Dazzling Island of the Orient
There is a place located at the southeastern tip of Negros Island in the Philippines. A small island that always captivates people from different countries and has been one of the top 100 diving destinations in the world.
The island boasts it’s natural beauty of white sand beaches, inland lagoon, bizarre rock formations, and very hospitable local community. Apart from that, it also possess a breathtaking life underneath its surrounding waters.
Since it is a volcanic island, it has an extraordinary underwater topography. Each dive site has its unique way of expressing its beauty. There is a sloping sandy bottom or coral garden with countless fish, a steep wall offering macro sightings with rushing currents mustering many pelagic creatures in the site, an amusing cavern exhausting hot water, and a sulfuric sandy patch making a subaqueous haven for bottom-dweller critters. All these diversity that the island offers, many divers are attracted.
The place is called, “Apo Island”.
Apo Island
Apo means grandchild in the Bisayan dialect, depicting respect to its elder Island, Negros.
A world renowned island surrounded by calm and clear waters, gained it’s fame for being the, “first successful marine sanctuary” in the country. The community-organized marine sanctuary was well-documented by scientists and discovered over 650 species of fish, estimated to have over 400 species of corals. Most of the Philippines’ 450 species of coral can be found here, from tiny bubble corals to huge gorgonian sea fans and brain corals. Indeed a dazzling island in the Orient seas.
As it enraptures fascinated visitors, divers and snorkelers alike, locals established the best dive spots around its vicinity and Infiniti Liveaboard takes you to these magnificent dive sites with our very experienced dive guides.
1. Chapel Point
Chapel Point is named after it’s reference point, the sole chapel in the village. It is a wall-slope dive.
The depth starts at 5 meters with a maximum of 28 meters. The wall of this site have plenty of overhangs and crevices decorated with beautiful soft corals, sponges and anemones. A small cavern at 18 – 20 meters shelters smaller fish while ventilating warm water in the inner part.
Coming up for safety-stop, divers can enjoy the breathtaking coral garden with turtles lazily resting on the seabed. Leaf fish, nudibranch, frogfish, ribbon eels, turtles, blue fin trevally, candy crab, ghostpipe fish, and banded sea snakes are visible on this site. And if lucky, watch out in the blue. Big fish might pass by.
2. Katipanan
On the southwestern edge of the island, there was a house on top of the hill where lovers visit to take their vows. Katipan, in filipino dialect means lover, and Katipanan mean engagement. The dive site somehow is in front of the lover’s house. While the story behind its name is so sweet, what to expect underwater is sweeter.
Katipanan diving is on a sloping coral garden usually without current. The top reef, about 5 to 10 meters depth, is covered with soft corals of different colors you probably haven’t seen anywhere. A favorite place for sea turtles to graze and rest.
Down to 11 to 25 meters, coral bommies patching the sandy bottom, are adorned with bright and colorful anemones having damsel fish and shrimps. Jawfish, mandarin fish, ghostpipe fish, frogfish, and nudibranchs can be spotted in this dive site too.
3. Rock-point West and Rock-point East
Continuation to Katipanan dive site is Rock-point, divided by a massive boulder of rock penetrating at the surface, called the West and the East side.
On the West side, you will start diving in 5 meters, greeted by the hard coral garden composed of wide table corals and giant brain corals. Swimming down to the edge of the reef, a humble coral wall that goes down from 15-30 meters can be seen.
On the East side, the dive starts on a descent to 10 meters moving west along the coral wall. The wall is covered with soft and hard corals, anemones and sponges. Current is frequent in this area bringing food to enormous amount of fish. And when ascending towards safety-stop, the garden of table tops and branching corals meet you.
In these dive sites, expect to see small and giant frogfish, sea snakes, turtles, trevallies, sweetlips, snappers, groupers and barracudas. Also, always keep an eye to the blue, something great might pass by.
4. Mamsa Point
This dive site always has a rushing current and is suitable for experienced divers. Mamsa is the local term for jackfish or trevally. Since the school of big-eye trevally is frequent in the spot, they named the dive site after the fish.
You will start the dive with a negative entry towards a sloping sand with huge coral bommies down to 10 meters. The reef is adorned with colorful feather stars, soft corals, and sponges that will fill your eyes. As you continue southward, a vast channel dividing the sandy slope and coral wall arise. The wall’s crevices are home to enormous potato groupers, snappers, and octopuses. When you ascend from the wall, a huge school of Mamsa can be seen, continuing the dive with a fun drift along giant rock pinnacles that stops at a shallow reef top with majestic and colorful table corals.
Among the creatures you will find are tunas, sea kraits, turtles, surgeon fish, batfish, and barracuda.
5. Cogon Point
Funny as it may seem, locals love to name Apo Island dive sites according to their reference point. Cogon is a kind of grass that grows in abundance on the island hills. Jumping off to the dive site, locals always instruct the boat captains with phrases like, “Atbang sa cogon ra mi moambak” (“We’ll jump in front of those cogon grasses.”), until it becomes shorter like “Sa Cogon.” (“Go to Cogon. “).
This is a very interesting and thrilling dive site. Drift diving is usually done here while witnessing an abrupt change of the underwater topography. The dive starts on coral banks with nice colorful corals beds with bountiful fish. Very energetic and busy vibe until you reach a wide sandy channel, crossing it to reach the next patch of reef. It is deep with a bottom of 25-35meters and home for sand dwellers like garden eels, devil fish, and jawfish. Throughout the dive you encounter trevallies, snappers, groupers, turtles, sea snakes, and sometimes giant Napoleon Wrasse.
6. Coconut Point
Coconut Point is popularly known by divers as “the washing machine” is a 5-35 meter deep sloping reef dive spot that provides excitement to experienced divers. Due to the site’s strong currents, divers may experience a push coming from all sides as well as upwards or deep down. Common sights in the area are turtles, anthias, barracuda, jackfish, schools of trevallies, snappers, sweetlips, octopus and napoleon wrasse.
7. Largahan
Largahan is a dive site with most unique qualities. Its reef comprises mountains of pristine hard corals. It also has a wall that goes down to 20 meters adorned with black coral bush. Long-nose hawkfish live in that area and sometimes the ghostpipe fish or sawblade shrimps are nearby. Part of this dive site has a geothermal activity that forms a steady upward stream of bubbles erupting from the black sand that splits up the corals where macro divers enjoy searching for frogfish, leaffish, devil fish, nudibranchs, and crabs. Also, present on the site are turtles, sea snakes, pufferfish, batfish, scorpionfish, and if you are lucky, a seahorse too.
Infiniti Liveaboard brings you the best of Apo Island with luxury and comfort.
Diving with our experienced dive guides with utmost priority is fun and safety, we guarantee you a very satisfying trip with us.
Visit our website infinitiliveaboard.com for further information about our trip schedules and boat amenities.
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