Apo Island D.I.Y. Tour

Apo Island is located at Dauin, Negros Oriental, Philippines. It has 691 hectares of protected area. As such the marine sanctuary area was closed off to the public for rehabilitation since 2012 if I remember correctly. No worries because you can still visit the turtle zone where you can swim and get up-close with the turtles.

Meet my friend Green here. He loves swimming and munching on some seaweeds.

How to get to Apo Island?
1. From Dumaguete, ride a Ceres bus with a 'Bayawan' sign-board and tell the conductor to drop you off at Malatapay Market. Fare is 50PHP and travel time is around 1 hour.
2. After getting off the bus, you can walk to the port.
3. Take a 15 minute boat ride to Apo Island. We did not make any reservations. We just went to the port and asked for a private boat. Fare depends on the boat you're renting. Refer to published rates below.

We arrived at the port around 9am. On a normal day you can already see Apo Island from the port, but it was pouring and you can hardly see anything. Some tourist even backed-out and preferred to go back the next day. It was our last day so we waited until it was safer to set sail. Luckily, the weather got better and we arrived safely.

10 seater boat 4000PHP 

This picture was taken when we arrived back at Dauin port. See the weather difference?

Can't remember how much entrance fee we paid for snorkeling I think it was 100-150PHP per person. A tour guide is required, 1 for every 4 persons and it costs 300PHP. The tour guide will help you locate the turtles and take pictures for you, they also ensure your safety and the safety of the marine animals you encounter. STRICTLY NO TOUCHING THE TURTLES!!!

We rented snorkels, booties and life jacket for 100PHP per gear. It's not required but highly recommended as there are sea urchins in the area. You can also bring your own gear if you want. We also rented a table where we can leave our things 300PHP per table. You can also have lunch here for 150PHP. They have chicken adobo, fried or grilled fish.

We were so blessed to arrive at the island safe and the sun was already up.

Most islands only have doggos but there were a lot of kitties in Apo Island too. I wonder if they know how to swim?

Mr. Turtle: Yo guys! This' my friend Ly!

Me: Hi! (wave..wave..)

There are turtles roaming around at knee deep waters so watch your feet!

These turtles aren't exactly shy. They know they're gorgeous so they let you take lots of awesome pictures. And they know it's their turf so if they come close (REMEMBER: NO TOUCHING!!!) you have to adjust for them. 

These pictures are unedited and shot using gopro hero 4. Right out of the box. That's how beautiful this place is. ^_^

Time to say goodbye to Mr. Turtle. Till next Time!!!

Swimming with the turtles is such an amazing experience. I'm really thankful the weather cooperated and we got to see them. It would have been such a great loss if we missed them. But please remember that it is their sanctuary. So please respect them and the rules set by your guide. ^_^

APO Reef Adventure

APO Reef is the Philippines largest reef system and second largest next to Australia's Great Barrier Reef. It is a 34 square meter coral reef system located at Occidental Mindoro.

Light House

view from the light house stairs

view on top of the light house

It's our first time to try joining public group tours via S&B Adventure so I didn't really know what to expect. We paid a downpayment of PHP1300 (of PHP4300 in total) for the tour. Here is the list of inclusions and exclusions.

This is the sample itinerary for the trip. One way travel time is around 10-12hours excluding waiting time between change of transport medium.

Upon arrival, you need to choose the perfect spot to put up your tent. There are black ants everywhere so choose the spot with less of them. There's barely any wind at night even by the beach front so it gets very hot and hard to sleep at night in the tent. You might want to bring a fan or something.

The comfort room is decent and clean although there's no fresh water in the island so you'll be using salt water for washing and bathing. Yes, you'll still feel sticky even after shampoo and soap. :(

Despite the travel time, bathing and sleeping arrangements, I found it all worth it for what lies beneath the surface. The island is covered in rich coral reefs full of colorful sea creatures. It was my first adventure after learning how to swim via swim central ( check out my blog here ) so I really really enjoyed it. I didn't have to wear any life vests because I was confident I could already thread and float in water and I was able to chase a turtle (almost he's a fast swimmer) and swim freely in deep waters. (^_^)

Anyway, the tour's highlight is snorkeling ( guided and free ). In guided snorkeling you can hold on to a rope while the boat moves slowly around the island while you snorkel. In free snorkeling, you stop at an area and snorkel freely around. We were able to see really big fishes and colorful ones. There were even small sharks which caused me to panic and board the boat XD. There were also turtles which are quite elusive. (I'll post the video here once I'm finished editing)

There were small sharks present during our snorkeling session but the guides told us to relax and not to worry (photo credits to S&B Adventure)

While I'm at it, I want to raise awareness through this blog about coral bleaching. It's a serious problem which causes corals to lose it's color and eventually die. The main factor which causes this phenomenon is the rising sea temperatures but we also contribute to it. Oxybenzone a chemical contained in the sun blocks we use contribute to it. So let's all be reponsible beings and use reef safe sun blocks free of harmful chemicals not just for us but for the environment.

heaps of dead corals at the rock formation site

On the group tour, in general everything went pretty smoothly. Everyone was accounted for during transfers, meals were served on time and the tours were as described. You get what you pay for and you get to enjoy the trip without hassle.

