If you are at DEMA this year, come on by and visit us at Booth # 733.  We will be there to answer any and all of your questions.  Whether you want to know about the amazing marine life in Yap like Manta Rays, Frog Fish, Pipe Fish, and Mandarine Fish, just to name a few.  Or you want to know how to get to Yap.  Or you simply just want to say “hi.”  Come on by!

As a special treat, my son, Nathan Acker has taken leave from the Marines for a few days, to join me at the show.

Come join us at booth #733!

While my wife Patricia and I were driving to town this morning on our way to pick up our youngest granddaughter who is scheduled to spend the weekend with us, I suddenly realized something special.  The day is glorious, sun is shining, breeze is blowing, everything is green from the summer rains and then it dawned on me.  Exactly 17 years ago, to the day, I was making this same drive as the brand new owner of the Manta Ray Bay Hotel, Yap Divers and Wave Crest Travel Agency.  Sure, I started each of these businesses and ran them from the day they opened but August 1, 1973 was the first day that my family and I actually OWNED them.

What a time it was.  The oldest and youngest kids had turned 12 & 4 years old less than 30 days earlier while the middle two were 8 & 6 respectively.  Today, Numie the oldest one, has just turned 29 with a degree in Hotel Management from the University in Canberra, Australia is married and has a 14 month old daughter – Mary Patricia.  Numie is now the Human Resource Manager for the Resort after having spent her life working at just about every job we have here.  Next in line is Nathan a 24 year old Lance Corporal in the US Marine Corps who spent a year in Engineering School at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and 2 years at the University of Hawaii before finding his calling in the military.  Nathan also spent 2 years as our chef between the time he was in Hawaii and the time he joined the Corps.

Valerie is next in line and she is back home working as a dive guide for Yap Divers after spending two years in the Business program at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth where she was double majoring in Accounting and Entrepreneurial Studies.  Val is now married and has an 19 month old son – Thaddaeus.  Last, but certainly not least, is Oliver Patrick “OP” Acker who has just celebrated his 21st birthday and is set to graduate from the College of Micronesia in Pohnpei with an AA degree in Computer Information Systems. OP is looking forward to enrolling in the University of Hawaii at Manoa in January (the same school I attended for Graduate School).

I have been married for more than 25 years to Patricia Mangthin, who is sitting beside me this morning as we head for town.  She is happy to finally be a grandmother and realizes how lucky we are that they are all living close to us in Yap.  Patricia has a wonderful family spread between Yap, Saipan and the United States, my family are all still in Texas and doing well.  The kids are healthy, there are two grandkids in Yap, the business is better than it’s ever been so, as Joe Walsh would sing . . . “Life’s Been Good to Me So Far.”

The crew of Yap Divers spent this morning with several of our guests, including Ken Kurtis of Reef Seekers Dive Company in Hollywood, California, our webmaster Dustin Macdonald, the Captain of the Spanish owned sailing yacht – Never Say Never, currently moored off from the Manta Ray Bay Resort and several local residents of Yap. What were we doing you might well ask?

We were all watching the finals of the World Cup Football, soccer to us Yanks, between Spain and the Netherlands. We projected the game on to the big screen on the S/V Mnuw and sat around drinking fresh brewed coffee while the match was played out. The sun came up just as regulation time was ending so we moved downstairs into the Nautical Weaver lounge and showed the overtime period. I am not sure there is a better setting in the world for watching live sports than the Crow’s Nest as a full moon is rising or in our case, the sun was coming up.

Our group was evenly split between rooting for Spain and/or Holland. As a result of Spain’s 1 to 0 overtime win, Fredy, our Swiss brew meister is telling everyone that Switzerland is co-champion as a result of their opening game defeat of the Spanish.
Needless to say, it was a good morning and after breakfast, 4 dive boats departed for various locations around the island. The seas are very calm, the water is clear and the boat that I was on saw over 20 sharks including white tip, black tip, grey reef and a rare sighting of a zebra shark.

