Dumaguete and Apo Island 1/27/13 - 2/2/13

Our stay in and around Dumaguete was much longer than we initially planned, but there was plenty to keep us busy.  After a day of travel from Sipalay with our new Minnesota friend, Evan, we were able to kick back in our own "family" room with A/C, TV, wi-fi (actually fast and worthwhile), and recharge our batteries (literally and figuratively).

After a morning of rest the next day, the three of us set out to find the waterfall outside of town.  We didn't know much about it or what to expect, we just knew we had to find motorbikes to rent and head out of town.  So for $4 we set off on our motorbike towards Casaroro Falls.  We thought we were on the right path; however, we slowly figured out that we were not.  No problem, Filipinos are extremely friendly and helpful and after a few minor, yet scenic detours, we found our way to the waterfall.

Once we walked down 300+ steps, a whole new adventure began due to the destruction caused by super typhoon Pablo that hit a couple of months back in December 2012.  Where there once was a bridge, walkway, and gazebo, there was now nothing more than concrete blocks as obstacles.  We had fun climbing over boulders and through the stream trying to find our way to the falls.  We could hear the powerful water crashing down, we just had to find how to get to it.  Once we could finally see the 100 ft fall, it was more than worth it.  We especially enjoyed this adventure because it was a DIY activity starting with a beautiful motorbike ride up the mountain, climbing up and over rocks to get there, and admiring the wonder of the fall in a tranquil setting.

Hmmm.....there used to be a bridge here. What do we do now?

Evan made the jump across.

The place we stayed in Dumaguete, Harold's Mansion, was a good place (including a nice rooftop terrace), and provided plenty of day trips for diving and/or snorkeling out to various nearby islands.  The place we were most interested in was Apo Island to dive and try and snorkel with sea turtles!  

The wolf-pack before our dive.

We were able to have the dive boat drop us off at the island so that we could explore and stay the night.

It rained all night and most of the morning, so as soon as there was a break in the rain before lunch, Kristin said it was time and we grabbed our snorkels and masks to go in search of turtles.  We saw other snorkelers and they informed us the turtles were right near the shore feeding on all the coral.  We jumped in, camera in hand, and were taken aback by the sea turtles!  They were huge and it was incredible to watch them feed and swim around.  Kristin had been looking forward to Apo Island for months, because she had heard from fellow travelers about the chance to swim with turtles.  She was in heaven!  Matt had swam with turtles before, so although he still enjoyed it, Kristin was twice as giddy as him!

After our day on Apo, there was another dive boat from Harold's that picked us up to take us back to Dumaguete.  Fortunately, it was the bigger of the boats because the ride back was quite rough thanks to bad weather.

After more downtime (internet usage) the next day, we nor Evan left the room except for food, we signed up for the "whale shark" tour.  This part of the day was kind of a disappointment, because the visibility was very low and the environment for swimming with them was not ideal.   

This is all we could see underwater.

Luckily, Evan got a much clearer picture of the whale shark .

However, at the next two boat stops there was amazing snorkeling off Sumilon Island.  The visibility was great, and there was plenty of colorful coral and lots of interesting fish to see!  The snorkeling was our favorite part of the day.

Playing in the divers' bubbles.

After a great trip out at sea, we hung out with some new made friends that evening and enjoyed a typical Filipino night out karaokeing!  It was quite the experience as we had about 15 people in a private VIP karaoke room singing at the top of our lungs.  Filipinos LOVE karaoke, it's everywhere.  Sadly, the next day we had to part ways with Evan as he headed out to Cebu and we headed out to Siquijor.