Scuba Diving in Apo Island

Dive Shop: Mario Scuba Diving and Homestay
Location : Apo Island, Dauin (municipality), Negros Oriental (province), Philippines
GPS waypoint: 09°04'40.08"N 123°16'09.19"E

World's Top 10 Dive Spots
Apo Island brings promise of scuba diving fun. I don't get the chance to dive on most of my travels so being on this island gives me eager anticipation to dive one of the world's best dive destinations.

Reassurance
My last dive has been over a year ago and I was feeling slightly tentative about my first dive here. But the dive masters at Mario Scuba Diving, MacMac and Jed, know exactly what buttons to push to give me that reassurance that I'm in good hands.

Coconut Dive

Date: Apr 13, 2017
Dive Site: Coconut
Dive Master: Jed
Depth: 18m
Visibility: 15m
Duration: 1 hour
Dive No.: 33

Coconut
Coconut is on the northern tip of Apo Island going west towards the south. It is a drift dive and one of the favorite spots on the island. A diver is likely to see big stuff on this dive.

The Dive
Visibility was not ideal but that didn't prevent us from seeing a meter-long Trevali and Mackerel on the outset. Those were the biggest I've seen! While veteran divers look for the very small stuff (muck dive), I'm still on the big ones. After those visual highlights, the thrill was left to the drift dive itself - just maintaining bouyancy as we hitched a ride on the current, watching sealife passby like a parade.

Nauseated
It has been a year since my last scuba dive. I didn't have difficulty during the dive, but post-dive, I noticed I couldn't open my mouth wide open. My jaw was locked perhaps from biting the mouth piece too hard. I also felt slightly nauseated - nothing a light nap couldn't fix.

Chapel Dive

Date: Apr 18, 2017
Dive Site: Chapel
Dive Master: MacMac
Depth: 18m
Visibility: 15m
Duration: 1 hour
Dive No.: 34

The Crew
With the cancellation of the Freediving class due to a boat no-show, I joined a fun dive to the Chapel dive site with 2 divers from Luxemburg, Chun and Ron with MacMac as dive master. Chapel is just in front of the main landing area but we still used a boat.

Chapel Features
Chapel is essentially a coral wall dropping down 30m. The coral reef is as healthy as it gets. Even though the visibility was less than ideal, the pristine condition of the eco-system was evident with its bright colors and coral density. Fish was not as plentiful as other dive sites but the coral splendor more than made up for it. There were lots of Nudibrank and the 'small stuff' as MacMac pointed out. As a newbie, I was still into the big stuff, hoping a huge Trevali might pass by, but nothing big showed up. Perhaps that's for another day.

Rush Hour
On 2 occasions, we came upon 2 separate group of divers heading on the opposite direction. It was a big group of perhaps 7 divers, some of them carrying a spider-like contraption of sophisticated underwater camera equipment. It felt like rush hour...like people crossing the pedestrian lane from both sides of the street. I noticed one of the other divers mistaking us for her group. She must have been thinking, "Why are they heading back?".

Coconut Dive

Date: Apr 19, 2017
Dive Site: Coconut
Dive Master: MacMac
Depth: 24m
Visibility: 10m
Duration: 50 mins
Dive No.: 35

Deja Vu, Coconut
No freediving? Then I go scuba diving - such are the offerings at Mario Scuba Diving. The next scuba dive was at Coconut. I would have preferred a dive at Rock Point as I hear many good things about it. Besides, I just dived Coconut a few days ago. Still, a dive at Coconut is always good. Most divers I asked chose Coconut as their favorite amongst all dive spots on the island.

Ron, Chun and MacMac
Like the Chapel dive, I was again diving with the Luxemburg duo Ron and Chun, together with Dive Master MacMac. I have a comfort level with this group as I often hang-out with them at the shop. Ron and Chun have gone the world over for the best dive spots - it's engaging to hear them talk about their adventures.

The Dive
It was a negative entry (empty BCD) afterwhich we hitchhiked on the current that took us along the coastal reef. The visibility was bad but the teeming fish more than made up for it - oversized but non-aggressive Titan Triggerfish, a good number of bigger-than-average sea snakes, 2 turtles, a foot-long frog fish and swimming with a school of Trevalis. The health of the reef system and the corals was A+ with colors and diversity brimming at the top.

Cogon Dive

Date: Apr 21, 2017
Dive Site: Cogon
Dive Master: Jed
Depth: 22m
Visibility: 10m
Duration: 1 hour
Dive No.: 36

The Drift
Usually, when I have a Freedive class, I skip the Scuba dive. However, with just a few days left before I leave the island, there was a sense of urgency to make the most out of my stay.

