Lake Balanan, Negros Oriental's Hidden Paradise

Many sights are available for you if you visit Negros Oriental. One of them is Lake Balanan.

Situated 10 kilometers from the town-proper of the municipality of Siaton, this beautiful natural haven is open for everyone who would like adventure, fun or just pure relaxation.

Surrounded by a rainforest, Lake Balanan provides a place to go hiking, swimming, kayaking, banca-riding, nature tripping and sight seeing. It offers a unique kind of experience for a short adventure trek, were you can try its natural muscle powered floating nipa hut and a walk in its established trail going to its beautiful waterfalls or you may also try to just rent a kayak or ride a banca going there.

Many more options is available for you here if you want to stay for a night or just have a picnic for a day. They have rooms available for rent which could be in a bungalow or in a tree house. They also have a restaurant that provide good food at a reasonable price which offers variety of dishes.

This place becomes more popular now to tourist because of its accessibility. It can easily be reach by any kind of vehicle, even an ordinary car, for most of its road is paved already and the slope or elevation of the roads are not so steep compared to other natural sights. That is why many just go there every now and then just to have a photography session or just pure wasting of time while breathing in lots of oxygen.

They also have a very nice swimming pool that you may want to have a dip when you visit the place. It is right down the area where the restaurant is and where cars can park.

Apo Island, A Beauty Within

If you love the sea, big corals, and colorful fishes then Apo Island is for you. You can dive or, if your new to it, you can just snorkel with no much needed effort to do so. Just few feet away from the beach, its marine sanctuary host lots of amazing corals that some can just be seen in the area. With it, it attracted thousands of colorful fishes of different varieties and sizes, such as clown fish, angel fish, jack fish, tuna and many more. It listed six-hundred-and-fifty documented fish species and four-hundred types of marine corals. There is even a part of the island where if you get lucky, you can swim with sea turtles bigger than you.

Apo Island is an example of environmental protection success story. It is now one of the top ten most beautiful dive site in the Philippines and probably the whole world. However, it was on the brink of destruction before. Because of man's selfishness, nature was being exploited without the thought of the consequences it brings. They used dynamites, cyanide, small-mesh nets and Muro-ami in fishing. These caused the destruction of the corals and the major decline in the number of fishes. Thanks to the effort of Silliman University, after few years, nature healed itself back and eventually gave more. Besides giving more fish for the fishermen to catch, it also gave tourism opportunity for the whole community.

From Dumaguete City, you can hire a taxi or take a bus going to Malatapay, Zamboaguita for 20-30 minutes only. In the Malatapay Ferry Terminal you can take a boat going to the island. A good for 5-pax boat is at P1700 and a good for 10-pax is at P2700. For solo traveler, you can negotiate to go along with others on a boat for only P300 for a one-way travel.

For your stay, there are many options for you in the island. But expect a very old-school lifestyle in there. Imagine a place that is surrounded by sea and don't have electricity, that is Apo Island. If you can't handle that, there are many good resorts in Dauin and Zamboanguita that you may choose.