The Philippines is a country of islands, 7107 to be precise. Most of them have stunning palm fringed beaches, lush green tropical forests, mountain ridges (dotted with the occasional volcano that we won’t dwell on), rivers, lakes, waterfalls, rice terraces and of course amazing coral reef systems housing a wide array of marine life. So with so many choices why should you come and visit us here? Of the top of my head I can think of 5 different reasons you should come here instead of one of the other 7106 islands. So here they are in no particular order –
Dumaguete. Known as the city of gentle people, this university town has a charm all of its own. When schools in, the population increases by a whopping 30, 000 students. The constant influx of young people is noticed in the sheer casualness of the place, there are a plethora of bars showcasing live music most nights from Reggae to pop. Restaurants offering you foods from around the world. Clothes stores, trendy boutiques, coffee shops and internet cafes line most streets. There is even a rather quaint mall with a 3 screen cinema playing the latest releases. Silliman University has 2 different ‘zoos’ (for lack of a better word) One of them is a marine zoo that breeds giant clams and crocodiles! The other is home to endangered indigenous species such as the bleeding heart dove and white tail spotted dear.
The more serious side of Dumaguete has 3 hospitals, a new hyperbaric chamber, plenty of dental clinics and a large port where you can take ferries, including car ferries, to Cebu or the neighboring island of Bohol. There is an airport that is soon to start accepting international and night time flights, which makes this region one of the easiest to reach in the country. Outside of town there are a number of lakes to visit and some stunning waterfalls if you don’t mind a trek. For those who like hiking, Mt. Talinis offer some fantastic trails that takes you to sulphur vents, crater lakes and hanging vines in a mini tropical rainforest. When you reach the summit some stunning views of Negros are all around. A few hours up the coast you have the town of Bais which is famous for dolphin and whale watching and in the other direction the port town of Zamboanguita the port to the southern Philippines.
Apo Island. Probably the main reason most divers come to this region is to dive at Apo. This famous island boasts some of the most pristine coral reefs in the Philippines. Even after the big winter storm last Christmas the coral is still thriving. This area was one of the first successful marine sanctuaries in the country and you can tell when you dive it. Visibility averages 20+mts throughout the year, schools of tropical reef fish dart around the soft and hard corals. Turtles can be seen on most dives, giant bump head wrasse, schools of trevally, tuna, barracuda and jacks can be seen playing in the currents. And if you are lucky there is the chance of a whale shark, manta or reef shark encounter.
Only a 45minute boat journey from Liquid, Apo has over 12 different dive sites ranging in level from some very gentle shallow dives for the beginner diver to the more arduous drift dives, for the more experienced. There really is something for everyone here, even snorkelers! The town has a sheltered white sand beach which is perfect for day trippers and those not diving. At Liquid we normally go to Apo Island at least two times a week where we like to do a 3 dive day trip. We drop the snorkelers off at the main beach for the mornings double dive, then come back and collect everyone for lunch, followed by the final dive of the day before heading back to Dauin Coast.
Dauin Coast.Not to be overlooked is the black sand coast line of Dauin. Ok so the beaches are not that picture postcard palm fringed white sand, in fact they can be quite rocky and the sand varies in color from a dark yellow to a sparkling black. But the marine life that is found lurking just below the surface is first rate. This region is getting a name for itself as one of the best muck diving destinations in Asia. With a wide variety of critters including shrimps, nudibranchs, frog fish, pipe fish, scorpion fish, sea horses and sea moths to search for this area will keep the most ardent muck diver happy for hours at a time.
For those that do not really relish scouring the sand for that infamous 0.5cm critter, well don’t worry as Dauin coastal sites also have some rather fantastic coral reefs that house a variety of tropical reef fish, schools of barracuda, yellow tail snapper, tuna and turtles. The great thing about Dauin is there are over 15 different dive sites all offering something a little bit different and all within 1-30mintues from Liquid. Most of the dive sites are suitable for beginners and snorkelers, though there are a few where the currents can pick up and only the more experienced divers can dive these sites.
Siquior. The witch craft island. Folk tales talk about the olden days during the Spanish Inquisition when marauding ships would leave their sick sailors on Siquijor island to be treated by the local ‘doctors’ while the ship continued on with its plundering, only to return weeks later to find all their sick sailors healthier than when they first embarked on their journey. Nowadays the art of ‘white magic’ is still practiced on Siquijor and each year during Holy week they hold the ‘Healing festival’ to help allay fears of rumored dark magic.
Aside from witch craft Siquijor which is only a 50minute boat ride from Liquid has some stunning coral reefs and fabulous wall diving. The area is also a marine sanctuary. Although relatively new the improvement in marine life over the years has been quite dramatic. It is quite common to encounter dolphins on the journey to the island and during dives always keep one eye in the blue just in case a large pelagic passes by. On land there are many interesting caves to visit, waterfalls to see and hills to climb. The island is surrounded by white sand beaches with a fringing coral reef which offers some great snorkeling along with the awesome diving.
Sumilon. This privately owned island was the first official marine park in the region. Situated just over an hour from Liquid not too far from Oslob, the whale shark capital of the Visayas. The cruise out takes you past Dumaguete city and across the Tanon Strait towards Cebu Island. Here if you are lucky you may encounter whale sharks, dolphins or whales. The diving around Sumilon is fantastic, clear visibility, plenty of fish life, healthy soft and hard corals and amazing wall dives with some great over-hangs and crevices for the more adventurous diver to poke around in.
The island has lovely white sand beaches surrounding by shallow clear waters leading to gentle sloping reefs before becoming steep walls. A great place for an open water diver or a more experienced deep diver, there are over 10 different dive sites around Sumilon and each is well worth the trip.
So in a nut shell, if you decide to pick our little island out of the 7107 there are to choose from, you will actually be giving yourself the opportunity to see more than just one area. With so many places to visit why not try and go somewhere that it’s possible within a week to see numerous different diving destinations each offering something that little bit different and for those non divers there are many land based activities to keep you entertained for quite some time.
