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Earlier
this year we visited the Micronesian islands of Yap and Palau
where we experienced some excellent diving. Yap is actually
a cluster of islands between 6 and 10 degrees north in the
Pacific which stretch across some 10 degrees of longitude.
Yap Proper has the only organised diving and permission is
not normally granted for diving activities at many of the
outer islands. Yap Proper is a beautiful, friendly island
and a wonderful place to wind down. Most visitors only stop
a couple of days to dive with the mantas but we stayed for
seven days diving. We had ten manta dives and on only one
did we miss them; perhaps we were looking in the wrong direction.
We generally dived in a group of four or six though on one
occasion we found twelve divers in the water. If everyone
observes the rules this in fact does not detract from viewing
the mantas though it's not so good for photography as you'll
invariably get someone's bubbles in the frame. The visibility
to expect in Miil Channel where the mantas feed and are cleaned
is probably fifty feet - sometimes more on the incoming tide
and less as the tide ebbs from the mangroves.
During
our April visit the mantas were still located in Miil Channel
which normally means a delightful boat ride through the mangroves
to the site. This can't be attempted at low water although
the big boat sometimes makes the long journey around the outside
of the reef. At higher states of the tide the boat passes
right through the centre of the island through a channel made
at the beginning of the century. The mangroves are wonderful
and in the shallow water of the narrowest part it's worth
keeping an eye out for archer fish and on the exposed banks
of the channel for the mudskippers and crabs.
Our
favourite dive in Yap was the drift over the manta ridge on
the incoming tide. Even without mantas this dive would rate
quite highly with lots of interesting life such as turtles
and sharks cruising through a channel lined with sea whips.
Crossing the ridge can be an exhilarating and somewhat uncontrolled
affair as the water depth reduces from some ninety to thirty
feet and the aim, if there are stationary mantas, is to stop
with them! We had dives where we were able to tuck ourselves
out of the current and sit within ten feet of a manta for
thirty minutes.
Not
only does Yap have its manta rays: it also has extensive coral
reefs which are in almost pristine condition excepting occasional
cyclone damage. At the southern tip of the island we experienced
some excellent wall dives, cavernous areas and reef tops teeming
with life. We were fearful only of the extremely territorial
titan triggerfish which produced the most aggressive encounters
we had during our holiday. They clearly resented our presence
even when we were a long way off from areas which may have
been potential nest sites. The reef was patrolled by large
schools of humphead parrotfish and looking into deeper water
we often saw big groupers swimming along.
Moving
to Palau, possibly one of the prettiest places to be found
anywhere, the diving just gets better. We dived up to five
times a day from an excellent six guest live aboard for a
week and also had some day dives with one of the most well
known local diving operators. Palau seems to be home to almost
everything tropical and the diving ranges from soft corals
to schools of shark, from glimpses of thresher shark to encounters
with tiny little octopus clinging to the boat ladder. Night
dives were excellent with particularly memorable ones along
Big Drop Off and through the blue hole at Turtle Cove. There
are also of course plenty of wrecks, though we only dived
them on our way through the rock islands to and from the outer
reef.
We
dived some sites like the famous walls of Ngemelis island
several times because there were so many things to see and
the type of dive experienced depended on the state of the
fide. Blue comer, a famous dive site, lived up to expectations
and I could have happily dived it every day of the week -
that is assuming it was possible to hang on at the comer!
We were surrounded by fishes darting in different directions.
While schools of several hundred individuals of jacks, black
snappers, barracuda and rainbow runners were present with
each species darting in unison, the pyramid butterflyfish
and red tooth triggerfish were much less organised. At this
time of year schooling fish even included large groups of
elegant moorish idols. There were a lot of grey reef sharks
stooging about in the current - indeed if they weren't circling
and sneaking up behind us to pass again and again there were
a hell of a lot of grey reef sharks and some of them were
big and close. It was comforting to find that when you sensed
something just off your shoulder it was the usual friendly
humphead wrasse!
We
had read about the currents before we came to Palau and were
somewhat apprehensive as we had also heard scary tales from
divers we had met in Yap. On our live aboard, with such a
small group and the inherent flexibility, our skipper was
able to choose where and when we dived so the big currents
did not materialise although drift diving was the norm.
Whilst
diving from day boats however you can find yourself amidst
boats zapping about the same dive location and the concept
of selecting what state of the tide the dive takes place doesn't
really exist.We consequently found ourselves on our last dive
being propelled by the current at high speed through the sharks
and into the middle distance away from Pelileu, emerging into
choppy seas. It has to be said though that the part where
we hurtled along the wall and across the top of the reef was
a pretty exciting finale and we were in fact immediately picked
up by the boat. We would have expected, especially after the
deaths which have occurred here, that the use of safety sausages
would be mandatory on the day boats.
This
last day typified just how different the dives could be. During
our earlier dive in stack water at the tip of Pelileu island
it was possible to potter along the wall and move up onto
the ledge to watch sharks resting on the sand. We were able
to stop and look at isolated coral heads which were home to
so many fishes including stunning blue palatte surgeonfish
which darted in if we approached too closely. We even discovered
leaf fish sitting tucked against the coral in depressions
on the reef terrace.
Not
only does Palau boast the big dive sites - there are also
a number of sheltered sites which are not to be missed. Chandelier
cave is an interesting diversion. The seabed in front the
cave appears fairly tatty with a certain amount of rubbish
from tripper boats but even here there is plenty to see like
the stunning mandarinfish, pajama cardinalfish and lots of
juvenile fishes which may be found in this sheltered water
among the corals and leaf litter. The cave itself is a big
crystal clear cavem with a number of air chambers and beautiful
limestone and stalactite formations.
Soft
Coral Arch is stunning but inevitably from the number of snorkellers
and divers visiting some of the corals are now damaged. There
are a myriad of different coloured soft corals with pastel
shades of orange and yellow that defy adequate description.
Palau
of course is home to several saltwater lakes in the middle
of the rock islands, one of which is regularly visited by
snorkellers in order to view its jellyfish. The jellyfish
have evolved to lose their stings and derive energy through
a symbiotic relationship with algae so the greatest density
of individuals is found following the sun around the lake.
We visited during overcast conditions making the snorkel out
through the channel of tree roots, inhabited by cardinal fish
and small white anemones, quite eerie. Despite missing the
great concentrations of jellyfish that occur when the sun
narrows we were still able to see hundreds and hundreds of
individuals.
Snorkelling
in front of our hotel was also a delight for fish watching
with a myriad of butterflyfishes and angelfishes and lots
of picassofish living in the scattered rubble patches along
the sandy bottom. There are clams everywhere, from small specimens
to the giant ones which have been transplanted to this location.
We
look forward to spending another holiday in Palau and Yap
and if anyone is hoping to visit in the near future we have
fairly up to date information and can be contacted through
BSoUP.
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