Photo: Simon Sellars.

This piece on the Micronesian island of Yap was published in Dorling Kindersley’s guide to year-round travel, Where to Go When, Craig Doyle (ed), London: Dorling Kindersley, 2007.

WHERE TO GO WHEN
Yap – December

Imagine this: you’re a pressure-suit-encased plaything suspended in the void, bobbing about at the mercy of a shapeshifting blue mass. Above, a lozenge of light illuminates a clump of misshapen rock. You float down to the rock and crouch on a ledge, surrounded by sheer vertical walls. The light grows dim as a large, deltoid shape blocks it from view. The shape, its wingspan almost tipping five metres, floats into close range, a jumble of unearthly cephalic lobes and outcropped eye sockets.

And then the creature opens its huge mouth, almost brushing you with its wingtips…all at once you’re in awe, and you’re in fear; you’ve found or you’ve lost religion; maybe you’re a bit in love, too. Are you an astronaut adjusting to the weightless ecology of an alien planet? No, you’re nine metres under the western Pacific, diving the M’il Channel and communing with nature’s very own devilfish – the famous manta rays of Yap.

Tiny Yap might be the proverbial speck in the ocean, but its gentle, graceful mantas are among the world’s premier underwater attractions. Yet on land Yap is just as beguiling. If they’re not diving, most people skip Yap on the way to Guam or Palau, but why miss the chance to explore Micronesia’s most traditional state? Unusual sights will greet you, far removed from Western society: giant stone money, for example, up to four metres wide; or loin-clothed men and bare-breasted women going about their business in the miniscule capital, Colonia.

At the airport, barely bigger than your head, crowds of children meet the planes and everyone chews betel nut, the seed of the areca palm – everywhere and all the time – from adults down to kids and even, so they say, ghosts. Prolonged betel-nut use stains saliva bright red and grinds teeth to blackened stubs, a potentially alarming sight, but when you land and are welcomed by friendly Yapese, you’ll soon feel at ease.

Getting There
Yap, part of the Federated States of Micronesia, is a stopover on the Guam to Palau route. There are no direct flights.

Getting Around
There’s no public transport. The capital, Colonia, is about 15 minutes from the airport by car. Rent a vehicle through your hotel or take a taxi (US$1 around Colonia and US$3 to the airport).

Weather
Yap is warm and dry in December, and temperatures average 80 to 81°F (26 to 27°C) year-round.

Accommodation
ESA Hotel (www.yapesabayview.com) – basic rooms from US$75.
Pathways Hotel (www.pathways.com) – charming hillside cottages with traditional architecture from US$115.
Manta Ray Bay Hotel (www.mantaray.com) – colourful, spacious rooms from US$150.
Traders’ Ridge Resort (www.tradersridge.com ) – upscale hotel with rooms from US$215.

Eating Out
The best eating is at the hotels. The Manta Ray Bay’s restaurant, actually an Indonesian fishing boat moored in the harbour, serves excellent seafood (mains from $US15). The Veranda View (mains from US$20), at Trader’s Ridge, naturally has the best view, out over Chamorro Bay, as well as the ‘only professional Yapese chef on Yap’ and betel-nut cocktails.

Expenses
Accommodation: $US75–215
Lunch and dinner: $US22
Rental car: $US40
Half-day tour: $US50
One-tank dive: $US60

Further Info
www.visityap.org

Boxed text
Yap’s ancient rai – stone money – was quarried long ago on Palau’s Rock Islands as crystalline-limestone discs, up to four metres in diameter. The rai was then hefted onto barges and towed by canoe to Yap, 400km distant. Although the Yapese are masters of the sea, expeditions were sometimes lost as the awkward cargo (weighing up to five tons) proved lethal in foul weather – the value of the coin was therefore indexed to the difficulties faced in transportation. Today rai is still sometimes used to transact, although the loot never moves, forever staying put in pathside village ‘banks’.

Seasonal information
December through to February is the peak season for manta watching – a day or two should do it, especially since Yap has a ‘guaranteed sighting’ program. Four days is ample time to see the rest of Yap at a luxurious clip, unless you want to extend your stay with a trip to the outer islands. The Trader’s Ridge Resort has the most comprehensive tour program.

Diary
Day 1
Play with the mantas – the best time is in the very early morning. In the afternoon, snorkel around Yap’s wonderful reef, blue holes and shallow lagoon. Yap Divers, at the Manta Ray Bay Hotel, is the most experienced operator.

Day 2
Hire a guide to take you to Bechiyal, a relaxed beachside village. Its ancient faluw (men’s meeting house) survived the 2004 typhoon and is the oldest on the island. Later, visit the stone-money banks at Balabat, Okau and Wanyan villages.

Glimpse local artisans at work in open-air workshops at the Ethnic Art Village. Sometimes there are dance performances, as well as demonstrations in carrying stone money and chewing betel nut.

Day 3
Take a tour to the ‘forbidden island’ of Rumung, a 20-minute boat trip from Bechiyal. Since the 17th century, Rumung has been closed to all foreigners – until very recently. It still has no cars, roads or electricity – just stone paths and a strong stench of the past.

Day 4
Hire a guide to show you the WWII relics scattered about Yap, including rusting cannon and shot-down fighter planes – a legacy of wartime occupation by the Japanese.

Take a tour on a traditional sailing canoe, or kayak through the mangrove channels, or mountain bike through lush jungle greenery.

Day 5
Fly to the Ulithi atoll in the outer islands, an unspoilt, unhurried attraction. Spend a day or two snorkelling and diving: underwater attractions include tiger sharks, turtles and some interesting WWII wrecks.

Do’s and Don’ts
• Ask the locals to show you how to chew betel nut. You’ll make them laugh when you stain your nice new shirt with the gushing, bright-red saliva it produces.
• Carry a blade of grass when walking through a village – it’s a sign of respect.
• Don’t just walk anywhere without asking – every centimetre of land on Yap is privately owned, and to not seek permission is a deep insult.
• Don’t sunbathe on the beach in bathers – cover up with a sarong. Although some Yapese women go topless, it’s shameful for females to display bare thighs.