Diving in A Philippine Marine Reserve

Halrio Autor, 55, a fisherman from the Philippines' Apo Island, slits open a young coconut. The sweet juice trickles onto the sand. "Drink, drink," he urges, flashing a gummy grin. Earlier, he offered some home brew called tuba, made from fermented coconut juice, but I hadn't liked it. At 10 a shot, the murky orange liquid isn't exactly divine nectarjust a cheap way for the locals to get sloshed. And the tourists? Well, they come specifically for Apo's other liquid delights: its iridescent turquoise waters and teeming marine life.

Apo, a rugged nugget in the Visayan Islands, is no ordinary dive resort....