It’s summer! I couldn’t be more excited than to travel and enjoy the sun. The Philippines being composed of 7500 islands (updated), I have plenty of options where I want myself tanned.

Apo Island highlighted my curiosity when I  learned that the island is inhabited by sea turtles.  Yes, sea turtles and you can swim with them.

Situated on the southeastern tip  of Negros Island, 7 kilometers from the town of Zamboanguita and  25 kilometers south of Dumaguete.  From the shores of Malatapay, a 30-minute motorized boat ride will take tourists to the renowned island. Apo Island is known to be a tourist destination because of its lush marine life. It has become a popular dive site and snorkeling destination both to local and foreign tourists alike.

Traveling from Cebu to Dumaguete, regular fast crafts and ferry boats are available daily. If you would like to see  Cebu’s countryside, you can take a 4-hour bus ride from Cebu South Terminal to Santander. Hop from Santander to Dumaguete for less than an hour ferry boat  ride. Bus rides are available 24 hours. Hourly ferry boat trips from Santander to Dumaguete.

Check here for schedules:

• Cokaliong Shipping
• Oceanjet

We chose to take a ferry boat from Cebu straight to Dumaguete since we didn’t have enough time to take the bus. At the early hours of the day, we were at the sleepy streets of Dumaguete.

What I like about the city was its convenience. Few food establishments were open 24 hours. Transportation was everywhere. Hotels and inns were visible almost on every block.

We booked our tour online through  Harolds Dive Center. For 1,000php per person, food, snorkel, boat and tour guide were provided.

You can check their website and ask for rates:

Harold’s Dive Center

Phone: +63 35 522 0144

Our final boat ride was in Malatapay, Zamboangita,  From the village,  a motorized boat took us to the island. The scenery was amazing and the people we are sharing the tour with were very interesting. The tour was composed of locals, Chinese and Europeans. This is why I love tours. I get to meet people.

After the tedious travel and sleepless night, we reached our destination. Equipped with our swimming gears and determination. The first dive was not very successful. I was a bit disappointed when we have been in the water for almost an hour, but no sea turtles yet. The sea floor and other marine species were impressive, though. After few frustrating moments or maybe I was not being patient enough, finally, we found four sea turtles we purposely visited.

We traveled back to Cebu the evening the same day, but not leaving the city without the tempura experience in the boulevard and the take home sans rival. The travel and the expenses were all worth it. The experience was worth sharing too.  You don’t swim with sea turtles every day.

Travel Tips:
May is the best month to swim with the turtles.
Bring extra food.

Expenses in PHP:

Terminal Fee: 50.00
Tour: 1000.00
Total Fare: 900.00