Dumaguete, Apo Island

skuba dude · Jun 17, 2008

warning; if you want to go and dive Apo Island be prepared to bend over and take it!
Boat transfer P350/person each way to the Island, less than 30 min.
enter island P100/person
marine park fee: dive P300/day, snorkel P100/day
use of your own camera underwater P250/day
not to mention 2 1/2 hours of power on the Island/day, overpriced bad food
and local fisherman in the 30meter x1km marine park
I find it very insulting to the dive community
I give it a big thumbs down:thumbs_down::thumbs_down::thumbs_down:

jefffalcone · Jun 17, 2008

All of these fees only add up to about $30. Doesn't seem so bad to me. Everyone has to eat.

alcina · Jun 17, 2008

skuba dude:
use of your own camera underwater P250/day

This is the only one of that list that really aggravates me. It's completely ridiculous.

Rhoody · Jun 17, 2008

hmmm, sounds like a Mr. Kuripod...
and I am 100% sure that there is no fishing in the sanctuary on Apo...

Go to Apo as a daytrip with a local dive-operator in Dumaguete on a big banka with 3 dives for 3.800 peso (min 2 person) is you are alone 4,500 Peso.... 100$ for 3 dives on Apo with a private guide... If you use a camera or not does not matter.

Yeah, if you have a problem with that... dive in your Bath-Tub

cheers

Rhoody

bill22 · Jun 17, 2008

Most of what I've read suggests that you do it as a day trip and not dive from the island itself. $100 bucks for 3 dives at Apo with a private guide doesn't sound to bad to me either.

Like you, I would be just a might irritated about getting nickel and dime'ed, especially the camera fee. The fees should be going to maintain the sanctuary though, which is a good thing. Sounds like they needed some enforcement out in the area where you were diving. Sorry, you had a bad experience.

jbb · Jun 18, 2008

skuba dude:
warning; if you want to go and dive Apo Island be prepared to bend over and take it!
Boat transfer P350/person each way to the Island, less than 30 min.
enter island P100/person
marine park fee: dive P300/day, snorkel P100/day
use of your own camera underwater P250/day
not to mention 2 1/2 hours of power on the Island/day, overpriced bad food
and local fisherman in the 30meter x1km marine park
I find it very insulting to the dive community
I give it a big thumbs down:thumbs_down::thumbs_down::thumbs_down:

Which lodge did you stay at? I have stayed at Liberty Lodge twice and enjoyed the stay and diving immensely. I can't say the food was exceptional but there was enough variety for me to stay at least a week on the island. Of course I was diving 3-4 dives a day and the limited electricity didn't bother me as I had multiple batteries for camera and strobe. If you do a lot of dives there they discount the per dive cost. I preferred staying on the island to avoid any sort of long boat ride and the dive sites were good enough to dive many times.

Kupu · Jun 18, 2008

My experience was similar to what jbb says. I thought it was a great place to visit, good dives and a nice place to relax. Although it has been a while since I was there, at the time I found the diving to well worth the effort of getting there. Although costs have went up a bit in the past couple years for staying and diving at liberty lodge, I still hope to go back soon and see if the diving was as good as I remember...

Agree that the camera and video fees are annoying, the sanctuary fees are somewhat expected, but to charge extra for photo/video on top of that?

Anybody else seen the 1/2 hour clip on Apo Islands marine sanctuary that gets replayed a lot on Living Asia Channel? I enjoy watching it every time...

Big Fic · Jun 18, 2008

We went to Dumaguete in April and Apo Island twice. We stayed at Atrlantis so all the fees were built in but I must say that it is the most pristine reef that I have seen and I thought we were lucky to see it twice. Sorry you had a bad experience but Apo Island was incredible and worth every penny.

skuba dude · Jun 19, 2008

everywhere you dive in the philippines is a "so-called Marine Park" with fisherman every where in it. sometimes you hear dynamite explosions or see fishing nets. Its no wonder why all you see are common tiny reef fish amd coral cemetaries. I don't mind paying a marine park fee
when it truly is a marine park. not a local government scam to line there own pockets without any regard for the "marine park".

clgsamson · Jun 19, 2008

got any pix to share?

Dumaguete, Apo Island

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alcina

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