Cabbage Patch

Vertical wall dropping to about 25 m, then sloping gently, with big fissures covered in soft leather corals. Usually a gentle southerly drift at about half a knot, with counter-currents near the fissures; coral colour is best above 9 m and large coral heads at 15 m carry many Christmas tree worms.

Facts

• Region: Micronesia – Yap, Pohnpei & Kosrae
• Area: Yap
• Depth: 5–30 m
• Level: intermediate
• Current: low
• Type: wall, drift
• Coordinates: 9.44, 138.07 (approximate)
• Highlights: humphead parrotfish, hawksbill turtle, barracuda, Christmas tree worms, leather coral
• Permit: Yap's reefs and lagoon are held under customary village ownership, so diving needs the permission of the owning community, normally arranged by your dive operator. A 2017 conference presentation reported that operators pay villages access fees (e.g. US$300 per month for Goofnuw Channel, US$2 per diver at Stammtisch) and that other sites need permission but no payment. No official fee schedule could be found – ask your dive centre; the Yap Visitors Bureau can advise.
• Issuer / contact: Yap Visitors Bureau
  • Phone: +691 350 5005
  • Website: https://www.visityap.com
  • phone from the Yap State Government notice; visityap.com blocked automated access, no official email confirmed; other notices list 350-2298
• Unverified: Position is approximate: no published GPS was found; the pin only places the site on the right part of Yap's reef (dive centre site maps are not machine-readable). Ask the dive centre for the exact mooring.
• Tips: Watch for counter-currents near the big fissures.

Sources

• https://mantaray.com/sites/cabbage-patch/
• https://mantaray.com/the-manta-blog/the-southern-walls-of-yap/