purple
and white soft corals, and divers quite often encounter curious
sharks, turtles, and tuna.
Depth: 60-180ft./18-55m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Bird Island
The reef in front of Bird
Island (a small "rock-island" located inside the lagoon) is filled
with huge mushroomed-shaped coral heads and seaward-sloping surge
channels. Sleeping nurse sharks and resting turtles frequent this
area.
Depth: 45-60ft./15-18m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Semakai Reef
Named by Dave Vecella, Semakai
Reef is a great second dive, and it's only a few minutes from
Beyond The Reef. The top of the reef is covered with table corals,
and schools of snapper and humphead parrotfish tend to follow
the divers. Visibility can often exceed 100ft.
Depth: 30-120ft/9-38m
Current: Slight to medium.
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Gapow Reef
The sloping reefs on Yap's
eastern side of the island are visited primarily between June
and October, when the tropical breezes of the Trade Winds dissipate.
Gapow can be visited during this time, usually following a manta
dive in Valley of the Rays. The hard coral formations are spectacular,
with table corals everywhere. Schools of batfish and barracudas
can be observed at this interesting site.
Depth: 25-90ft./8-25m
Current: Slight.
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Choqol Mini Wall
Halfway between Valley Of
The Rays and Sunrise Reef at the north, Choqol Mini Wall is a
fun site, as the clear water and shallow depth can lure even the
most advanced divers to its beauty. The reef begins in 15ft, and
drops to 40 ft., then plateaus seaward and eventually drops off
into the abyss. Sunlight penetrates this reef, making natural
light photography a joy. There is no shortage of subjects here.
Depth: 15-60ft./5-18m
Current: Slight to medium.
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1:2 Macro Photography
and Night Dive Site
For macro photographers,
this site can't be beat. Lionfish, anenomes, clownfish, and yes,
the elusive mandarinfish can be found throughout 1:2 (pronounced
1 to 2). Planning for a night dive, or want to try it for the
first time? 1:2 is a shallow, inshore reef with little current
and almost no surface waves--a great spot for a night dive. Did
we mention the hot chocolate we serve after our night dives?
Depth: 10-60ft./3-18m
Current: Slight.
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Wreck of the Laura
Marie
Almost directly across the
channel from 1:2 is a fishing vessel that was intentionally sunk
for a dive site in 1992. She lies on her port side in a sandy
cove in 60 ft / 18 m of water. Large groupers and an occasional
turtle can be seen while diving this wreck.
Depth: 30-60ft./10-18m
Current: Slight.
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WWII LCM Shipwreck
with Torpedo
Just down the channel is
an interesting World War II shipwreck, an LCM lying on the side
of the channel wall, bow up. Hard corals have taken over the hull
and wheelhouse, and yes, there's a live topedo close by.
Depth: 25-70ft./8-21m
Current: Slight.
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O'Keefe's Island
Shipwreck
Here's an ancient wooden
shipwreck for you history buffs. Possibly from the days of Yap's
own sea trader, David O'Keefe, this vessel is 170 ft. in length,
lying on the bottom in 70 ft. of water. It's a large sailing ship,
with rudder still intact.
Depth: 70ft./21m
Current: None.
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Sunken Japanese
Zero
Located in one of the "blue
holes" in Fanif (northwestern Yap) are the remains of a Japanese
zero. In the 1940's, this fighter plane crash landed in the lagoon,
and the two pilots swam to shore and walked up on the beach, anouncing
their arrival. The plane is in two pieces, with the fuselage and
wings in about 15 ft/ 5 m and the tail section in about 40 ft/13
m. This plane can be seen while snorkeling, as a surface interval
activity after a dive in Miil Channel.
Depth: 15-40ft./5-13m
Current: Slight.
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