Bicycling and snorkeling in Negros Oriental

From the very north of the Philippines Jeff and I traveled pretty quickly rather far south — from 19°N to 9°N. We started with a 10-hour overnight bus ride from Pagudpud to Manila. Those big pink Florida buses that look like they have huge baggage holds — well, somehow they don’t. There were two other cyclists (with unloaded racing bikes) on the same bus, and it took some effort to get all of our bicycles into the hold.

Jeff and I had time in Manila to visit Ermita Mall. We bought snorkeling gear at Decathlon, and I bought an action camera while Jeff treated himself to a shave, the thought being that a beard inhibits a good mask seal. In the evening we got on the ferry, and it was midnight ~30 hours later when we arrived in Dumaguete. That’s a lot faster than bicycling!

Throughout the Philippines we came across many rooster farms. Here’s an example:

These farms are for raising fighting cocks. Each animal is tied up and has its own shade structure presumably so they don’t kill each other before game day. South of Dumaguete Jeff and I stopped at the Dauin Cockpit Stadium and learned that matches are scheduled for Sundays. When we were checking in for the ferry from Manila to Dumaguete, we learned that it costs five times more to bring a fighting cock on the ferry than a regular chicken.

On the ferry I spent a little time figuring out how my new action camera worked — or rather didn’t work. I found a repair guy in Dumaguete, and soon the camera looked like this:

It was a case of a button not responding. The repairman fixed it, and it’s still working three months later. Jeff had success in Dumaguete as well, having a bicycle wheel built with a new rim.

Jeff learned that Forbes magazine listed Dumaguete (back in 2014) as one of the seven best places in the world to retire. We didn’t spend long in the city but found a tasty Korean place for lunch. Here’s the only photo I have of Dumaguete:

Between Dumaguete and Dauin we came upon a group of cyclists training for an Ironman (in Subic in June) or the upcoming half Ironman on Mactan Island in April. At least two of them had already completed a full Ironman. Wow.

Jeff and I stayed in Dauin where we tested our new snorkeling gear for the first time. I saw quite a few different butterflyfish species, also some triggerfish and anemonefish. Here’s some proof that the camera was working.

The 1.5mm wetsuit top that I bought in Manila was definitely not enough — no surprise really. Like in Indonesia a full 3mm wetsuit is in order to enjoy the snorkeling. Jeff found that his mask leaked — guess the shave trick didn’t work?! He managed to buy another one on our ride south to the port at Malatapay the following day. That mask worked good enough for the rest of the snorkeling he did in the Philippines.

Malatapay is where the boats depart for Apo Island. However, there’s not even a pier. You have to wade through choppy waist-deep water to get to the boat. Thankfully the workers carried our bags to the boat for us, and the coast guard had a locked room where we were able to leave our bicycles while we visited the island.

From our internet research it sounded like visiting Apo Island is kind of a pain. Well, Brian at the tourist office in Dumaguete made reservations for us to stay with Mary on the island, and Mary just happened to be at Malatapay waiting for her boat when we arrived. We went over with her and came back to Malatapay again with her (again coincidentally) after three nights on the island. The boat charge was 300 php/person/trip. It all worked out smoothly and easily for us.

Ok, enough of all that. How’s the snorkeling on Apo Island? With a 3mm wetsuit I could have easily stayed a week. The island is most famous for turtles. They’re easy to find. I saw one almost every time I got in the water, sometimes (at Katipanan, I believe) one after another.

Cogon is on the east side of the island with an eastern exposure and had too much current and waves when we were there (in February). I saw three different species (?) of trumpetfish including a yellow one. This area might have had the nicest hard corals.

Just 200m south of there with a SSE exposure is Kan Uran.

You might see views like this when you’re walking between Cogon/Kan Uran and the main beach and population center:

Katipanan is the name of the area to the south of the main turtle beach. I entered at the south end of the beach and swam out and south. You can continue to walk along the rocky shore farther south, but I never did that. I already mentioned the turtles at Katipanan. The soft corals were very nice here too.

The best snorkeling that we did on Apo was probably Kangahan. Once I went in there, I don’t think I went back anywhere else. Access is from north of the main turtle beach. Walk as far north as you can along the shore (we ignored the sign saying something about “hotel customers only”) and then swim north along the shore. I saw a number of different anemonefish species (including Amphiprion perideraion and Amphiprion frenatus), Titan triggerfish (Blaistoides viridescens), Sailor’s eyeball (Valonia ventricosa), striped eel catfish (Plotosus lineatus), a few different grouper (including Epinephelus merra?), shrimpfish, dog-faced puffer (Arothron nigropunctatus), and more nice soft coral.

These guys are always a little scary:

My most exciting sighting at Apo was a long white sea slug with black dots and black rhinophore and black gills. It was in shallow enough water that I got a good look and also thought I was getting good photos. However, I was still learning how to use the new camera — in Apo it happened many times that I thought I was taking photos and I wasn’t! Maybe I have to go back?