Manta Ray Bay Resort Reviews & Specials - Bluewater Dive Travel

Manta Ray Bay Resort

4.75
(3 REVIEWS)
A beach meets the sea at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Palm trees next to the beach at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Scuba diving at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Mandarin fish seen while scuba diving at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Manta ray diving with Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Schooling barracudas underwater at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
An aerial view of Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Diving with manta rays at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
A deluxe oceanview room at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Bathroom in a deluxe oceanview room at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
People enjoy a plunge pool at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Manta Ray Bay Resort oceanview room.
Manta Ray Bay Resort oceanview bathroom.
A standard room at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
A standard bathroom at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
The boat serving as the restaurant at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Scuba tanks at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
The entrance to Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
A nighttime view of Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
Dining on the ship restaurant at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
A swimming pool at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
The Crown Nest Bar at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
The spa at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
A person prepares scuba diving equipment at the pool at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
A swimming pool looks onto the sea and the floating restaurant at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.
The dive boat at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia.

Destination: Micronesia

Colonia, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia | Full-board + 10 dives from $270/ppn

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Manta Ray Bay Resort Quick Pitch 

This full-service dive resort was built by divers, for divers, and offers a complete and relaxing scuba getaway.

 

Quick Information 

  • No of Rooms: 35
  • Dive Center: On-site
  • Amenities: AC, infinity pool and pool deck, private plunge pools, rooftop jacuzzi, spa, on-site brewing company, bistro, kayaks (fee), fishing trips (fee), Nitrox
  • WiFi: Yes, free
  • Nearest International Airport: Yap International Airport
  • Airport shuttle: Yes, free
 

 

How to Get There

The resort is on the waterfront in the heart of Colonia, Yap’s main town. It is a short 10-minute ride from the airport.

 

Dive Overview 

Exquisite diving for everyone, from beginners to experts. Half of the reefs surrounding the resort are still unexplored, and the known sites remain crowd-free. Giving the resort its name, manta rays frequent the area year-round. There are also large numbers of reef sharks and colorful critters.

 

 

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Accommodations

Types of Rooms, Amenities and Photos

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Manta Ray Bay Resort Accommodation Overview

The motif of the entire hotel is marine life with each of the rooms individually decorated in tropical elegance. Each room bears a fish name, and is decorated accordingly, with photographs and paintings of that fish, hand-carved door, hand carved key chains and handmade bedspreads. Each Room features:

  • Air Conditioning & ceiling fan
  • In-room Refrigerator (upon request)
  • IDD Telephone
  • Color TV with DVD player
  • Fully potable in-room hot & cold tap water
  • Built-in hair dryer
  • Built-in electronic safe
  • Internet Access
  • Complimentary Coffee & Tea Service

 

Deluxe Ocean View Room and Suite

  • Manta Ray Bay Resort
  • The Deluxe Ocean View rooms are our finest rooms. These rooms feature stunning ocean-views, king-sized beds, private patios and unique interior features. Some of these rooms have private plunge pools, or fantastic stone showers or even a private rooftop jacuzzi! They are all unique and equally elegant.

 

Ocean View Room

  • Manta Ray Bay Resort
  • Each individually themed Ocean View Room features a breathtaking view of the lagoon. Wake up to a beautiful sunrise reflecting off of the still waters. Ocen View Rooms are well appointed in tropical style and feature either one or two queen-sized beds. Some rooms even have waterbeds!

 

Standard Room

  • Manta Ray Bay Resort
  • Each unique Standard Room is well appointed in tropical style and features either one or two queen-sized beds. The standard rooms are on the opposite side of the resort with views of the hills and beyond.