Every diver will have their favorite dive site or most memorable dive.  But being as fortunate as I am to be working at the Manta Ray Bay Resort here in Yap, I feel I am spoiled for choice.  But still, as spoiled as I am, I still have my favorite dive site.  And for me it has to be Vertigo…by miles!  Located on the Northwest side of the island, it is always protected from the wind and thus is good to dive pretty much all of the time.  It is easy to get to as well, just a quick dart through the German channel and you are pretty much there.

For me, I love to dive where I have a wall on one side and the blue on the other and of course good visibility is a must.  Vertigo offers all three.  The coral is mainly hard coral, but the wall just drops and drops, seemingly to infinity.  The visibility is endless, easily over 100ft, so you get a great view whether you are looking up or down, left or right.  But for me, the blue is the most impressive.  It is such a rich hue of blue, it’s hard to pull your eyes from it.  And of course from the blue comes the amazing, wonderful sharks.  One minute there is nothing and then you can just make out something moving towards you and then there it is, one, two then three and then over a dozen sharks.  Before long they are curiously moving in for a closer look.

Vertigo is  a paradise for divers fascinated with sharks.  The main visitors to Vertigo  are the grey reef, black tip and white tip sharks but we have also seen Silkies and Scalloped Hammerheads.  If you are lucky you may even get to see the grouper that lurks deep down in the depths.  Now I’m not one for exaggerating, but it is at least 10 feet in length.  There are also literally thousands of colorful tropical fish living up near the surface so this is a dive with a little bit of everything – including lots of sharks.

Another reason Vertigo is my favorite place to dive is because it’s where Bill Acker took me as a dive student for my open water course.  And on only my third dive had me roll off the back of the boat and land in the middle of at least 30 sharks and in one instant took 10 years off my life with the shock!

Last Thursday saw Popou full with another group of intrepid divers heading out with Bill to explore some wonderful dive sites in Yap.  This trip out we headed to the south of the island to two of my favorite dive sites, namely Yap Caverns and Cabbage Patch.

The visibility was excellent at the Yap Caverns and we had very little current so the swim throughs were very easy.  This dive produced some great marine life for us all to photograph.  We had octopus, lion fish, three leaf fish and a very colorful mantis shrimp as well as a few passing white tips.

The surface interval offered a great opportunity to check out each other’s pictures whilst having some delicious banana bread washed down with a cup of tea. We spent a fun hour telling stories and having some really good banter back and forth.

The short journey up to Cabbage Patch gave us time to suit up for the next dive.  Cabbage Patch is a large expanse of hard coral mainly pachyseris speciosa, which offers a chance to spot some lovely nudibranchs which we only ever find at this site called chelidonura inornata.  This particular dive gave us an abundance of bump head parrot fish as well.

The guests on this trip out were Ron Lane, Birmingham, UK; Rob Reid, Birmingham UK; Julie Quickfall & David Williams, Somerset, UK; Brian Smith, California, USA; Peter Schmidt & Martina Sebastian, Schonerfeld, Germany; Kurt Fehr, Lenzburg, Switzerland Rudolf Argay, Basel, Switzerland.  Also joining on the dive boat were Bill’s two daughters Numie and Valerie.  Boat captain was Igy and Alex helped Bill out by being assistant dive guide.

Check out our blog next week for the next safari…

Peter Schneider, originally from Berlin, Germany is our new Manta Visions Video  & Photo Pro.  Peter is  a true professional in his field having worked for 12 years in German television, before  moving  to French Polynesia to create his own company – Underwatercam.  In the 9 years he lived and worked  on the atoll of Rangiroa, Peter  spent more than 4000 hours with his cameras submerged.

Many of the images he brought to the surface, were used for international TV productions such as National Geographic TV,  Discovery Channel and  different European channels.  One of the highlights of his career came when award winning underwater cinematographer Christian Petron asked Peter to work with him. Christian was the leading cinematographer for Luc Besson on the films “ The Big Blue” and “Atlantis”  as well as many other films you might have seen.

