MICRONESIA

MICRONESIA and a night of continuous strafing and bombing. The water temperature has served as a great incubator and the ships are now excellent artificial reefs, home to a variety of spectacular marine life. Underwater photography is a must here with the prolific coral growths that line the wrecks. The diving is year-round with visibility on the wrecks varying from 15– 30 metres, and average depths between 12–40 metres. Pohnpei is a maze of coral passes or channels leading from the outside sea into the inner lagoon offering great diving and superb coral formations, including deep gorgonia fans that can grow up to six metres in height. The shallow water is also the place to see barracuda, mantas and several varieties of curious reef sharks. Yap is known as the island of manta rays because you can see mantas here consistently. A new find is the manta ray cleaning station where the mantas queue up to have parasites removed from them by small wrasses. These rays have a wing span of three to six metres and weigh in at approximately 460 kilograms. Popular dives in Yap are Mill Channel, Manta Ray Pass and Goofnuw Channel. Mandarin fish are also becoming a diving attraction. When the sun goes down, these colourful little fish come out and stare at you! Kosrae has consistently good diving conditions due to the triangular shape of the island. The great attraction here is the clear, clean water and live coral that encircles the island. August is usually the best month when visibility is up to 65 metres. Kosrae has a large population of turtles and during the mating season in December, their numbers escalate. Another great attraction is provided by the 150 dolphins that reside outside the reef. Marshall Islands are Micronesia's atoll diving destination. Made up of 29 coral atolls, diving in the Marshalls can be enjoyed either within the lagoons or in the open ocean. Dive sites include lagoon pinnacles, walls, channels, reef points, and vast areas of virgin, unexplored reef. The Marshalls are also home to an abundance of WWII ship and plane wrecks concentrated in the lagoons of Bikini, Kwajalein, Jaluit, Mili, Wotje, Maloelap and Majuro Atolls. Dive excursions to seldom visited outer atolls can easily be arranged with local operators and shark sightings are guaranteed. Shopping guide Jade, coral, ivory, gold and handmade silks, plus handicrafts such as trays, baskets, hats, headbands and purses are popular purchases. The islanders are known for their weaving of pandanus leaves and for their traditional stick charts which fishermen have used for centuries for navigation. Climate Tropical with little seasonal change. Average temperature on all the islands is 30˚C. Clothing Casual clothing is recommended. Swim wear is acceptable near beaches and pools, but not usually permitted in public areas. Currency US currency is used throughout Micronesia. Outside of Guam and Saipan, the use of credit cards is very limited, although major hotels on all islands take them. Tips are accepted.

• Cover