My Impossible and Memorable Holiday - Day 1: Apo Island

Our trike chariot 

A month ago, a few college friends planned on meeting in Cebu for a late summer reunion. We were to meet our friend Minnie in Tacloban a day or two after we all rendezvous in the queen city, we all agreed.  Pinky offered to book our flight and I asked her if it is possible for us to plane into Dumaguete instead of Cebu, ferry going to Santader and ride the bus going into Cebu City.  She agreed because she wanted to see Apo Island which was near Dauin, a town away from Dumaguete city proper.

Our destination, Apo Island, at the horizon

Our steady and sure banca was comfortable for me to sleep in 

Two days before our planned flight we learned our other companions begged off from the trip and that it was only Minnie who confirmed to meet us, but she could only do so in Tacloban City.  So the only thing sure is that we would arrive via Dumaguete airport and that we would have to reach Tacloban to meet Minnie and take the plane there going home to Manila.  Time frame set is 6 days. Pinky and I only had Apo Island definite on our itinerary.  All else were left written on air.

There were also other bancas anchored near the village, probably also other day tourists

Cycads were abundant on one limestone cliff

On day 1 our plane arrived in Dumaguete at 6 am.  We collected our baggage (we tried to pack light which I found impossible for someone as big a person as me) and tried to locate a tricycle which would bring us to Dauin. Pinky booked us online on a day trip to Apo Island via the Dumaguete Divers' Cafe. We had to reach the cafe by 7:30 am if we were to make the booked banca leaving at 8 am. We made it with a little more time for the cafe to prepare our submarine sandwiches which they packed as our lunch.

The travel to Apo Island was a little less than an hour long.  The sky was quite cloudy, ideal for the boat ride but not so lovely seen in the pictures.  But i tried to manage.  When we arrived at the fringes of Apo Island, the banca's operators told us we were to make 3 stops on our day trip and we could swim and snorkel for 30 minutes to an hour at each stop. 

Some trees growing on the limestone had beautiful foliage, a nice contrast of colors

Jagged edge of the limestone cliffs significantly covered with greens

We travelled with a few foreigners, a couple (who looked middle eastern and went on scuba diving) and 3 other guys (another middle eastern-looking fellow and two Japanese). All, including Pinky, went down into the water to snorkel. I on the other hand stayed dry on the banca, catching up on sleep (I attended a seminar the night before which ended quite late).  In between my catnaps, I managed to take pictures of the limestone cliffs of the island.  I saw a magnificent contrast of greens, as the island is still significantly covered with lovely trees and vegetation.  I hope it stays that way conserved, the same way that the local community has conserved and revived their coral reefs (the reason why tourists are flocking to this part of Negros to dive).  Pinky also took a few underwater pictures (she was armed with a small underwater camera). 

Oxygen tanks for scuba diving 

Busy snorkeling

At 2 pm the boat was on its way back to the mainland.  We welcomed  the idea that we could go back to dry land and try find a place to stay in Dauin. We took a quick bite again at the Diver's Cafe.  At 4 pm we found a decent in a few hundred yards from the cafe, beside the beach.  But instead of trying to maximize our adjacency to water recreation, we used up the rest of the trying to catch up on sleep. We needed it as we still had 5 days ahead of us, with no solid itinerary. 

Resident sea turtle

Will continue on with our adventures in the next days as our open ended travels took us to several Visayan islands. The next day we ate our breakfast again at the Diver's Cafe and there a caucasian fellow asked us where we were heading next.  We told him we were contemplating on going to Siquijor.  As he bade us goodbye, he wished us goodluck and asked us to say hi to the witches.  We only smiled at him as we began the next leg...   

Caves at the island margins