 

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Resort Facilities

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Manta Ray Bay Resort Manta Ray Bay Resort

Restaurant

Manta Ray Bay Resort Manta Ray Bay Resort

Bar & Spa

 

Manta Ray Bay Resort Features

  • Plunge pool
  • Infinity pool
  • Restaurant
  • Air-conditioned main dining room
  • Roof-top bar
  • Nightly movies
  • Spa
  • Water sports facilities
  • Car hire

 

Manta Ray Bay Resort Food & Drinks

The food is inspired by Asian, local and European recipes with generous portions which are both wholesome and delicious. Daily delights such as homemade pizza, hamburgers and cheeseburgers and fresh fish sandwiches can be found on the daily menu.

 

Manta Ray Bay Resort Activities

  • Diving
  • Eco kayak tours
  • Hiking
  • Cultural tours
  • Land tours
  • Deep sea fishing
  • Traditional sailing canoe trips
  • In-house spa

 

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Packages & Rates

Manta Ray Bay Resort Rates

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hotel/dive packages

All rates are in USD and per person. Non-diver rates only apply when booked with at least one diver in the room. Valid until December 31, 2025.

Accommodation Type3 nights / 2 dive days (6 dives)4 nights / 3 dive days (9 dives)7 nights / 5 dive days (15 dives)10 nights / 8 dive days (24 dives)
14 nights / 11 dive days (33 dives)
Standard
Diver$809$1,079$1,799$2,549$3,319
Non-Diver$209$259$419$569$769
Ocean View
Diver$869$1,179$1,929$2,719$3,489
Non-Diver$269$339$559$769$1,049
Deluxe Ocean View
Diver$979$1,379$2,299$3,199$4,129
Non-Diver$329$419$699$969$1,329

 

diving rates

All rates are in USD and per person. Valid until December 31, 2025.

Dive PackageRates
1-tank Dive$109
2-tank Dive$199
1-tank Mandarin Fish$109
1-tank Night Dive$119
1-tank Shark Feed (8 divers min.)$119
Guided Snorkeling (includes snack)$129
Private boat (includes captain & dive guide)$649

 

RATES & AVAILABILITY

For rates, availability, and to book drop us an email at bookings@bluewaterdivetravel.com or call us at 310-915-6677 and we will gladly help you plan your dream dive vacation!

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Dive Information

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Dive Overview

Yap is best-known for its resident manta ray presence, clear blue water diving and a strong reef shark population. With almost 100 miles of barrier reef, several big channels and lagoon sites, there is one of everything here to explore – miles of outer reef wall diving, deep and shallow channels to drift as well as inner lagoon macro and night diving. Highlights of Yap Diving are the mantas, daily year-round reef shark diving with three kinds of interactions, nightly mating mandarin fish as well as rich coral walls and caverns.

 

Manta Ray Bay Resort

 

Yap Sharks at “Vertigo”

The one thing that is guaranteed in Yap is “Vertigo” with its local school of un-shy Grey and Black Tip reef sharks. This is a true year-round rain or shine dive. Yap sharks are always home at Vertigo.

Grey, black and white tip reef sharks will most likely be in every dive log entry, with the exception of one of the manta ray cleaning stations.

Almost all diving includes shark encounters and interactions. On several occasions, bigger species are sited along the Southern walls, including Tiger, Silky and Silvertips.

 

 

Critters, Macro and More…

Yap’s big animal diving is complimented with diverse reef life, and especially a smaller side, critter diving.

Critter diving can be in a day’s dive plan year-round. We have both inner lagoon macro dive sites as well as outer reef macro diving.

Photographers are pleased with the quality of Yap’s subjects and shooting environments.

Other typical marine life encounters include turtles, cuttlefish, eagle rays and big fish.

Yap’s barrier reef consists of hundreds of types of hard coral and where the currents hit you’ll find a living mixture of whips, sponges and blooming soft corals.

All of this is enjoyed in small 6-8 pax fully-equipped twin-engine dive boats in small groups with veteran dive guides.

