Valley of the Rays

Mantas are the primary attraction and they set the schedule: they enter the channel in the morning to be cleaned, so the boats are on the moorings early. The dive is shallow by Yap standards, 15 m to 22 m, and it is spent mostly stationary on the bottom at a briefed distance from whichever station is working that morning.

The centre of the valley is dominated by a huge formation of lettuce coral called the Merry-Go-Round, the largest of the cleaning stations here. On the north side of the channel, the Maap side, a smaller lettuce coral formation does the same job and is known as the Carwash. About 20 m east of the Carwash stands Manta Rock, a large coral pinnacle rising to within 10 m of the surface, the third station in the valley.

Which station gets used depends on the day, so the briefing puts you where the animals have been working, and you stay where the guide puts you: out of the mantas' approach and off the living coral. Between passes there is the bottom of the channel to watch, where it is common to see several whitetip sharks. Visibility runs 9 m to 25 m, and the current, which can turn very strong here at times, is the one thing to keep an eye on while you are settled and waiting.