Apo Island

A volcanic island off the southeastern tip of Negros, ringed by one of the world's first community run marine reserves — local fishers closed 450 m of reef in 1982 and the recovery is now a textbook case. Green and hawksbill turtles graze the shallow hard coral gardens in such numbers that divers routinely share a single bommie with several at once, often within 5 m of the surface. The sheltered western sanctuary (Chapel, Rock Point West) suits any diver, while Coconut Point on the exposed tip rips with current that pulls in schooling bigeye trevally and jacks. Banded sea kraits hunt the coral heads, and the slopes pack more than 650 fish species and some 400 corals. Visibility regularly opens past 30 m.