 

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Dive Center Information

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Manta Ray Bay Resort Manta Ray Bay Resort

 

Manta Ray Bay Resort Dive Center Overview 

Award winning Yap Divers is Yap’s first PADI 5-Star Resort and an SSI Platinum Dive Center. With Yap Divers, you can be assured of clean, pure air, safe diving, and a full range of instruction available from Open Water through Divemaster. We also offer a number of specialty dive certifications for those who want to expand their formal dive training, and we are home to the only place in the world where you can do the PADI certified Manta Ray Awareness Course. This makes for a perfect combination to enhance the Yap Island vacation.

 

Dive Center Features

  • The most convenient land-based dive op
  • Modern, quiet, comfortable, covered dive boats
  • Personal Gear Storage Area
  • Camera Stations with secure storage
  • Top-of-the-line rental gear
  • NITROX available

 

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Other Information

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Practical Information

  • Time zone: UTC+10
  • Languages: Filipino, Russian, Dutch, Indonesian, French, Spanish, English & German
  • Electricity: 110 V
  • Accept Credit Cards?: Yes, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and JCB cards

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Got Questions? Ready to Book?

Call us today at 310-915-6677 or email us bookings@bluewaterdivetravel.com

And let us book your dream vacation!

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Underwater Gallery

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Manta Ray Bay Resort Manta Ray Bay Resort

Manta Ray Bay Resort Manta Ray Bay Resort

Manta Ray Bay Resort Manta Ray Bay Resort

 

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Reviews (3)

4
5
5
3

Three of us spent a wonderful week at Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap in January 2014. The resort is beautiful, impeccably clean and well run, and the dive shop staff top notch. We came there for the manta ray encounters (our second visit) after 9 days in Palau, and we were not disappointed. There is a recently found, very shallow cleaning station, Stammtisch, and we spent up to 90 minutes on several diving days watching mantas soar in front of and above us. On our first dive in Yap we had 7 mantas at one time on the cleaning station. Between dives we were served tea and fresh made loaf cakes (the resort has it's own bakery on the premises) that were delicious. There was an ample and tasty breakfast every morning in the Indonesian schooner, Mnuw, that houses the restaurant and bar. They also have a new spa, Taro Leaf Spa, where you can get reasonably priced massages and other treatments. The staff are wonderful, very helpful and friendly. The rooms are large, there are lots of windows and natural light, and they are well appointed with very nice solid wood furniture. The only disappointment was no TV, though they do have DVDs available (though who needs TV in paradise). The owner, Bill Acker, is an affable Texan, who makes you feel right at home. And they even have their own brewery at the resort, Stone Money Brewing company, serving both light and dark beers. We also saw plenty of sharks, on one dive (Vertigo) there were over two dozen circling around us and below. The coral reefs weren't very colorful or spectacular in my opinion, the main attraction is the big marine life - mantas, sharks, and huge bumphead parrotfish. After diving, we walked along some of the ancient stone paths, enjoyed the lush foliage, and looked for the island's famous stone money. I highly recommend visiting, but check the time of year when manta sightings are more frequent and reliable. We got lucky as it was apparently the beginning of mating season, so they were very active.

Visited on 01/2014 - Submitted on 02/24/2014
5
5
5
5

Yap was a great trip! The people at Manta Ray Bay Resort were extremely friendly. it almost seemed like they knew my after the 1st day of me being there. I actually hit my 400th dive while I was there. They made a certificate for me. For a dive nerd like me, that meant a lot. I absolutely loved the resort! I think it's so cool that they named and themed every room after an ocean critter. The resort has a massage place as well. I did take advantage of that. I had 2 queen size beds to myself. The bathroom was a little small, but not a problem. Your gear is taken care of by the resort. So you don't need to take anything back to your room.

The restaurant that is associated with Manta Bay is called the Mnuw. How cool is this, it's a ship!!!! The bottom deck is for breakfast only. Then there are 2 layers/decks that you can eat lunch and dinner on. The top deck has a screen on which they play a movie. The food was really yummy. I thought the fish tacos were scrumptious! I don't drink, but I had a manta shake just because:) i really loved everything about the resort and the Mnuw. I feel like it was very diver friendly and just perfect for the ocean lover.

