Chapel Point (Apo Island)

Below the village chapel, Apo's western shore slopes away under one of the healthiest hard-coral canopies in the Visayas, acres of staghorn, table, and foliose growth so continuous that sand barely shows. This is the island at its most benign: green turtles surface and settle on their own circuit, anthias haze the coral tops, moorish idols and butterflyfish work the seams, and the odd hawksbill rasps at sponges on the short walls. Depth and current stay polite, making it the standard counterweight to Coconut Point's adrenaline on a two-dive Apo day. Snorkelers over the shallows do nearly as well as the divers.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: Unbroken hard-coral fields, point-blank turtles, the gentle half of an Apo day

التضاريس: Dense hard-coral slope with short wall sections

التيار: Mostly relaxed; occasional flow toward the adjacent points.

نقطة الدخول: Named for the small chapel ashore; usually a gentle mooring dive on the island's western side.

المخاطر: Minimal; shallow coral demands careful buoyancy.

التصاريح والقواعد: Island visitor and dive fees apply.

الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية: Decades of village stewardship built this coral cover; a single fin strike undoes years, and wardens watch for exactly that.