Yap · Micronesia · Cave & cavern · Wall · Reef
Yap Caverns
Swim-through chimneys lit by skylights in the coral
Photo: amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0
A network of caverns and canyons notched out of the coral wall on the outside of Yap's barrier reef, dived from 3 m down to 30 m with usually no current. The shallow coral heads are honeycombed with chasms and chimneys big enough to swim through, and skylights drop shafts of sun into them.
Where it is and how deep
9.5000° N, 138.0800° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
This is the outside-the-reef dive, and it is usually run at slack tide, either as a static dive or a gentle drift along the wall depending on conditions. The wall itself is cut into caverns and canyons, and the profile is wide: 3 m at the top of the coral, 30 m at the deep end, with usually no current to fight either way. Visibility runs from 12 m to over 30 m.
The shallower sections are the reason to come. Large coral outcroppings there are honeycombed with narrow chasms and chimneys large enough for divers to work through, and skylights in the roofs send shafts of sunlight down into them. It is unhurried diving, and because the current is normally absent you can spend the time lining up the light rather than holding position.
Sharks patrol the outside: whitetip and grey reef sharks along the wall, with large schools of tuna and amberjack passing in the blue and schools of fifty or more big parrotfish over the coral. Down in the structure the scale changes completely, with morays and stingrays among the cuts and a macro list of porcelain crabs, dragonets, nudibranchs, leaf fish and scorpionfish.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Reef fish swarms
- Stingrays
- Tuna
- Trevally & jacks
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime |
Season follows Yap: Mantas are present year-round, but the Dec-Mar dry season brings calmer seas and clearer water for photographing the cleaning stations.
Photos from Yap Caverns
amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0
amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0
amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0
Dive videos
MelodeeSea - Scuba Diving the Yap Caverns · Melodee Sea on YouTube
2019 Dive site "Yap Caverns" - One of Yap´s Best · Manta Ray Bay Resort on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Are the Yap Caverns true cave diving?+
No. They are caverns and chimneys cut into the coral in the shallower sections of the wall, wide enough for divers to pass through and open to daylight through skylights, so the dive stays within recreational limits.
What is the visibility at Yap Caverns?+
Between 12 m and over 30 m. The site sits on the outside of Yap's barrier reef and is normally dived at slack tide, with usually no current running through the caverns.
Sources
- Yap Caverns dive site — Manta Ray Bay Resort / Yap Divers
Photo credits
- A large sea anemone hosts an anemonefish amid clouds of orange anthias on the reef. by amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- Clouds of small reef fish hover above a coral ridge in clear blue water. by amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- A grouper rests beside a coral head as butterflyfish and anthias swirl above the reef. by amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- A scorpionfish lies camouflaged against mottled coral rubble on the reef. by amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
In The Logbook
- Cavern and cenote diving without cave trainingCaves & caverns · 8 min read
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