On the last project the two worked together in 2009/2010, Peter was also the topside high definition (HD) broadcast camera operator.  You want more info on that project?  Pssst, this is still top secret, … but here is a short sneak preview of it:

http://www.marinevideo.eu/video/275/Trailer+Project+Ocean+Quest

In 2004 Peter produced, together with Rachel Campergue, a 52 minute documentary about shark finning in French Polynesia. This award winning film “Sharks of Rangiroa, from Legend to Reality” and the activities it triggered  played an important role in the process of introducing a law against commercial shark fishing in French Polynesia. The bill was finally passed the 12th of April 2006.

“I believe the biggest enemies of sharks are fear, misconception and a lack of information.  We simply don’t protect what we are afraid of and what we don’t understand.  In my films I try to capture the beauty of these amazing animals.  Every diver who ever had the chance to observe sharks in the wild can tell about their aura. Every diver who tells or even can show his family and friends pictures of himself diving with sharks, becomes somehow an ambassador for those fabulous creatures.  I am happy and feel privileged to have the chance to accompany you on your dive.  Giving you, with the films I make, a tool to change fear into fascination and respect.”

“When did I discover my sympathy for sharks you asked?  I was around 4 years old, when my parents and I spent our summer holidays at the shores of the Baltic sea.  I had this oval, red rubber-framed diving mask that I was so proud of.  I dared to kneel down and submerge the mask into the ankle-deep wild waters of the Baltic ocean ….sea …I mean.  Wow,  I was so impressed, … it was just unbelievable what I saw. Everyone on the beach has to know, I thought.  I left the water in such an excitement, ran  from one canopied beach chair to the next to announce my discovery: “ Sharks,… there are sharks in the water, …full of sharks, …the water is full of sharks.” I can’t remember how my parents reacted,, but they weren’t much concerned and let me go again for deeper studies. Sharks were obviously the first fish I knew by name, …not red snappers, …but the snappers have the color my back became that day. I learned: sharks are no (little) man eating monsters and snakes are not the only creatures changing their skin.”

Do you believe Peter when he says “mama” was not the first word he spoke, …it was actually manta ….?

Ok, this was just to get the twist to another  amazing story Peter has to share. In October 2007 he and his camera were at the right time in the right place. Two manta rays performed a beautiful mating dance in front of his eyes. We have seen this you might say, …but have you actually witnessed also the copulation of manta rays?  Very few people had the chance to observe such behavior in wildlife and until know nobody else has captured it on video yet.

Peter wrote an article on it ,which was published in the British “Diver” magazine and several German magazines as well.  You can read these articles online, …but to see the sparkling in Peters eyes when telling the story, you actually have to drop by.

“Manta rays are definitively the most graceful animals traveling the worlds’ oceans.  To meet them in their habitat is every divers’ dream.  If you are open to it, you can see that each animal has its different character and even mood.  To interact with them is really something magic.  Come as a guest, … sensitive and respectful and you will experience one of the most enchanted moments of your life and as a photo- or videographer,.you will take home the evidence of those magical encounters.  Magic is the keyword here, … the magic of the manta rays of Yap, …and the magic of the Island of Yap has brought me here.  The preserved nature and culture of the Island and the versatile diving Yap has to offer. I feel honored to be part of the professional team of Yap Divers. It is giving me the perfect support and working environment I need for my creative work at Manta Vision.”

Peter is also a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and PADI Specialty Underwater Videography Instructor.

He offers one day “Introductions into underwater videography” and  three day PADI Underwater Videography Specialty Courses with certifications.   Peter will be in Yap and ready to dive with you beginning in June.

The above was written by Peter to introduce himself to you.  I have  known Peter for years and am very excited to have him join our team at the Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers.  Peter will add another dimension to what is already a top flight dive staff.  His images will enhance our evenings as we project them on Mnuw’s big screen and his work will show up on our website very soon.   When you are ready for the adventure of your life, please contact us, or your favorite travel professional, to book your trip.  Myself, Jan, Peter and the staff all look forward to showing you the amazing island of Yap.

