Apo Reef status?

[Makhno]

i did go to apo island near dumaguete. did 2 dives in 1 day there and i was not impressed.i am going to sogod, this coming trip. hear great things about sogod and i have not been there yet.

maybe i went to the wrong place? but there was nothing special. i had heard good things about apo island and i wish it had worked out better. i was disappointed thou.

Thanks, but that's a different Apo. Apo Reef is off the west coast of Mindoro.

Sorry to hear your Apo Island dives were disappointing. I haven't been to Apo Island yet, but everyone I know who has dived said it was quite good.

 

[supergaijin]

I'm surprised that you were disappointed with Apo Island (off Dumaguete). This is one of the Philippines' premier dive locations. Granted certain sites around the island are 'better' than others, however all round this is an excellent diving island IME.

At the same time, I have heard people say that Sharm el Sheikh's Shark and Yolanda reef is boring.... this simply tells me you are either extremely spoiled in your previous diving or have a vastly different opinion of quality diving.

 

[ronski101]

thought i saw John Wayne riding that white tiip..nice video, nice change of music pace......

 

[cdoyal]

I'm surprised that you were disappointed with Apo Island (off Dumaguete). This is one of the Philippines' premier dive locations. Granted certain sites around the island are 'better' than others, however all round this is an excellent diving island IME.

At the same time, I have heard people say that Sharm el Sheikh's Shark and Yolanda reef is boring.... this simply tells me you are either extremely spoiled in your previous diving or have a vastly different opinion of quality diving.

I dove Apo Island this past April and wasn't impressed either. Not a lot of fish life. No jacks, cudas, etc. Wished I just put on the 60mm rather than the 10-17.

 

[xrcjdx]

makhno, i dove apo reef with divecal out of coron 11x over 3 days february 2012 - the apo reef off mindoro, not apo island or apo anything else (although i dove apo island as well). sharks on every dive (including one bull), turtles, jacks, tuna, you name it. macro galore. reef was not bleached, but in very, very good shape. because your source dove before me i wonder if s/he is confusing this apo with another because i doubt the reef would have recovered so much from one year to the next.

 

[Makhno]

makhno, i dove apo reef with divecal out of coron 11x over 3 days february 2012 - the apo reef off mindoro, not apo island or apo anything else (although i dove apo island as well). sharks on every dive (including one bull), turtles, jacks, tuna, you name it. macro galore. reef was not bleached, but in very, very good shape. because your source dove before me i wonder if s/he is confusing this apo with another because i doubt the reef would have recovered so much from one year to the next.

Thanks, xrcjdx, that's good news. Some buddies and I have already booked a couple days at Apo Reef in February before we go to Coron, so I'm really happy to hear that the reef is in good shape with a good quantity and variety of marine life!

 

[xrcjdx]

on the way to coron via rags 2? i will be on apo reef for 4 days of diving january 20 - 23. assuming i find a decent connection before the end of the month i will post a very brief thumbs up or down.

 

[Allison Finch]

Anyone else have any recent experience at Apo Reef?

I was there last year and Apo Reef was a bit disappointing. Most of the large pelagics were absent. There was some bleaching of corals and even the anemones were bleaching.

Bleached anemone

While missing the pelagics a bit, I found plenty of macro all over Apo and was glad I was there.

You will love Coron. While the vis is not as good there, there is SO much to see. Don't miss Barracuda lake. A truly unique experience.

---------- Post added December 8th, 2012 at 05:30 PM ----------

A few more examples of bleached anemones. There were, however, MANY normal anemones and lots of beautiful diving there...don't get me wrong

This one was in the process of bleaching

another partially bleached

older coral damage.

 

[DaMayan]

I was there in nov. 2011 and it was amazing.
The sheer amount of fish and just life there is incredible. Small to large we saw everything you would want to see incl large tuna jackfish sharks etc.
Also loads and loads of (some very large) nudi braches.
Would recommend.

 

[Makhno]

on the way to coron via rags 2? i will be on apo reef for 4 days of diving january 20 - 23. assuming i find a decent connection before the end of the month i will post a very brief thumbs up or down.

Yes, 5 days of diving from Rags II: 2 days at Apo Reef and 3 days at Coron. I'm very excited about it! Look forward to hearing about your late January dives.

Thanks to Allison Finch and DaMayan for your comments as well. Allison, I see you're in North Carolina - you're lucky to live there! That's where I first got addicted to wreck diving -- U-352, U-85, the Papoose and other great wrecks that I would love to revisit some day.