Mandarin Fish Site

Yapese rubble gardens on the sheltered inner reef are the most reliable place in Micronesia to see mandarin fish — the jewel-coloured dragonet that spends most of the day hiding in coral rubble and emerges only at dusk to mate. Divers settle near the rubble patches in the last 30 minutes of light and watch the males display their extraordinary psychedelic colouring as they compete for females. The same site offers excellent macro photography during the day with a diversity of nudibranchs, pipefish, commensal shrimps on anemones, and flamboyant cuttlefish.