Dumaguete Adventure Series: Sea Turtles in Apo Island

Our family just came back from a 4-day vacation in Dumaguete with friends. Prior to the trip, I was honestly not very expectant. I was excited to spend time with our friends and just relax with them. But this trip turned out to be all that plus so much more.

 

On our first day, we checked-in the Pura Vida Beach & Dive Resort in Dauin and headed out to sea immediately after lunch. Our first destination was Apo Island.

 

Apo Island is a volcanic island covering 12 hectares in land area, 7 kilometers off the southeastern tip of Negros Island and 30 kilometers south of the Negros Oriental capital of Dumaguete in the Philippines. The name "Apo" was derived from a Filipino word for "grandchild".

 

The marine habitat around the island is a marine reserve, protected by the National Integrated Protected Area Act (NIPA) and under the jurisdiction of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). It has become a popular dive site and snorkeling destination with tourists. (Wikipedia)

 

We booked the trip through the resort's dive shop. The boat we took has its own toilet, which is very important when you're traveling with small children, they serve free-flowing tea and coffee and can fit all 30+ of us.

 

I cannot remember how long we sailed but we reached Apo Island sooner than we thought.  The sea was clear and the sky was blue. We had the perfect snorkeling and diving weather.

 

Thanks to our Tribord masks, which I will talk about in a separate post, my 8-year old son was able to snorkel for the first time. And his first snorkeling experience was nothing short of awesome. We saw around 4 to 5 huge sea turtles swimming with us! The largest was about 5 feet long. Imagine that! See the photo below from the Hello World to picture how big the turtle that we saw was.

photo from Hello World blog

We probably spent over 30 minutes just swimming and looking at all the sea turtles in their natural habitat. You can see them eating and going up for air once in a while. It was such an amazing experience for all of us.

 

I remember seeing sea turtles by the shore last year when we went to Hawaii (read about that here) and thinking how awesome it was that the Hawaiians were able to preserve these beautiful sea creatures.  I was in awe thinking that I am actually seeing them again in my own country! Hurray for the Philippines!

Giant sea turtle. Photo by Franc Gival

When you find yourself in Dumaguete, snorkeling in Apo Island is a must. Do not miss it, You will be glad you didn't.

 

 

 

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Hawaiian Adventure Series: Sea Turtles

Aloha! If you have been following my Instagram feed (@densfan), you will know that our family just spent two weeks in the beautiful island of Hawaii. From outlet shopping to swimming with the sharks, there are just so many fun things to do. Two weeks is not enough!

 

I will be doing a series of posts of some of the things that we did during our vacation. Today's post will be about spotting the beautiful Sea Turtles in Hawaii.

 

So here are some facts about sea turtles taken from Defenders of Wildlife :

 

"Sea turtles are one of the Earth's most ancient creatures. The seven species that can be found today have been around for 110 million years, since the time of the dinosaurs. The sea turtle's shell, or "carapace" is streamlined for swimming through the water. Unlike other turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their legs and head into their shells. Their color varies between yellow, greenish and black depending on the species."

 

The first week of our vacation was in Maui. We were told that Sea Turtles can sometimes be spotted within Ka'anapali beach, specifically near the Black Rock which was right in front of the Maui Sheraton Hotel. Our hotel was just walking distance from the Black Rock so we decided to visit one day as the sun was setting. We trekked the shores for a good 15 to 20 minutes before we reached Black Rock. But after staying for an hour and a half, we knew we were not going to find any Sea Turtles that day. We were quite determined and decided to go back early morning the next day.

 

We got up around 6:30am and reached Black Rock before 7:30am. The sun was shining and the water was clear. Still no Sea Turtle in sight but the kids enjoyed playing in the beach nonetheless.



Black Rock - it's known as such because of this huge black rock that sits by the shore. Lots of locals come here to cliff dive.



If you can't spot them, you make them!



Our very own baby turtles



The kids enjoying the early morning swim



A week later, we found ourselves in Honolulu. My friend told me about Laniakea Beach in the North Shore. It's basically a public beach just along the Kamehameha highway. There are no signs but you will know that you are already in the area when you start to see a lot of cars parked by the roadside. We got there around 10am and met around 4 to 7 beautiful Sea Turtles sunbathing on the beach and swimming near the shore. Such an amazing experience.

Huge Sea Turtle sunbathing.  You need to stay about 10 feet away so that you won't hurt the turtles

Another turtle resting near the rock

Sea Turtle swimming near the shore

I highly recommend visiting the Laniakea Beach (a.k.a. Turtle Beach) when you find yourselves in Honolulu. It's such a blessing to catch them in the wild.

 

Laniakea Beach is located in 61-676 Kamehameha Hwy Haleiwa, HI 96712

 

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