Apo Island update requested...

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Wiggsy

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Location
Mt Eliza; Melbourne; Australia
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Hello all,

I am planning to return to Apo Island near Dumaguete next year but have heard some rumours that the diving has gone a bit off and the fish have largely disappeared since Typhoon Yolanda...? Just wondering if anyone has some personal experience of recetn dives at Apo to report on. Many thanks!
 
Dived Apo 3-4 months ago end of march : it was a first time for me, and a disapointment. Coral is fine on the west leeward side, though scarce fish, the northeastern side corals from Olo to Kanuran seemed quite hit with no so much fish, except a few large Trevallies, to what I've been told there is no more diving on the South-eastern parts and the Marine Sanctuary part of the island.
 
I dived Apo Island in January and again in June.I respectfully completely disagree with the previous poster. One area apparently was damaged , so is now off limits. However the other side I thought was fabulous. We saw schools of tuna , Jack s , squid , bumpheads , masses of reef fish , loads of macro and on the last dive half a dozen turtles. We thought that the coral was fabulous and compared well with Komodo, Raja Ampat , the Red Sea .

Yolanda barely touched Dauin , even in Malapascua there was very little damage to the reefs.
 
We thought that the coral was fabulous and compared well with Komodo, Raja Ampat , the Red Sea .
For the coral you probably mean the western side of Apo, though I was not very impressed with the fields of hard lettuce or horn type coral. That said you're right for very large specimens of nembrotha type of nudis (and that's a bit all).
I really can't figure how it can compare to Komodo, Raja Ampat of elsewhere that is mostly known for soft corals abundance, i don't remember seeing spots like Cape Kri or Tatawa besar around Apo.

Can you pls precise which spot on Apo was comparable to which spot in Komodo or Raja Ampat (we're talking about hundreds of sq km² there), looks like we didn't dive the same areas.
 
The damage on Apo island was caused by another typhoon couple of yrs ago. That typhoon hit Dauin head-on.
Yolanda(Haiyan) did not come anywhere near!
 
Thanks - interesting to get contrasting perspectives. I thought Coconut Point was the best site and hope it is still buzzing with fish. I will be happy diving some of the easterly sites and from similar experiences in The Maldives, I have been amazed how quickly reefs recover from storm damage and bleaching.
 
How good a dive site (or area) is is relative. Somebody's favorite dive site is probably crap to another diver.

Apo Island isn't really known for fish life, although the fish population there can be considered healthy. What Apo Island really is known for is coral diversity. I know somebody who does marine research and his colleagues who do coral research were very impressed with the reefs in Apo's western side. If you're a big fan of pretty reefs, or if your a coral geek, you'll probably enjoy Apo Island.

Apo Island is also a poster-child for community-based marine conservation. If you get the chance to go there, try to take some time to walk through the village and talk to the locals. I think they've found the right balance of tourism-conservation-local use (fishing). Maybe it's not perfect but it's better than what most other areas have.
 
We dove Apo in March. The visibility wasn't as clear as we had in Puerto Galera, but the corals were fabulous. I don't remember a huge density of fish, but we definitely saw them . . . more important to me were the small creatures we found, including a wide variety of nudibranchs (thank you, Marku!). We saw two sea snakes on one dive, as well. I thought the diving was excellent.
 
We dived Apo Island in June, I thought it was great – 3 dives that day, excellent coral, colours and good numbers and variety of fish (including bumphead parrotfish), nudis and turtles as well.
 
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