Yap visit February 2012

I recently spent 4 days in Yap. Arrived at 1.30am Wednesday on the Continental flight from Guam and departed Sunday morning at 4.20am back to Guam. No departure tax from Yap. Luckily the manager, Benson, from the EMI-Blue Lagoon apartments was there to greet another guest so he took me back in his car (no charge for the transfer both ways) to the apartments so I was settled into a small room by 2am. EMI is good. A bit old but reasonably well looked after and clean. A small room is $35USD per night. Larger ones are $55.Even though I spent essentially 5 nights they only charged me for 4 nights which was nice and I didn’t even ask for it. To pay you have to go to the main EMI office during the day which is half way along the road leading to the center of Colonia.

The room has cooking facilities (electric stove and sink, pots, pans, crockery, cutlery) and a fridge, so you can self-cater. There is no cable TV, but they do provide a TV and a DVD player, so byo DVDs. There is aircon and hot water so all in all a very good deal for the price. The only downside is that it is a 20 minute walk to the center of town. There are dogs along the route but they don’t bother you. I asked about the nearby Hilltop Motel and was told that this was now expensive at around $90 per night. Didn’t check it out so I can’t verify that.

For eating I tried the MNUW schooner which is an old Indonesian Schooner moored in front of the Manta Ray Bay Hotel. Food was pretty good there. Also tried the ESA Bayview Restaurant. Nice setting by the water but the food was not very good. Went once to the Marina Garden Restaurant. Very filling but wouldn’t go back.

Internet was available in the Internet café next to O’Keefe’s. $4 per hour but you have to pay a minimum $4. Speed was Ok. They also have a large collection of DVDs there as well.

On my first day I located the Visitor’s Bureau. They told me to visit either the Manta Ray Bay Hotel or the Yap Pacific Dive Resort (I think this was the other Hotel offering tours but I am not sure) if I wanted to do tours. As it turned out I did 4 tours with the Manta Ray Bay.

Half Day land tour visiting some Japanese WW2 plane wrecks, Stone money banks, a stop at the highest point on the island for the view, and a visit to Kaday village = $45.

Half Day kayak tour in the northeast of the island for $63. They take a speedboat there to drop you off. Start 9am. Snacks provided, and back before lunch.

Snorkelling tour, $50, in the northwest of the island. Even though I was the only person on the tour they still took me out. Spent an hour or so snorkelling on the reef waiting for a Manta Ray to show up. The corals are excellent. Fish life is good though not outstanding. Saw one 10 foot wide Manta Ray that glided below me and one squid. They take you there in their speedboat via the German Channel with two guides.

Afternoon Cultural tour to Kaday Village, $75. Only on Wed and Saturday, minimum of 8 people required. Starts at 4.30pm from the Manta Ray Bay Hotel. They take you to the start of the stonepath that leads about 1km to Kaday Village. At the start of the path the guide is waiting there. A bare breasted girl in grass skirt. After you walk the path, they have a dancing show which lasts for less than an hour. There are about 20 locals all in traditional garb and swinging bamboo sticks. All the females are bare breasted but somewhat covered in floral necklaces.

Overall I found Yap to be one of the quietest places I have ever been to. The main town, Colonia, has hardly any houses, people or cars. There are a few hotels, government buildings and shops, but overall very quiet. There is a good supermarket there which sells most stuff that you would need, and there is also the EMI shop which is half way to the EMI-Blue lagoon apartments. Visually the landscape of Yap is unspectacular and there are no accessible beaches in Colonia. The stone money all over the place is nice to see. I was happy with my 4 days there and as a non-diver that was enough for me.

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