After the Freedive, I opted for the Cogon scuba dive. Like Coconut, Cogon is a drift dive but going along the east coast of the island heading south. With Mathieu as my dive buddy and Jed our Dive Master, we drifted with strong current on marginal visibility along a drop-off slope whose bottom I could not see - we hovered around 20m. We saw a school of Trevali, a huge marbled Grouper (20'), lots of sizeable sea snakes and a whole gamut of colorful supporting actors - just like being in a big aquarium with current to play with. Despite poor visibility, it all made for a great dive.

Ideal Day
This day is packed - conducting a 6am yoga class, participating in the 8:30am freediving class and doing the 12:30pm Cogon fun dive. Everyday should be this much fun.

Rock Point Dive

Date: Apr 23, 2017
Dive Site: Rock Point
Dive Master: MacMac
Dive Buddy: Saki
Depth: 18m
Visibility: 10m
Duration: 1 hour
Dive No.: 37

The Best
When I asked Ron, a veteran of many dive spots around the world, which dive spot he will choose if he could only dive one spot for the rest of this life, he simply said Rock Point at Apo Island. I asked, "Are you considering Tubbataha Reef?". He said Yes. Whoa! Having heard that, I could not leave Apo Island without a dive at Rock Point. I was already leaving that day, but Japanese advanced-diver Saki was making a last-hurrah dive. I joined her as my buddy.

Healthy Corals
No, I didn't see any big fish that got me excited, but the intensity of the corals and the reef system was totally up the roof. The colors were vivid and there was hardly a patch of sand - everything was filled to the brim with healthy corals.

Ending Thoughts
Being at Mario Scuba Diving and Homestay, I could have dived a few times a day if I wanted to. But somehow, an occassional dive was all the fix I needed. Diving is fun but I wait for the crave before putting on the wet suit - much like eating only when I'm hungry. Diving at Apo Island is as good as it gets despite less than ideal visibility during the last few days. From what I hear from veteran divers, the corals of Apo are unmatched.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

Reader Comments:

Apo Island, Dauin, Philippines

dive spots

• Coconut - drift dive, school of Trevali, big fish
• Cogon - drift dive
• Mamsa
• Boluarte
• Largahan
• Chapel - wall dive
• Katipanan
• Rock Point

homestay / dive shop

•  Mario Scuba Diving and Homestay
  dive shop and accommodation
  Apo Island, Dauin, Negros Oriental, Philippines

Apo Island FYI / Tips

• Apo Island boasts of having the freshest fish on your plate - avail of it!
• even though a marine sanctuary, fishing is still allowed in Apo Island, providing livelihood to the locals - but controlled fishing
• electricity is only from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
• internet is painfully slow and intermittent when on
• public eating areas are hardly available except from resorts where guests are checked-in
• drinking water is still sourced from the mainland

Apo Island Cost Index

• $44 medium boat ride from Malatapay to Apo Island up to 4 people, roundtrip (Php 2000/boat)
• $66 big boat ride from Malatapay to Apo Island up to 8 people, roundtrip (Php 3000/boat)
• $22 open water dives (average, Php1000/dive)

How to get there from Dumaguete:

• take a tricycle and ask to be dropped-off the jeep terminal going to Zamboanguita (the terminal is near Robinson's Plaza) - P8.
• at the terminal, board the next jeep for Zamboanguita. Just tell the driver to drop you off at the Malatapay Market. P20, 42 minutes.
• upon disembarking at Malatapay, walk towards the beach until you come upon the pier office. This is where you sign up for a boat ride. They're organized here with posted rates.
• get onboard the pumpboat and enjoy the boat ride. For 4 people, P2000 return. For 8 pax, P3000 return, 40 minutes. (rate as of Nov 2011)

Apo Island Blogs:

• Goodbye Apo Island Apr 23, 2017
• Freediving Certification Course in Apo Island with Jean-Jacques Gautier of Plongeurs du Monde Apr 11-22, 2017
• Scuba Diving in Apo Island Apr 13-23, 2017
• Teaching Yoga in Apo Island Apr 10-22, 2017
• Hiking in Apo Island Apr 17, 2017
• Revisiting Apo Island Apr 10, 2017
• Scuba Diving Apo Island with Mario's Scuba Diving and Homestay June 14-17, 2015
• Apo Island with Amanda Ackiss Aug 3-4, 2012
• Sunrise Dive, Apo Island Aug 21, 2011
• Free Diving at Mamsa Point, Apo Island Aug 20, 2011
• Open Water Diver Certification in Apo Island with Mario Pascobello May 15-19, 2011
• Back to Apo Island - Mar 26, 2011
• Apo Island with Bianca and Gianne - Oct 14, 2010
• Skin Diving at Apo Island - Apr 17-18, 2010

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