Dive Sites : Oceania and Pacific : Micronesia : Federated States of Micronesia : Yap

Yap Scuba Diving

46 Dive Sites

Rating	Dive Site	Level	Reviews
	Aliko Reef	Novice	0
	Big Bend	Intermediate	0
	Bird Island	Novice	0
	Cabbage Patch	Novice	0
	Cherry Blossom Wall	Advanced	0
	Choqol Mini Wall	Novice	0
	Eagles' Nest	Novice	0
	Eden	Intermediate	0
	End of the Land	Intermediate	0
	Fan Dancer	Novice	0
	Fanif Reef	Advanced	0
	Fanif Wall	Advanced	0
	Gabach Channel	Intermediate	0
	Gapow Reef	Novice	0
	Garden Eel Flats	Novice	0

Time appears to have forgotten this undisturbed little corner of Micronesia, leaving its culture more intact than the rest of the islands. If you are picturing Island men folk fishing in loincloth and women weaving in grass skirts - you are far from over-romanticizing the reality of Yap as it is today.

Placed west of Micronesia, in the middle of Guam and Palau, Yap consists of four continental islands; Yap Proper, Tomil-Gagil, Map, and Rumung. These quintuplets are tectonically joined by a coral reef pushed up by the geological movements of the Eurasian plate. A further 130 of Yap's islets extend east for 600 miles.

There is a marked difference between the traditional lifestyle in the smaller villages and the densely populated modern capital of Colonia, on Yap Proper. The main island is inhabited by migrants from the Malaysia, Indonesia and New Guinea, whereas the outer islands are mainly Polynesian in ancestry.

Yap's location protected it to a certain extent from Spanish, and later both German and Japanese invasions of Micronesia. The island had its fair share of bombings and was occupied at the end of WWII was by the US, which held it under trusteeship until 1986. Yap now forms part of the Federated States of Micronesia along with Truk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae.

Offshore investments set in stone

Yap's currency is most unlike and other in the global economy. It's made of imported stone. Five different kinds; Mmbul, Gaw, Fe' or Rai, Yar, and Reng make up the varying sizes and values of exchange on this island. They range from 0.3 m (1 ft) in diameter to the largest, which takes as many as 20 strong men to maneuver. The value placed on this currency is that none of it was actually quarried on Yap. The stone was in actual fact obtained through much effort and danger as far away as Palau and New Guinea. This currency is still used to trade on the island today, the disks can transfer ownership in ceremonial circumstances such as land trade or marriage while US dollars are used for wider exchange.

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