Bill isn't going anywhere, matter of fact, you might be seeing a lot more of him diving and socializing with guests while letting go of the day-to-day operations and handing things over to Ruud.

Welcome Ruud,

Although born and raised in the Netherlands Ruud spent over 20 years abroad from Switzerland in his childhood to sailing on both ocean- and river cruise ships and in seven other countries throughout his career. After graduating from the Hotel school in The Hague he joined the Holland America Line where he held the positions of Controller Marine Hotel Operations and Chief Housekeeper. It was while sailing on the ocean liners he met his wife Ritchell and after residing in the Philippines for a short period of time they settled with their first born child (Margriet) on the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean. It was there where Ruud got involved with managing dive resorts and enjoyed working in that environment from day one. As General Manager of Buddy Dive Resort he conducted the change in ownership in 2002 and while the parent company kept on expanding Ruud moved up to the position of Managing Director of the group being responsible for three dive dedicated resorts/properties on Bonaire. Their son Pepe was born in 2001 and in 2007 the van Baal family decided to move to Ruud's native soil, but it took him only a few months to realize that this wasn't his home anymore. In 2008 the family moved again to the Nature Island of Dominica where Ruud got appointed as General Manager of the Fort Young Hotel. For their children's education however they moved back again to the Netherlands, but never found that peace of mind and setting what they were looking for. Starting up their own retail shop in exotic food, interim positions in Germany and cruising on the rivers Danube and Rhine couldn't convince Ruud and his wife that Europe was the place where they belonged.

Knowing Bill Acker for almost 10 years Ruud started to like Bill's suggestion to move to Yap and help him in an effort to retire. And so it happened; after 9 years Ruud found his spot and job he enjoys most; running a small, but renowned dive resort striving to become even better and more well-known than it already is.

Same Deal. New Benefits.

Now dive shops and group leaders can bank bookings to earn comps offering group benefits and discounts to independent travelers.

Now you don't have to arrive with a group at the same time to benefit from a group offer.

Our standard benefit for 7 paid / 1 free and up to 10 paid / 2 free - now you can bank your bookings and add up the savings throughout the year!

Email [email protected] for more information.

Come learn photography with today's top professionals offering workshops and one-on-one training.

Frank Schneider will be showing us how he nails those feature shots for Tauchen Magazine. Learn post-capture techniques the pros use everyday, dive with Frank and underwater models.

Steven Miller from Ikelite photo school will be hosting an advanced workshop shooting split images as well as showing us developing techniques on his laptop.

Ray Bullion will be hosting compact camera workshops as well as providing workshops on Ikelite products and editing software.

Brad Holland is the resident photographer at Manta Ray Bay and will be setting up shooting scenarios in and out of the water throughout the event.

ROOMS AVAILABLE
Yap Day packages available with only 7 night, or longer, bookings accepted.

THE BEST OF YAP!
It's the most colorful day of the year with traditional dances, crafts, tattoos, competitions and demonstrations in ceremonial dress. It's also the peak of the manta ray mating season when trains of mantas take over the lagoon and dance in courtship.

We are typically full for Yap Day, we encourage you to confirm your reservation with extra lead time to ensure availability.

We are renovating all of our Ocean View rooms. At the end of this year we will have upgraded half of the hotel.

Just one more reason to come back to Yap!

It's starting to feel like summertime! All that's missing, is you!

What to expect:
Clear skies, clear water, flat seas and the most available dive sites.