In the meantime, you can contact Peter at email: peter@underwatercam.tv or  mantavisions@mantaray.com and you can visit his website at  www.underwatercam.tv.

Bill Acker & his wife Patricia met up with several Canadian friends of Greg Wilson for dinner and drinks to celebrate St. Patrick’s day. Music was provided by Wally Duff and Ian Wheeldon on the guitar with Greg Wilson singing along. It was a greaqt time all around and oh by the way, it was also Patricia’s birthday.

The venue was spectacular in the late afternoon as the sun was setting and the waves were crashing on the beach as seen through the lush tropical garden setting of the Waterline Restaurant. Even after dark, with the group gathered around the guitar, the atmosphere was stricktly party mode all the way.

Wally, originally from Belfast, is the only true green Irishman in the country and we had him for the evening. The evening’s music ranged from Irish ballads to Elvis Pressley with at least two renditions of Happy Birthday for Patricia.

Manta Ray Bay has often been the base for film crews.  We have just finished hosting an Australian TV crew called Kaufmann Productions .  They were here as part of a larger filming project which is concentrating on the four main manta hotspots around the globe, namely, Mexico, Maldives, Australia and of course Yap.  Yap has  recently been designated a manta sanctuary, which will thankfully help to protect the resident population of mantas from being hunted like they are in many areas of the world.   Speaking with Gisela Kaufmann, the team leader, she told me one of the reasons they came to Yap was purely down to the years of hard work Bill Acker has done working with these amazing creatures and helping to put them on the dive map.

Bill spent most of his days working with the crew, taking them to various dive sites such as Miil Channel, narrating to the camera and giving his observations over the years.  The crew managed to get some great manta footage; including the amazing mating ritual, where it is possible to see more than a dozen mantas circling in the water as part of their courtship ritual.  The crew also managed to get down Yap Day which was held this year in the municipality of Tamil to get some fantastic footage of Yapese culture in full swing.  Yap Day is a celebration of Yapese culture and draws visitors from around the world and is held every year on the 1 – 2 March.

Part of the filming team included Dr Kathy Townsend, the lead scientist with Project Manta in Australia.  Speaking with her she told me of her excitement of what they had filmed and potentially discovered in Yapese waters in respects to manta behavior.  She believes that Yap may be a manta nursery.  If this proves to be true, it will be one of the very few identified on the planet and will thus help us learn way more about these elusive gentle creatures.

When complete the documentary will be shown on leading European and Australian public television channels sometime in mid 2011.

As mentioned in the last blog post, Bill has been working with the good people of Continental Airlines in order to try and help our valued customers get to Yap cheaper and easier.  The result of these talks is a Special Net Fare Agreement between Continental and the Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers.

We have been given special net rates from Tokyo, Japan and Nagoya, Japan to Yap via Guam with an add-on fare for Palau.  The base rate starts at $600 per person from Nagoya and $650 from Tokyo.  The add-on for Palau, from Japan has a base price of $250.  We also have a base rate from Palau to Yap to Palau of $335.  We say “base rate” because there are some taxes and fees that go with these rates but, in general, they are very minor.  If this is of interest to you, please e-mail Bill directly at bill@mantaray.com and he will get a firm quote for you.

Continental Airlines is a new member of the Star Alliance which means carriers from Europe to Tokyo would include Lufthansa, SAS, Swiss Air, Austrian Air & LOT just to name a few.  If you are a frequent flier with any of these airlines, you will earn miles for your entire trip.  The best thing about these fares out of Japan is the travel time and ease with which you can get to Yap.  The connections in Japan are excellent, your bags are checked to Yap, or Palau, at your departure airport and the connections in Guam are excellent as well.  No layovers, no stopovers.  From your bed to our dive boat as fast as possible.

For those going to Palau with China Air, you can use our special priced tickets from Palau to Yap to Palau to help you expand your dive trip to two islands for the price of one trip.  Again, for more information, please contact Bill Acker at bill@mantaray.com.  We hope to see you in Yap soon!

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