Philippines: Apo Island
Situated about 16 miles south of Dumaguete lies the very small but very famous Apo Island. Home to some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world, this small island attracts many visitors from all over the world. Dayton and I loaded up into Glenn's truck again and headed out to a small boat ramp where we were transferred to the care of the captain of a small outrigger. On this small rickety outrigger it seemed that the sea would swallow us whole! Luckily for us, the Philippines is an archipelago and therefor, there are few large waves in the area. Even some small waves were big enough to get us and the four Europeans on the makeshift raft really wet. We arrived to the island with gratitude for our safe journey and walked up the beach to pay our fees. We weren't exactly sure where to go or what to do, but with our snorkel gear in hand we made our way to the other side of the island by walking through a very small village. We learned that there is no hot water and limited electricity on this island. The people were happy though and helpful. We followed a narrow footpath to the marine sanctuary. Once we got there, .jpg)
I looked out over the water and wasn't too impressed. It didn't look like much but I thought I would give it a try anyway. I stuck the mask to my face, put on my flippers and made my way out to the water. I was very nervous since I had never snorkeled before. Neither had Dayton so we were on our own. Fighting the waves, I got out far enough to stick my face in the water. I didn't bother using the snorkel because I wasn't quite ready for it. Once my mask broke the surface of the water I was amazed at what I saw. Right below me was a red starfish stuck to a rock. As I looked around a bit I noticed many tropical fish swimming around the most colorful coral I had ever seen. (the only coral I had seen previous to this was on t.v.) I got more daring and began to swim, this time trying to use the snorkel. Once I took a breath under water I got a mouthful of sea water and came up struggling to breathe. Spitting out the water I decided to give up on the snorkel for the time being. I noticed Dayton was catching on a lot faster than I was. Wanting to get the most out of the experience I reverted back to the snorkel and forced myself to become comfortable breathing under water. Once I got out to deeper water it became so much easier. I even learned that when I got a mouthful of water, I could blow it out and keep snorkeling rather than sticking my head above water and gasping for air. I regret not having an underwater camera because the fish and coral were out of this world! Dayton and I got more and more comfortable with the snorkeling and pretty soon we were spending 20-30 minutes at a time swimming around with the fish and exploring the reef. I felt like I had been transported to another world. Minutes seemed like hours and hours seemed like minutes. Floating face down in the water was a whole new experience for me and even required overcoming my fear of water. But soon I forgot all about concentrating on breathing and got lost in the reef, swimming with fish and gliding over colorful abstract statues. Eventually we had to call it a day, knowing our group would soon be leaving we swam back to shore, gathered our things and walked back to the other side of the island. We arrived back to the beach where our boat was and noticed others of our group were still gone. We noticed a restaurant up on the side of one of the hills and climbed the stairs to be greeted by a nice young woman who sat us at a table overlooking the bay in her open-air restaurant. Liberty's restaurant serves a variety of dishes but the greatest part is the view. 
Dayton and I got a veggie curry and basked in the view of the island and water. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal after a long day of snorkeling. We couldn't stop saying words like "amazing" and "incredible" to describe the experience we just had. After finishing our meal the others were ready to go and we made our way via outrigger back to the larger island where we were greeted again by our good friend Glenn. We got back in his truck and headed back to the hostel for another much needed evening of relaxing and sleep. At Apo Island I learned that in order to have great adventures, I had to try new things, to push past my fears and open my mind to new ideas. This lesson would change the course of my journey and allow me to experience things I never thought I would.
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I looked out over the water and wasn't too impressed. It didn't look like much but I thought I would give it a try anyway. I stuck the mask to my face, put on my flippers and made my way out to the water. I was very nervous since I had never snorkeled before. Neither had Dayton so we were on our own. Fighting the waves, I got out far enough to stick my face in the water. I didn't bother using the snorkel because I wasn't quite ready for it. Once my mask broke the surface of the water I was amazed at what I saw. Right below me was a red starfish stuck to a rock. As I looked around a bit I noticed many tropical fish swimming around the most colorful coral I had ever seen. (the only coral I had seen previous to this was on t.v.) I got more daring and began to swim, this time trying to use the snorkel. Once I took a breath under water I got a mouthful of sea water and came up struggling to breathe. Spitting out the water I decided to give up on the snorkel for the time being. I noticed Dayton was catching on a lot faster than I was. Wanting to get the most out of the experience I reverted back to the snorkel and forced myself to become comfortable breathing under water. Once I got out to deeper water it became so much easier. I even learned that when I got a mouthful of water, I could blow it out and keep snorkeling rather than sticking my head above water and gasping for air. I regret not having an underwater camera because the fish and coral were out of this world! Dayton and I got more and more comfortable with the snorkeling and pretty soon we were spending 20-30 minutes at a time swimming around with the fish and exploring the reef. I felt like I had been transported to another world. Minutes seemed like hours and hours seemed like minutes. Floating face down in the water was a whole new experience for me and even required overcoming my fear of water. But soon I forgot all about concentrating on breathing and got lost in the reef, swimming with fish and gliding over colorful abstract statues. Eventually we had to call it a day, knowing our group would soon be leaving we swam back to shore, gathered our things and walked back to the other side of the island. We arrived back to the beach where our boat was and noticed others of our group were still gone. We noticed a restaurant up on the side of one of the hills and climbed the stairs to be greeted by a nice young woman who sat us at a table overlooking the bay in her open-air restaurant. Liberty's restaurant serves a variety of dishes but the greatest part is the view. 
Dayton and I got a veggie curry and basked in the view of the island and water. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal after a long day of snorkeling. We couldn't stop saying words like "amazing" and "incredible" to describe the experience we just had. After finishing our meal the others were ready to go and we made our way via outrigger back to the larger island where we were greeted again by our good friend Glenn. We got back in his truck and headed back to the hostel for another much needed evening of relaxing and sleep. At Apo Island I learned that in order to have great adventures, I had to try new things, to push past my fears and open my mind to new ideas. This lesson would change the course of my journey and allow me to experience things I never thought I would.
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