I choose to stay at Mike’s Dauin Beach Resort and would highly recommend this family orientated dive resort; Dauin is a small village approximately 30 minutes drive from Dumaguete city proper, where the beach front dive resorts are located.
One of the advantages I found staying in Dauin is the opportunity to dive the well documented macro dive sites of Dumaguete with day trips to Apo Island on alternate days.
Apo Island Beach Resort is a very good option should the diver wish to stay on Apo Island with its private beach and relaxed atmosphere and the Liberty Lodge is another option on the island.
Chapel – the dive site is located right in front of the island chapel, hence the name is not derived from any underwater features. A mooring is set close to the edge of the reef in 10 metres depth; the top of the reef is outside of the current zone. The dive starts swimming north and tumbling over the edge where a sandy decline meets the wall and then following the wall in a southerly direction aided by the current.
The wall follows the depth line down and around the corner dropping to a depth of 35 metres and ending on a sloping sandy bottom that isn’t interesting to the diver. The wall itself is very interesting with soft coral growth and a number of smaller fans swaying in the current. At 22 metres, a small cavern exists in the wall that is definitely worth the look before following the wall again.
Rock Point West – located on the southernmost point of the island, the top of the reef is 10 metres depth, a mooring buoy is placed on the reef top at 8 metres with a small swim across the top of the reef until hitting the steep slope where the current grabs the diver. The most interesting section of the dive is at 18 metres on a small drop off that then turns into a sloping wall.
A number of pelagics inhabit the area with normally a single barracuda sitting in the current; plenty of turtles inhabit the area. It is possible to end the dive at the starting point on a weak tide when popping up and swimming back past the staghorn corals on the topside of the reef at 10 metres and through the soft coral gardens.
Rock Point East – a steep slope at the tail end of the island where schooling bannerfish, a couple varieties of butterfly fish inhabit the top of the reef while delicate sea whips line the wall. A sandy slope descends between the two reefs running the full depth of the site. When the current is running north/south direction (which it did for every dive I did at Apo Island) then you are able to finish the dive around the tip on Rock Point West.
Coconut Point – regarded as the best dive site of Apo Island and some argue the southern Visayas, a dark sandy bottom with groups of scattered coral lumps on a sloping wall. The area is littered with bright feather stars and hard corals.
Known as a washing machine, the current can come from six directions given the right circumstances. A down current can appear when the full brunt of the tide runs, the pelagic appear in numbers with jacks and barracuda frequently sighted. The slope drops off all the way past 40 metres although there is not much happening past the 35 metre mark.
Cogon – just around from Coconut Point, this excellent dive site is exposed to the same currents affecting the tip of the island, the ride can feel rocket propelled on the right day. A number of small eddy currents exist where you can just drop out of the main current when you feel as if the brakes have been thrown on before being picked up by the current and you are off again.
The name cogon refers to the kind of grass that can be seen on the hill at the entry point. The sloping patchy reef starting at 10 metres, the mooring buoy is secured back from the edge at 7 metres depth with just a small swim dropping down to 10 metre off the top of the reef.
The reef slopes down to 35 metres but isn’t interesting any deeper as the bottom is sandy with no interesting formations. No point burning up precious no-decompression time messing around in the deep for no benefit.
As the dive progresses along the patchy coral shoals, a wide sloping sand patch appears starting at the 8 metre depth, dropping past 35 metres. Along the edge of the sandy patch a rocky reef appears with a small cavern cut into the rock.
Following the steep rocky reef, a large school of jack fish tend to inhabit the area just after the sandy patch, of the dives I had in this area, the school was always in the same location and the local divemasters included this in their briefing.
Marine Sanctuary – the most well known dive site on the island and sometimes referred to as clownfish city, seven large coral heads filled with anemones occupied by black anemone fish. The dive site is pretty shallow to start but once over the edge drops down to 40 metres with black corals attached to the steep slope.
