Scuba Season
Underwater reef at Apo Island
Partly surveyed

Apo Island

Philippines · Southeast Asia

Apo Island's community-managed marine sanctuary off Negros Oriental is a textbook conservation success story, with thriving reef fish populations and reliable green sea turtle encounters best enjoyed from March through June.

How this reef is doing

How we measure this

Reef state

Partly surveyed

Live coral covers 27% of this reef.

Coral cover

HEALTHY RANGE27%2017now
Stable

Fish life

Not surveyed

Heat

Not surveyed

Fishing

QuietBusy

Open to fishing, and the water is fairly quiet.

Open

Sources · MERMAID and the survey teams · Global Fishing Watch and reef gravity

Coral cover over time

Live coral cover, by survey year

Across 4 survey years from 2017 to 2024, live coral cover here has fallen from 39% to 27%. Every point is a real survey reading, never a projection.

Live coral cover, percent by year

40%0%region avg 37%2017202120232024
4 surveys, 2017 to 2024
East Asian Seas average (GCRMN)
MERMAID and the survey teams, within 56 km

What you will see

11 species across the dive sites here

Dive sites

Gear & getting wet

  • Basic kit

    • Mask and fins
    • BCD and regulator
    • 3mm full wetsuit · warm water
    • Dive computer