Wanderworld

Home to warm and friendly people and irresistibly delicious food, Dumaguete welcomes tourists with wide open arms and its slew of renowned attractions such as the Siliman University and Apo Island. The capital of Negros Oriental is also an ideal gateway and jump-off point to other amazing nearby places such as Manjuyod Sandbar in Bais, another town in Negros Oriental, as well as Oslob in Cebu and Siquijor, which are both roughly just a one-hour boat ride away.

Undoubtedly, the highlight in an Apo Island trip is swimming with the huge sea turtles because it’s not something you can ordinarily do in most of the beaches here in the Philippines.

But besides such seemingly once-in-a-lifetime experience, the island has other surprises in store for travelers: a breathtaking beach with unbelievably clear waters, “magical” bubbles underwater, beautiful rock formations and so much more.

Chasing Sea Turtles

I have never seen a pawikan (local term for sea turtles) before I set foot in Apo Island, so the sea instantly became my playground when we set out in the waters to snorkel.

Within just a few minutes of swimming, our guide has spotted a pawikan and beckoned for us to come closer; soon enough, I was in a sea turtle heaven. 😀

As welcoming as Dumaguete City itself, the sea turtles have seemingly become accustomed to tourists as well. They don’t swim away when you try to get close or take a picture with them; they just go about minding their own business as you try to compose yourself from the awe of seeing huge turtles peacefully lounging underwater or swimming gracefully.

The turtles don’t usually come out in groups, though; you’d usually see them one by one, but the sight of such huge yet gentle creatures are enough to leave you in awe and make you wonder how big they really are, especially when ashore.

Additionally, you can also see huge and beautiful corals on the farther and deeper part of the island. Though there aren’t a lot of fishes, you’d still be amazed by the size and various colors of the corals. (Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take pics of the corals because our underwater camera died on us during the time).

The Beach, the Bubbles and the Rock Formations

Our guide also took us to the other side of Apo Island to show us an awesome “phenomenon,” which is the underwater bubbles.

It was like being taken to a different world underwater where you could see lots of bubbles as if magically rising up from the ocean — a sight to behold and another unique thing about the island.

If you get tired of staring at the bubbles and figuring out how there is such a thing underwater, the beautiful rock formations by the beach await.

Among the things Apo Island is also known for, such rock formations serve as a nice backdrop for pictures for photography enthusiasts and beach lovers alike.

But of course, the best way to enjoy any island is to frolic in the beach, and Apo Island exceeds expectations with its unbelievably clear waters tinged with soft green and blue hues.

The sand is not that fine compared with other beaches, but the striking colors of the beach, the exceptional clarity of the water, plus the beautiful rock formations in the background make up the perfect setting for an extraordinary beach getaway.

How to Get to Apo Island:

From the city center, take a trike to Ceres bus terminal (Php 10/pax) and ride the bus going to Zamboangita or Bayawan. Travel time is 40 mins.

You can ask the driver/bus conductor to drop you off at Malatapay, which is the jumpoff point to the island. You will also see a big sign on the right side of the road that says “Apo Island.”

Once you alight from the bus, you have to cross to the other side of the road (toward the direction of the arrow on the pic above) and walk a few meters toward the beach area (just go straight), where the registration office/information center for tourists can be found.

Our Experience

Joseph and I were pretty much the only people in the bus who weren’t from Dumaguete or Negros Oriental and who alighted at Apo Island. All the other passengers spoke the dialect. Everyone would pretty much assume that you’re also a local and speak to you in vernacular right off the bat.

While walking toward the information center, the stalls at the market were empty and deserted, but according to some blogs, the market is usually busy during Wednesdays (which is the market day), and you can even buy food from there before going to Apo Island.

Registering for a Boat to Apo Island

All tourists should register at the information center for a boat that will take them to Apo Island. The small boat costs Php2,000 roundtrip (Malatapay-Apo Island and vice versa), while the big boat, ideally for 8 persons, costs Php3,000.

Tourists have the option for a day trip only, which is until 4 p.m., or you can also stay on the island for a couple of nights as there are some resorts there as well.

Our Experience

Since there were only two of us, Joseph and I had to shoulder the Php 2,000 boat rental fee. Ideally, you can go with other tourists to split the bill, but during the time, the other tourists we were with were two big groups already. You can also opt to leave the island earlier if you wish to like we did. We left at around noontime since we still had to go to Manjuyod Sandbar that afternoon. The boatmen take you to the island and wait for you there until you’re ready to leave.

Going back to Dumaguete from Apo Island

You can simply wait by the main road for a bus back to Dumaguete city, though there aren’t a lot of buses that pass by (most of them are also full), based on our experience. The bus will take you back to the Ceres terminal, from where you can take a trike to go back to the city center.

Tips: The boat ride to Apo Island is very rough (at least during the time we visited in December), so we were soaking wet by the time we reached the island. It was worse going back from the island to the information center/Malatapay. We were wet from head to toe that we had to take a shower before going back to Dumaguete.

The shower area near the information center was closed during that time and none of the people that we asked at the area could point us to a place where we could take a shower. Fortunately, there’s a lone resort there near the information center (I forgot its name) that allows you to take a shower for Php20 per person. The resort has a restaurant too, in case you get hungry.

Next post: Manjuyod Sandbar