While some of the Apo Island’s 850 inhabitants are still dependant on fishing from their small hand paddle banca for their livelihood, the local inhabitants have long supported scuba diving and eco tourism as the main source of revenue on their island.
On one of our surface intervals, a couple of old ladies paddled out to our banca with a collection of t-shirts, sarongs and other clothing wrapped in plastic and while I usually don’t purchase t-shirts from all the places I go diving, I was happy to purchase a couple of shirts in support of the local community.
Known as a washing machine, the current can come from six directions given the right circumstances. A down current can appear when the full brunt of the tide runs, the pelagic appear in numbers with jacks and barracuda frequently sighted. The slope drops off all the way past 40 metres although there is not much happening past the 35 metre mark.
Cogon – just around from Coconut Point, this excellent dive site is exposed to the same currents affecting the tip of the island, the ride can feel rocket propelled on the right day. A number of small eddy currents exist where you can just drop out of the main current when you feel as if the brakes have been thrown on before being picked up by the current and you are off again.
The name cogon refers to the kind of grass that can be seen on the hill at the entry point. The sloping patchy reef starting at 10 metres, the mooring buoy is secured back from the edge at 7 metres depth with just a small swim dropping down to 10 metre off the top of the reef.
The reef slopes down to 35 metres but isn’t interesting any deeper as the bottom is sandy with no interesting formations. No point burning up precious no-decompression time messing around in the deep for no benefit.
As the dive progresses along the patchy coral shoals, a wide sloping sand patch appears starting at the 8 metre depth, dropping past 35 metres. Along the edge of the sandy patch a rocky reef appears with a small cavern cut into the rock.
Following the steep rocky reef, a large school of jack fish tend to inhabit the area just after the sandy patch, of the dives I had in this area, the school was always in the same location and the local divemasters included this in their briefing.
Marine Sanctuary – the most well known dive site on the island and sometimes referred to as clownfish city, seven large coral heads filled with anemones occupied by black anemone fish. The dive site is pretty shallow to start but once over the edge drops down to 40 metres with black corals attached to the steep slope.
While some of the Apo Island’s 850 inhabitants are still dependant on fishing from their small hand paddle banca for their livelihood, the local inhabitants have long supported scuba diving and eco tourism as the main source of revenue on their island.
On one of our surface intervals, a couple of old ladies paddled out to our banca with a collection of t-shirts, sarongs and other clothing wrapped in plastic and while I usually don’t purchase t-shirts from all the places I go diving, I was happy to purchase a couple of shirts in support of the local community.
Apo Island is the Philippines best known community organised marine sanctuary that has been well documented by the global scientific community since the 1980s. From my observations, the topography is pretty decent but the area is fished out.
The project was initiated when an eminent marine scientist from the Silliman University Marine Laboratory in Dumaguete approached the local fishermen and highlighted the ecological and financial benefits of creating a marine sanctuary in the area.
After overcoming initial hesitation on the part of the locals; a working plan was established and the sanctuary is now run with full community support. From an outsiders perspective, this initiative appears to be working and is supporting the community.
The project was initiated when an eminent marine scientist from the Silliman University Marine Laboratory in Dumaguete approached the local fishermen and highlighted the ecological and financial benefits of creating a marine sanctuary in the area.
After overcoming initial hesitation on the part of the locals; a working plan was established and the sanctuary is now run with full community support. From an outsiders perspective, this initiative appears to be working and is supporting the community.
Working in conjunction with the staff and students of Silliman University Marine Laboratory in 1982, the local fishermen selected an area along 450 meters of shoreline, extending 500 meters from shore as the sanctuary site.
Due to the stunning success of the project initiated on Apo Island, this led to the creation of hundreds of other marine sanctuaries throughout the Philippines.
Presently, Apo Island is home to over 650 documented species of fish and estimated to have over 400 species of corals. Visitors and tourists pay a fee to enter the Apo Island sanctuary to snorkel and scuba dive; these fees are used to keep the sanctuary clean and in good condition.
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