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!

Relaxing Day at the Beach

Our second day on Apo Island was a busy one and an early one. Since the island only had power until midnight we left all the windows and doors open to let the sea breeze blow through our room. With this all the sounds from outside also drifted in, the peaceful sound of the waves along with the birds waking up and the also the daylight. SO, at around 5:30am the kids started shifting around excited to go swimming outside. Ryan thought it would be fun to climb the huge rock jetting out of the water which he did with ease, copied by Brayden on a smaller version. They collected pretty pieces of corals and shells as we waited for a decent time to sit down and get some breakfast which was chocolate crepes, yum.
After breakfast we made our way to registration office where we paid our 50php ($1.00) snorkeling fee to head the Marine Sanctuary. SO amazing and warrents a post of it's own which I'll get on.
Getting up at 5:30am makes for a long morning. We were back at the hotel around 10:30am and cooled off in the water. The kids played in the sand, used the rocks as jumping points, slides and loved to pull the snail shells off and collect the sticky snails.

They took turns using the snorkel set and looked around the water for more fish and shells and pigged out on snacks. All afternoon we suffered in the heat until Madison went down for her nap and we decided to go back to the Marine Sanctuary for some more HD video footage and we went through the tunnel to the main beach. It was nicely shaded with the cool breeze blowing through. It was such an escape and if my bum wasn't so sore from the boat ride over the previous day I would have take advantage of the wooden bench and sat for a while.

We had fresh fruit shakes with our dinner and finished the day sitting on the beach watching the sunset. It was so beautiful. Ryan also took advantage of the quiet moment to climb the rock one last time. Such a great day!

Journey to Apo Island

We decided that it was time to take a vacation and explore something new. It's been a while since we've been to a new Philippine destination so I was pretty excited. Apo Island was our destination. It required a 4 1/2 hour drive to the exact opposite point in the Island then to where we are. The drive is half coastline and half up and down the volcanic mountains that make up Negros Island. Since Ryan tends to drive at top speeds we got tossed around the vehicle a bit but we made amazing time and found ourselves on our little chartered boat around noon.

The boat ride was nice, the cool sea spray really cooled you down since we didn't have a cover to protect us from the heat. As we got closer to Apo Island you could see this quiet private little bay next to another bigger white beach lined with a few other boats. We anchored and jumped into the water to walk to the beach and register ourselves since Apo Island is a marine life sanctuary. You have to pay a small fee to be at the Island that apparently goes towards the upkeep. Once we were registered guests of the Island we were able to make our way to the quiet cove we saw arriving and check into our hotel.

The Island is made from volcanic rock which lines the island with the exception of the white sand beaches. It was so beautiful to see the dark volcanic rock jet from the turquoise water and topped with the rich green vegetation. The sun was hot and the water in the cove was so calm and inviting. It didn't take us long before our swimsuits were on and we were all swimming in the water. The rooms are right on the beach which made it super convenient and easy with the kids. The only downer to the Island was that because it's so 'rustic' the power is only available from 6pm-12am so it's hard to get a cold drink of water. Somehow though, we survived without complaints and enjoying the view.

We decided that the next day we would explore what else Apo Island had to offer us Beattie's.