A Divers paradise and whole-family eco-adventures
Manta Ray Bay Resort, Yap. 2016: Yap and Palau have the strongest cultural bonds in Micronesia, are geographically next door to each other, and both offer unique family travel opportunities. Come here for the natural beauty, island culture, and iconic diving in marine sanctuaries on an eco-adventure. The Micronesia experience is embodied in nature, culture, and conservation. Yap and Palau put an exclamation point on your family’s trip for divers and non-divers alike.
These destinations have a lot of advanced diver allure; they come with special cultural and land-based opportunities for every traveler. Nothing says to bring the whole family more than non-diver adventures that rival the experiences of Vertigo, Blue Corner, or an Oolong Channel drift.
Each day of a Family Divers package includes eco-activities for small children, teens, and non-diving adults. In Yap and Palau, that means kayaking through the rock islands or a rich mangrove forest. Or taking a WWII history tour or visiting a traditional village, being “local” for a day, learning about village life or traditional skills and engaging people on a unique cultural excursion. Enjoy a private beach, snorkeling with manta rays, reef sharks, chambered nautilus, and giant clams.
Unplugging in Yap
Yap will help you forget about bling and the busy world. Here you’ll find a mix of fellow adventure travelers relaxing in the natural energy that comes from an undeveloped island. Your world shrinks down to 38 square miles of mangroves and gold sand beaches. A rainforest backdrop speckled with coconut trees, and your front yard is a glassy lagoon. It won’t take long until nature’s rhythm dominates. And you’ll notice your body feeling the tide changes and the afternoon sun falling behind the island.
Yap and Palau offer our modern lifestyle some counterbalance – busyness and our multi-tasking, the world gives way to the moment, and you might find yourself feeling and trying something new to you – after all, that’s why we travel, to learn something, engage ourselves, and embrace the world we live in.
This is where family time includes understanding our ecosystem, what threatens it, and what we can do to change that – then diving or snorkeling with protected animals. Yap and Palau have taken big steps in marine conservation through locally grown island initiatives. Yap established the world’s first government-backed manta ray sanctuary, which now includes shark and turtle protection, and legislation that allows these animals to safely interact with divers in ultra-close proximity every day.
The blue water classroom
Kids Sea Camp safely pairs kids with sharks through education and adventure. Led by local marine mammal experts and professional dive guides in Yap. “Vertigo” is a blue water classroom where divers of all levels safely interact with schools of reef sharks. Before entering the water, divers and snorkelers learn about the site, shark behavior, and how to safely observe these animals as a family.
Get some blue sky and clear water “me time” through careful activity planning. Parents dive on a private boat and a dive plan. Kids dive with extra guides on their own boats at different sites. Non-divers begin their adventure right after breakfast. Mixing it up brings the family together in the middle of the adventure. See your kids in a village on their surface interval. They might tell you that they just swam with a whale shark.
At the end of the day, photography lights up the dinner table with SeaLife cameras, smartphones with GoPro footage, or tablets being passed around. While fragments of the stories can be heard amid the excitement. Parents, kids, divers, non-divers, everyone gets their adventure. Whether you went to the reef, eco-touring, fishing, or getting your zen on at the spa. Yap and Palau; do them both and get two countries, two islands, two cultures. . . in one vacation.
Story by Brad Holland