Diving Dauin and Apo Island @ Critter Republic Dive Resort

I stayed at Critter Republic during my 4 days diving Dauin, Philippines, and did nine dives with them, including a full day at Apo Island.

I picked them because I've known the owner, Justin, for many years. I followed his YouTube channel, Critter Hunter, for quite some time, and I really like what they've got going on over there. Critter Republic gave me a discount on my stay and my diving.

How Critter Republic Is Laid Out

The house reef is right in front of the resort, so you can walk straight into the water.

The Room

The room isn't luxury, but it's more than enough to be comfortable on a dive vacation. The air conditioning was great and the shower was warm.

The Bar and Food

Ann runs the bar, and she made me a mango protein smoothie before my night dive on the house reef.

One thing to know before you book: the internet wasn't the strongest, and there's no restaurant on the property. You can order food from Infinity Dive Resort next door, which is where I ate my meals, and lots of restaurants in the area deliver.

Diving from Critter Republic

Critter Republic runs its own dive operation, with shore dives along the Dauin coast, boat dives down to Zamboanguita, and day trips out to Apo Island.

My divemasters were Magai and Bboy. They know exactly where to look at every single site, and they handle the logistics, between driving you to the sites, setting up your gear, and pointing out where everything is located.

For the shore dives, they drove us to each site and helped carry our gear down to the beach. At El Dorado, they knew exactly where two seahorses were hanging out.

The boats have a roof over the deck, which I was thankful for when it started pouring rain on the way back from Thalatta.

At Malatapay, Justin asked whether I wanted to go muck diving or to a shallow reef.

Apo Island Day Trips

Apo Island is part of the municipality of Dauin, and Critter Republic runs day trips out to it. We did three dives in a day: Cogon, Chapel and Largahan.

After the first dive, the team started grilling on board and left some fruit out for us. After our dives, they put out a full lunch spread with pork and rice.

The Dive Sites I Did with Critter Republic

I did nine dives with Critter Republic over three days: three at Apo Island, three shore dives in Dauin, two boat dives in Zamboanguita, and a night dive on the house reef.

Apo Island (boat, about 45 minutes from Dauin)

Cogon: a reef on Apo Island where we saw hawksbill turtles, several banded sea kraits and a huge school of jackfish.

Chapel: named after the church on Apo Island, right across from the site. It starts as a wall with a cave, and the shallow reef on top is where the sun hits.

Largahan: the site with volcanic gas bubbles rising out of the sand, and patches of sand that are warm to the touch.

Dauin shore dives

Dacumi: a shore dive around the pillars of a broken private pier in Dauin, where I saw the most nudibranchs of any dive.

El Dorado: a shore dive in front of the former El Dorado Resort, with coral nurseries, a small sunken dive boat and two seahorses.

District One: the busiest shore dive in Dauin, with boats coming and going from the beach.

Zamboanguita boat dives

Malatapay: a boat dive south of Dauin. Justin offered muck diving or a shallow reef, and I picked the reef.

Thalatta: an artificial reef that volunteers started about two years ago, about a 30 minute boat ride from the resort.

The house reef

Critter Republic House Reef: right in front of the resort. I did it as a night dive and walked straight in from the beach.

On my last full day, I also shore dived Uzis on my own with some guys I met at the resort, with rental gear from Apo Dive Center. That one wasn't with Critter Republic.

How to Get to Critter Republic

Critter Republic is in Dauin, about 45 minutes by trike from Dumaguete airport, on the island of Negros.

Dumaguete doesn't have many international flights, so most people connect through Cebu City. Cebu doesn't have a ton of international flights either, so you may also need to connect through Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

I came from Siargao, so my route was Siargao to Cebu City, then Cebu City to Dumaguete.

When you land, trike riders will be waiting outside the airport offering rides. Trikes are the local taxi system.

Grab, the Uber of Southeast Asia, won't take you out to Dauin because it's too far. I ended up hitching a ride with some people I met on my flight, then paid a trike driver separately to take me the rest of the way to Critter Republic. I paid around 600 Philippine pesos and left him a nice tip.

The easier option is to arrange a pickup with the resort. They'll send someone to get you.

What Diving Here Costs

• Regular dives: 2,200 Philippine pesos (about $37) per dive
• Apo Island day: 7,500 pesos (about $125) per person, for three dives and a BBQ

I tipped the divemasters every day. They work really hard.

Is It Worth It?

You give up fast internet and an on-site restaurant. In return, the guides know exactly where to look at every site, the house reef is right out front, and a dive costs about $37. For a dive trip to Dauin and Apo Island, that's an easy trade.