Cebu (moalboal)

If anyone ever asked me if there was ever a destination that touched me from the first time i set foot there, through its quaintness, vibe and just plain amazing diving... I would have to answer over and over hands down it is Moalboal.

Moalboal is a small and quiet town on the western side of cebu island, being an hour and a half from cebu city it is accessible to visitors flying into cebu and getting a van transfer out. With a diving history dating back to the early 70's It is one of the first international diving destinations to flourish in the philippines.

Moalboal boasts of a number of divesites running up and down its shoreline. These sights offer divers a wide variety of marine life both of the big animal and the macro variety; and they are all within a short boat ride of each other. There is never a shortage of things to see and sometimes there is just too much. Of all the places I have visited moalboal is definitely a record setter at one dive our group counted 11 green turtles and recently I heard that the record now stands at 13 turtles all in one dive. The turtles here are used to divers and will gladly pose and hang around long enough for you to get your fill of photographing them. Another animal common for divers to see in moalboal is it's resident giant, the whaleshark. Many argue that moalboal has just 1 resident whaleshark and that he just cruises up and down the coast usually along the walls of the divesites. When he makes an appearance he seems to always want to get extremely close to the divers as if to say hello to the group with him in the water. I personally have seen the animal a number of times, and have been cursed once for telling a group of photographers to strap on their macro lenses only to be buzzed by this majestic giant of the ocean. These are only two of the many highlights this destination has to offer in terms of marine life.

For those of you Macro divers and photographers moalboal offers some of the worlds hardest to find macro creatures; critters like the pygmy seahorse (yellow as well as pink) live on moalboals many gorgonian fans and Frogfish, pipefish and ghost pipefish are just some examples of what can be found at any of moalboal's divesites. The reefs are lush colorful and full of life and there is even a plane wreck which you can visit and photograph as well. These and alot lot more make up the perfect equation for the wonderful diving experience moalboal offers.

For something really spectacular; a visit here is never complete without seeing the sardine shoals of pescador island. Different parts of the world boast of a sardine run season which last for no more than a few months. Moalboal trumps them all as the shoal of millions of sardines and the predators that hunt them are present at pescador year round. A dive at pescador is like a trip into a natgeo special, and as soon as you jump in you will be enveloped in millions of these tiny fish we most of the time see in a can. The guides even warn you sometimes to stick close to the wall because if the shoal surrounds you you may lose your sense of direction in all the confusion. Also at pescador you might be able to witness thresher sharks, and unlike malapacua here they are feeding and it is always a joy to watch them as they show divers this curious way of hunting that explains the need for their extremely long rooster tail. All together pescador is one dive that will never disappoint. The best part of it is: at this point the diving is far from over!...

moalboal becomes truly special for me after the sunset, yes the bars and parties are plentiful and great but what really gets me is the life that comes alive underwater at night. I advice any diver to forget the bars and not miss an opportunity to dive at this wonderful place when the sun goes down. Critters like decorator crabs, sponge crabs, siren shrimps are plentiful and are by no means the only critters in the water at night. And then there are some truly special critters I continuously see on moalboal night dives; these include all star photo subjects such as; star-gazers, mimic octopus, pygmy cuttlefish and the fabled blue ring octopus present in all their glory for all to see. The beauty of night diving in moalboal is that to see all these fantastic critters, it is merely a shore entry dive from all my favorite moalboal resorts and dive operators.

Moalboal is definitely a place no filipino should miss out on, the diving is definitely world class and getting there is relatively easy. The resort staff at club serena are professional and willing to serve and the divestaff at aquaholics are the most experienced local guides who grew up swimming and fishing in these waters so they know it like the back of their hands.

Now everyone deserves to have their favorites and moalboal hands down is mine at the moment. A place i go and know the diving will never disappoint and the people so friendly they make you feel like you're home.

It is my personal happy place and I hope one day you all see it for yourselves.

Photos by: Lee Allan Black


For more info on packages and diving email m.santos@bluewaterexpeditions.net