Since 2000 the Scuba Diving Hall of Fame has recognized the dedicated enthusiasts who have contributed the most to the sport of Scuba diving the world over. This year, Bill Acker is being inducted into the fraternity of scuba diving legends.

Bill’s scuba diving journey started as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia, 1976. Ten years later Yap’s first dive operation was established along with island tourism creating the first local economic product here.

Yap’s manta rays, reef sharks, exotic grass skirt culture and clear water reef diving has been the allure for tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world since 1986.

Nearly 30 years later and Bill’s still serving up Yap, in and out of the water.

Being a dive pioneer can’t be easy, but being a pioneer on a remote island with no roads back in the 80’s is a feat that took Texas-sized drive.

Mentored by Hall of Fame dive pioneer and publisher of Skin Diver Magazine, the late Paul Tzimoullis, Bill developed manta ray diving, and established the value in it’s conservation.

Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers is still the only dedicated dive facility, and micro-brewery – let’s not forget that nobody else is handcrafting beer here either.

Salute to the man who started it all in Yap and put this little-known island on the map of places in the world you have to see at least once. The official ceremony is going down in Grand Cayman this October and the details are available on the Scuba Hall of Fame webpage.