A method and apparatus for recording data on a write-once recording medium are disclosed. In the write-once recording medium, the method includes, when a defect area is detected in the recording medium, deciding a replacement recording method for replacing the defect area, when the detected defect area is replacement recorded in a spare area, recording a position information of the defect area and a position information of the spare area in a temporary management area as a defect management information, and when the detected defect area is skipped and the data is replacement recorded in a next consecutive area, an information indicating that the skipped area is the defect area is recorded in a temporary management area as a defect management information. Thus, the write-once recording medium may be managed with more efficiency and data may be efficiently recorded on the recording medium.