Apo Island: Swimming with Sea Turtles
For the love of sea and animals, we kicked off our summer with a trip to Apo Island! The place is known for having sea turtles out in the open water. So of course, it was definitely on our travel bucketlist!
Coming from Dumaguete City, we took the Ceres bus going to Malatapay market. Travel time was about 30-45 minutes plus another hour for the boat ride going to Apo Island itself. On the way, make sure to be swim ready because while on the boat - waves are splashing. It’s a small and peaceful island. The sand varies they’ve got white and a bit soft ones and there are rough sections with lots of corals. A portion of it has picture perfect rock formations too for your instagram needs.
Of course, we came there to swim with the sea turtles. There’s a protected section of the island where you can see them. The water is shallow so non-swimmers can definitely experience it too. A guide is there to assist you and can bring you to the deeper parts where the corals are. We saw a handful of sea turtles but don’t expect them to flock together. They eat the algae on the rocks and corals near the shore that’s why they can easily be found there. The sea turtles are so adorable but please be careful not to touch them. They swim gracefully so you’ll certainly want to follow them and just keep swimming!
Aside from that, other marine life can be seen in the area. It was a surprise for us to see a beautiful variety of corals! The water was clear so even from above the slightly deep water you can visibly see them. Not a lot of fishes were seen but they’re probably just shying away.
Besides dipping into the water, there’s not much you can do there. But it’s great for relaxation! Hiding away from the daily hustle and bustle is nice once in a while. During our visit, not a lot of tourist came so it wasn’t crowded at all! Plus, we saw this adorable dog that swam too!
