Apo Island Marine Sanctuary

The Apo Island Marine Sanctuary is famous for being one of the top ten dive spots in the world. They have limitations on the amount of snorkelers and divers that are in the water at a time and you have to pay a fee just for being on the Island. That fee is used for the upkeep of the island and marine life. To get to the Sanctuary from our hotel you first had to make your way through the tunnel in the rocks to the beach on the other side and register at the office. Then you make the .5km walk through the little village where we were greeted by dozens of 'good afternoons' and smiles.

When you reach the sanctuary you see a beach of volcanic rock greeted by a small white sand patch on one end and steep rocks with the rich vegetation on the top at the other end. Behind the volcanic rock is a rocky white coral sand beach where a few tall trees offer some shade in the heat of the day. The scenery was beautiful outside of the water and we had the most perfect day to sit and enjoy it. While Ryan and I took turns snorkeling the kids waded in the water to cool off and munched on snacks under the trees. We even bought ourselves a couple of souvenir shirts which Brayden wore for the rest of the weekend. There were only 2 other snorkelers out there in the water and no one else on the beach. It might have been because of the early start we got to our day but it ended up working to our advantage. We didn't have to share the water with anyone which wouldn't have been a problem since the coral seemed to go forever in every direction. It was such a peaceful feeling to be surrounded by such beauty and not have to share it with anyone but family. It's always nice to remember that such beauty exists just a few hours away from the dirty busy city, a place so peaceful and quiet it's hard to remember it's in a third world country.

The kids even got to take a turn in the water feeding the fish with the snorkeling gear on. They were able to see bright blue fish, clown fish and Brayden claims to have caught a glimpse of a rainbow fish.

Ryan took the camera snorkeling too and caught some really pretty fish and was able to capture a little of how massive and incredible it was under the water!