Dauin: Apo Island

A separate island south of Negros Oriental that is part of the town of Dauin, a volcanic island covering about 12 hectares in land area and 7 kilometers off from it’s town Dauin. The island is 30 kilometers south from Dumaguete City, the capital of Negros Oriental. It is one of the famous diving sites of the country. Apo Island has one of the world's best known community-organized marine sanctuaries.

Apo island is home of the many sea turtles, that the community taking care and protect. From the seashore, you can actually sea big sea turtles floating near the shore. They feed on sea grass around the island and their sizes vary. You don’t have to swim to a deeper part of the shore, cause for just a few meters from the shore, you can already see sea turtles swimming and eating around. They swim independently, sometimes you can see a group of five, sometimes three of them, usually the big ones stay near the shore, they can easily be seen when you’re at the beach line.

When going to Apo Island, it is best to be there early in the morning, because the waves are not that big and strong. If you go swimming in the afternoon, you will not be enjoying snorkeling around cause by big waves and the turtles are already swimming on the deeper part. It is really advice to have a sports camera or action camera for you to able to capture the great encounter with different sizes of turtles, aside from sea turtles you can also see some colorful fishes and sea creatures around.

After swimming with the gentle and amazing sea turtles, you can sail around the island to see the beauty of it and if you’re not afraid, you can also take a free dive on some spots along while exploring around the beautiful island of Apo. And on of the tips, better go back to the mainland after lunch or before 3pm, so that you won’t able to experience big waves when coming back to the mainland Negros.

Many of the pump boats will not sail when it’s already 2:30 pm, it’s really advised to travel early going to the Apo Island. And if you’re in Apo Island, better travel after lunch back to the mainland. And if you’re having so much fun in the island, you can stay overnight, since there are few available lodging rooms and about the meals, you can ask some localities to cook for you. You can ask help from them about the available meal combo that they can offer.

I will surely be coming back to the island soon, because I was really fascinated with the gentle giant sea turtles that I encountered that I never thought still exist. You will surely love the gentle sea turtles and surely forgot the time how long you are swimming with them, since they will just continue eating even if you go very near to them. Just an advice, just don’t touch them, as what the guides have directed us. To enjoy swimming with them, prepare you snorkeling gadgets and if you don’t have any, don’t you worry, there are available snorkeling gadgets for rentals nearby.