Shark Party! ... and a Tale of Two Halves

Passing through Palau and Yap on our way up from Indonesia the underwater conditions we had in these two islands couldn't have been different. In Palau we woke up with wind gusting to 25 knots, whilst in Yap it was close to flat calm.

Given the conditions it was no surprise the visibility was lower but we still took the chance to dive on Big Drop Off in Palau (proclaimed as the best wall dive in the world by Jacques Cousteau). The drop off was full of life as always, but just revealed piece by piece as we made our progress along the wall and with the large schools of fish passing in and out of view as they moved. A great dive, but difficult for photography.

By comparison, the visibility was extraordinary in Yap (some views so clear they felt like we were swimming in a giant aquarium). We spent some great time with large grey reef sharks before going to the other end of the size scale and accepting the challenge of trying to photograph a juvenile dragon wrasse.

Don't forget to check out our previous posts on Yap and Palau (In the Land of Fruit Bat Pie and Underwater to Enjoy The Sun) which have more in depth content and photos, including the manta rays which are Yap's claim to fame in the diving world.

As with other posts from our 2024 travels, all underwater photos with an iPhone (15 Pro Max) with a Divevolk housing. They have their limits for sure, but having something small, contained and quick but also still functional when travelling with children in remote places and a lot of luggage is a real win!

In Yap the grey reef sharks were there with us at the surface right from entry into the water, the calm surface and intense sunlight producing some amazing moments.

Some came closer than others...

We could see the sharks patrolling the top of the wall as we descended to explore further.

This turned out to be the deepest dive of the trip, but even at close to 30 meters the wall continued to be visible much further down.

It wasn't all enormous walls and sharks though, our sharp eyed guide from Yap Divers (Manta Ray Bay Hotel's dive operation) pointed out this juvenile dragon wrasse (Novaculichthys taeniourus). Less than 5cm long, living in rubble patches, darting into rock holes if disturbed, and mimicking the movement of detached seaweed constantly rolling and moving in the current they are a quite a challenge to photograph well!

As always in Yap, the 'daily commute' to and from the dive sites in enriched with the sight of the traditional mens houses and narrow mangrove channels you pass through between the islands. Not a bad commute for sure!