Thursday, December 21, 2006 Let's do Dumaguete! By Dorothy Bangayan The Unlonely Planet
(Conclusion)
APO Island is a marine sanctuary where we can actually find true to life Filipinos disciplined enough to ban mass fishing and keep the sea cities alive and going for marine biologists, scuba divers and tourists.
Except, of course for a few areas open for traditional bancas and old-fashioned fisherfolk, the whole of Apo is guarded round the clock by locals protecting the sea from money loving anti environmental capitalists. Snorkeling in Apo Island can be included in my folder as one of the seven wonderful activities in life (the six others are another story).
In fact, it is used as the model for the 50 million dollar Aquarium in Chicago and listed as the 3rd best Dive Spot in the Philippines. A plethora of corals, all of different shapes and sizes lie below making it like a mini city bustling with cone shaped, mushroom-shaped and web-like buildings of corals.
Imagine Atlantis inside a bubble. Also known as Clownfish City, the hundreds of little blighters around us may look cute, but they sure can fight.
A wide array of unnamed exotic fishes complete the whole menagerie. A striped black and orange water eel even wriggled right by my feet and a school of eenie weenie fishes passed me by.
In the silence, I could hear the faint "crick cricking" of parrotfish teeth biting against coral bits. I was disappointed not to catch any sea turtles though, as Annabelle Lee-Adriano, GM of Antulang Beach Resort, had once seen them at the very same snorkeling sight we docked in.
The media group I was with was a fun and noisy bunch! Christine Dayrit of Philippine Star literally lost herself snorkeling and we had to get a search and rescue banca to find her.
We also went kayaking to the island itself. Two of our guests got a little seasick on the boat ride home but not sick enough to stop them from rappelling when we got back.
Since it was a press tour hosted by Antulang Beach Resort and my travel agency, Skyteam Travel and Tours, we wanted to show activities available in the resort. One activity, I bet you cannot find in any other resort is rappelling. The coral cliffs where the resort rooms are perched on can double as a 50 feet rappelling wall. If you feel like chickening out, just think "Fifty feet won't kill you. Just a leg or two and after all, it is honest to goodness beach sand at the bottom."
Babbu Wenceslao, our adventure tours aficionado briefed us on the safety mechanism and taught us the all around mantra of the day- Trust the system. It sounded easy. It looked scary. And the photo opportunity was one in a million. I had to keep reminding myself -- left hand for stabilizing, right hand releasing, lean back at 90 degrees, not to mention the constant shouting from both sides of "Dot, Look here and SMILE!!" The adrenalin rush was such a high that I wonder why people still do drugs. We were supposed to do white water kayaking at nearby Siaton right after, but we decided to rest our heavenly bodies in this ultra chi chi resort. And rest we did!
Of course, a pinoy vacay is not a pinoy vacay without "pasalubong." We dropped by The Sans Rival where Silvanas was born and made. The place was jampacked. As we checked out the delicacies and nudged elbows to get through, Karen, our companion commented "kung masungit yun tindera, ibig sabihin masarap nga dito." True enough, she asked if there were bananas in the Queen Elizabeth cake. "Ang banana cake banana cake. Iba ang queen Elizabeth!" Manang Annie in checkered apron on white frou frou uniform replied tartly giving us the "irritated mayordoma of a buena de pamilya" look. It is said, Manang Annie, an institution herself, has never smiled. But scrap that legend because we made her smile for a photo op. What a glorious adventure packed weekend I had, the sort of chi chi vacation that can be bragged to chi chi friends with proof of pictures. If only I can get past this stupid craving for Halang Halang soup!
How To Get There
Good news! Cebu Pacific now released its thoroughfares. Take the Davao to Dumaguete flight (via Manila). Or you can go via Cebu and take a ferry to
Dumaguete City.
For a lovely trip, contact the following: At Forest Camp, you may call Florante & Melba Vicuna (63-35) 423-4017. For ATV tours, contact Wayne Littlefield (63) 921-469-6219.
Antulang Beach Resort, call Annabelle Lee Adriano at the following numbers:
Dumaguete office: Mobile 0917-700-2766 or (63) (35) 225-8899, 422-2600
Manila Sales Office: 7473078/75/76
Website: www.antulang.com
Adventure Tours - Antonio "Babbu" Wenceslao at 0920-908-4414
Email: wbabboo@yahoo.com
