This small fishing village located on the west coast of Cebu Island has been making headlines for a few years due to the presence of a large school of sardines that have taken up residence in its waters. But the seabed here is also filled with other treasures and the land stay will leave a mark with its authenticity and the warmth of its inhabitants!
Only 2.5 hours from Cebu, the change of scenery is complete upon arrival in this small coastal village. Here fishermen and divers share the sea, with the former not frequenting the sites near hotels and diving spots in exchange for allocated fishing zones that allow them to continue their activities.
The dive sites here are very close to the shore. At the foot of the village for the most accessible ones, while the more remote spots are reached with a banka (traditional Philippine boat) in only a few minutes of sailing. They mainly consist of coral gardens and numerous dizzying drop-offs covered with colorful corals (staghorns, acropora tables, black coral…), beautiful anemones, large sponges, and immense gorgonians. There are also several beautiful caves, canyons, and cavities at several sites such as Tongo Point, Tuble reef, or Dolphin house. Keep your eyes open, you might find a turtle napping!
A paradise for underwater photographers
Photographers will find an inexhaustible source of inspiration with macro photography: pygmy seahorses in a gorgonian, pairs of mandarin fish, nudibranchs of all shapes and colors… But – and we speak from experience here – they will have to overcome their frustration when, equipped with a macro lens, a whale shark swims right under their noses! Because big creatures also love swimming near the coasts of Moalboal. Manta rays will occasionally join the party, as will turtles or whitetip sharks. You’ll also often encounter schools of anthias, and a few parrotfish…
Night dives in Moalboal offer you a unique spectacle and an immersion into a whole new world! With also beautiful underwater encounters among which gorgonocephalids, crustaceans, cuttlefish with nacreous reflections, or even a squid in open water, enough to bring back beautiful blackwater images. By day or night, photographers feel here like fish in water! Night dives are mainly organized at the site of Panagsama beach and around Pescador Island.
Pescador, the treasure island…
The islet of Pescador offers several interesting dive sites including magnificent drop-offs plunging steeply into the depths and a cave, Cathedral, which is bathed in great beams of light at certain times of the day.
It is also around this small island that the famous large school of sardines can regularly be found, which has made Moalboal so famous among divers worldwide. This ball composed of thousands of sardines has settled off these coasts and moves from one site to another, attracting all sorts of predators (sharks, trevallies, jacks…) that engage in frenzied hunts. A true sardine run made in the Philippines!