Everyone knows you go to Yap for the Mantas. It really was the best manta dive I've been to. You just sit there in about 15-20 feet of water and the mantas come to you. I am more of a shark kinda girl, so I enjoyed the shark dive very much! I found a tooth that I was able to bring home. One of the days we went to do some wall diving. It was nice, but I liked the manta and shark dives better. Sitting on the floor of a small metal boat for that long ride out there may have been part of the reason I didn't care for those dives. I felt EVERY wave.

I highly recommend this trip to any diver. I also enjoyed learning some of the culture when we were above the water. It was a very enjoyable trip for sure!

Visited on 12/2012 - Submitted on 02/24/2014
5
5
5
5

Living in Los Angeles, when I want to go someone remote, with amazing shark life that doesn’t take two days to get to, I go to Manta Ray Bay resort in Yap.

I only had thirty days to do an underwater video product, and I wanted one location, ease of travel, sharks, with warm clear water and a variety of undersea attractions. I like upscale comfort, and a cooperative place to work – so Ichose the Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap. You can get there in a single day of travel with no overnights – you fly from LAX to Honolulu, Honolulu to Guam, Guam to Yap. It is about 13 hours of flying, and 20 - 21 hours total time including layovers. As for the sharks, Yap’s Vertigo dive site was well known to me, and the water is clear and warm (84F) with perhaps 30 sharks on a single dive to mingle with. They have a special dive that attracts the sharks w/o feeding them, by using a closed chum cage. So the sharks approach and circle around smelling a meal, an ideal scenario. We were able to visit the site numerous times. The friendly owner Bill Acker came out with us. His familiarity with these sharks was such that we gave him the camera system to hold. Bill got in real close and we soon had great footage in the can. The result is a film: “For the Love of Sharks”

The beauty of Yap is the lack of crowds. There are no high rises or fast food outlets. You are totally in another culture, Yapese, Micronesian, but the currency is the US $ and everybody speaks English. All the rooms have comfort, air con, and a unique sea creature décor. The food is great and served aboard a large Indonesian phinisi schooner by happy servers. You order from a menu: fresh seafood, local fruit, burgers, salads, sashimi, pasta, and superb pizza. The ship (Mnuw) has a big screen for showing dive movies every night, some from the day’s adventures.They also have a great infinity pool for relaxing, andhave a brewery on the premises. I’m told the beer is great!

Yap Divers is the resort’s dive center where your dive vessel assignments are posted. It has a spacious dive locker where you can wash and store your gear. There’s a camera rinse tank and extensive camera tables. Yap Divers is a PADI 5-star facility.

The routine is two dives in the morning, and additional dives in the afternoon and evening, including a mandarin fish site. The dive vessels are clean, fast, rides are short and take you through a picturesque mangrove forest. Underwater attractions are the world famous manta rays, sharks, tropical fish, and critters, withdrop offs all around. Drift dives are common. Each dive site is unique. Most dive sites are a 10 – 30 minute boat ride away.

The Yapese culture is traditional and not westernized. Large stone money discs are everywhere and unique to Yapese culture, with much history behind them. You can visit villages and see colorful native dances.The Manta Ray Bay Resort has been in business since the 1980’s and is a popular stopover for visitors to Palau. However, I have been to Yap several times and enjoy being there for longer than a short stop over. A month is perfect. It seems to be the fastest way from LA to get to a remote tropical paradise without overnights, hustle and bustle, big hotels or dealing with crowds. I love the clear water and plenty of action everywhere.

I am very happy I chose Yap our “For the Love of Sharks”expedition.

Last year, I saw a tremendous product that was engineered to accomplish 360 degree filming underwater. The system was an engineering marvel employing 6 Go Pro cameras. I had to have it. Once in my hands I had to decide where to go to use it? I was looking for the best of all worlds. Our 360Hero video has been to DEMA, CES, and Sundance.

See “For the Love of Sharks”:www.macdonaldrpoductions.com

Visited on 08/2013 - Submitted on 01/22/2014

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