Hoomans who joined the group tour

(photo credits to S&B Adventure)

The only thing I didn't like was when some people decided for themselves that the 10PM lights out rule was too early for them. We had 6AM call time for breakfast and by that time we should have already finished packing our tents and be ready to go by 7AM. But some people (within our group who was well aware of the 10PM lights out) kept the whole group awake until f/*$^n 2AM!!! It's okay to have socials and all but really? some people just wants to relax and fall asleep so it would have been nice if other people respected that. I half expected the organizers to handle the situation to no avail. Moving on..

Aside from the reef, the island itself is a beauty to behold..

she sells sea shells by the Sea Shore

pristine white sand

sunrise

sunrise

our group chillin' on top of the light house

scenic route to the lagoon

top view of the lagoon

lagoon

sunset at the rock formation

this kind of reminds me of Cambodia's Angkor Wat

I'm a sunset kind of girl and the sunset here is nothing less than amazing!!! I couldn't get my eyes off it <3 <3 <3

Calaguas Island Package Tour

Calaguas Island is located at Camarines Norte, Philippines. The island is around 10hours away from Manila and many travelers attest to it's beauty. Some even say it's more beautiful than Boracay.

If I had the luxury of time, I would have gone DIY. I find it's best to travel long hours via comfortable lazy boy bus seats. But since I don't, we opted to avail a package from Travel Ventours. PHP3400 for 11 persons including Manila-Daet-Manila van transfers, boat transfers, tent accommodation and 3 meals.

We left Quezon City at around 10:30PM and arrived at Daet at exactly 7:00AM. We had breakfast at Daet and bought some supplies. Drinking water, chips and booze to name some.

Then we rode a small boat from Daet (9:00AM) to Calaguas (11:00AM) for 2 hours.

small boats

As we near Calaguas, the first thing I noticed is the long stretch of pristine white sand. It may not have the purest white sand but it has the clearest waters I've ever seen.

After we set foot on the island, to be honest I was quite disappointed of the number of cottages already built along the beach.

 <photo credits to Kirk>

I was expecting a secluded island with only tents.

There were tents setup under the small trees' shade

But there are already a lot of cottages making it look crowded.

Each tour agencies offering Calaguas packages have already claimed a piece of the island which is sad really.

It was too hot to setup a tent so we rested a bit on the cottages provided then we went for a swim.

I know I've already said this, but I'd like to emphasize that this beach has the clearest water I've ever seen.

The water is already chest deep and you can still see through my feet.

The sand was also fine and there are no rocks or pesky seaweeds.

We really enjoyed swimming and the sun took its sweet time turning us to toasts.

Then we availed an island hoping tour for PHP100 each excluding the PHP20 each entrance to the island.

 First stop was a rocky island which was nice for taking pictures, not so much for swimming.

And second stop was on another part of the same island which is a nice snorkeling spot. There are a lot of corals but the water level was too low and you need to bring or rent snorkeling gears.

 

You can also climb a small hill which gives you a nice view of the island. There's signal on the top.

 

After island hoping, we enjoyed the picturesque view of the sunset and went to swim some more.

 

In the evening we ate dinner and bonded with a few booze. There's no signal on the island so cellphones are pretty much useless. It's a good thing though since you'll really have time to talk and enjoy the things around you.

 There are generators, so there are lights and even music. There are a lot of small stores offering necessities and food.

To give you an idea how much things cost in the island: Halo-Halo PHP30, Pancit Canton PHP25, Red Horse Stallion PHP60, Red Horse Mucho PHP120

There are a lot comfort rooms around. You'll have to pay PHP10 for a pale of water though.

The night was hot and breezeless. The next day I woke up at 5:00AM and wondered if I overslept. It was just 5 in the freakin' morning but it was already bright outside. There are already activities going on outside. Music playing and people chatting and walking here and there I even wondered if the time on my phone was wrong or something. But oh well I woke up everyone else (>,>) to ask if they're interested to see the sunrise.

We climbed up at one end of the hill to watch the sunrise. It was covered with clouds but still a beautiful sight.

There are at least 2 entrance fees (PHP20) when you climb on the east side. Then we walked to the west side to get a view of the island's shore line.

We ate breakfast and then left the island at around 8:00AM. We then went to Bagasbas for lunch and surfing lessons.

Surfing board rental costs PHP200 and another PHP200 for the service of a surf instructor for an hour.

The beach has what they call a break sand. There are no rocks and the sand was also soft just not white but gray. It would have been fun to swim with the waves and all but there are a lot of seaweeds and probably jellyfish as the instructor warned.

 Surfing Orientation

Surfing

 <photo credits to Kirk>

After that, we took a shower and ate our lunch at Catherine's. I love their halo-halo! The ice used was a frozen creamy and sweet delight.

  <photo credits to Kirk> 

I really enjoyed every part of the trip and I hope to be back here and stay longer at Calaguas probably at those posh huts even.

<video credits to Glai>

And that was how we spent our weekends at Calaguas Island. :)