Apo Village (05-Sep-2008)

Apo Island, is not only a resort area and diving spot. It is also home to a community that is slowly coming to terms with living on a "protected area" and a tourist spot.

The influx of divers raring to discover Apo Island's marine life has given the locals different opportunities to make a living.

The stretch of beach facing Dauin proper is lined with boats that ferry people from Apo Island to the mainland and vice versa. Tourists could rent one for a round trip arrangement, and depending on the size of the boat, the fee could be anywhere between PHP1,500 and PHP3,000 - the more people share the boat, the cheaper it would be per person.

As all tourists to the island will land on this beach, this is where the ambulant vendors of T-shirts with "Apo Island" designs hang around. The t-shirts cost arount PHP200. It could be higher or lower, depending on your haggling skills.

Acutely aware by now of what marine loving tourists would need had they come unprepared, locals rent out life vests, footwear fit for the rocky beach of the sanctuary, and if the tourist is looking for specific kinds of marine life like the sea turtle or the jack fish, he or she can hire a local to show him/her where to snorkel for around PHP150 - 200.

Some locals, in exchange for buying their wares, would gladly guide you around the island at no extra cost. You can trust them to look after your bags as they consider it detrimental to the island's reputation (and eventually bad for tourism) if a visitor would get robbed during his/her stay there.

Most tourists to Apo Island are divers and usually stay on the rented boats if they are out of the water. They would probably set foot on the island only to eat at one of the two resorts. Bee and I were not diving but snorkeling, so we actually get to go through Apo Village to get from the shore we landed on to the marine sanctuary. Since I backed out of snorkeling due to the sharp rocks, I ended up taking more interest on what's on the island.

The small town chapel is the first thing you see once you get past the registration office. The absence of a priest's living quarters and the distance of the parish from the city allows the priest to only come around once a month. A lay minister takes over on most Sundays (presumably holding paraliturgical celebrations).

Small, clean houses line the small streets. Mud puddles would form after a heavy rainfall so one should walk carefully so as not to slip on the mud.

Here and there are stalls selling vegetables to the locals or trinkets to the tourists - and none of those products are probably grown or made on the island.

Electricity is not always available, and for potable water, the locals have to either collect rainfall or import water from the mainland. Our guide said that according to the older folk, there used to be potable water from small inlets, but said sources have disappeared with the denudation that happened before the island became a protected area in 1994.

The current mangrove trees show their youth as they quite thin ... they were planted only recently. The original trees were cut down for timber.

Tilapia live within the waters where the mangrove trees are planted, but the locals only catch them for food if weather does not permit them to fish in the open sea. They don't like the Tilapia as it feeds in murky waters.

Near the Marine Sanctuary, but before the path leaves the mangrove trees, are small cottages that I believe could be rented by tourists who want to stay overnight on the island. I am not sure however if these cottages are maintained by the local government or owned by individuals.

The Municipality of Dauin holds its Kinaiyahan or Mother Nature Festival every September 10, and Apo Village makes it a point to participate every year. The festivities start as early as September 6 and the village folk were loading the drums and props they would be using on their fishing boats.

Watching their community spirit at work uplifts one's mood.