Background: My boyfriend (BF) and I are budget-backpacking-scuba diving SEA for ~8 months (2/8 complete). Our goal is to see as much healthy hard coral in the Coral Triangle as possible. We brought all our own gear (excluding weights & tanks of course), including full 3mm wetsuits, which we carry in 75L backpacks. The prices listed are for two people, unless otherwise noted. Apologies if the report is too long!
Moalboal: (I thought it would be nice to include why/how we pick destinations on our trip.) Before Typhoon Odette (Dec 2021), Moalboal was known to have beautiful coral reefs, both on the fringing reef and also at Pescador Island. We knew that Moalboal got hit hard by the typhoon, but online reports/pictures were extremely inconsistent so we wanted to assess the damage for ourselves.
Day 0: Very early wakeup in Malapascua since we decided to transit Malapascua -> Cebu City -> Moalboal on the same day.
Sadly we missed the 7:00 ferry from Malapascua that we were aiming for (arrived at 7:08 at the port and they are very strict about the cut-off…). Again the same nonsense about a lack of passengers but we refused again and paid the standard 200P per person. Also again the (7:30) ferry didn’t leave until 8:00.
Once we arrived at Maya there was a bus already waiting at the port and it was, luckily, aircon! We left shortly before 9:00 (600P). Made it to Cebu Bus North Terminal around 13:30. Grabbed lunch in the SM mall next door and then took a Grab (189P) to Cebu Bus South Terminal. By now it was around 15:30 and we hopped on the next bus to Moalboal (Bato via Barili, 420P). We arrived in Moalboal late, shortly before 20:00. We ate dinner in the Jollibee (the normal bus stop for the town of Moalboal) and then took a tricycle (200P) into Panagsama. As a note, the owners of our accommodation told us that the tricycle would cost 200P but it took quite some bargaining to get down to that price.
The accommodation: We stayed in A&C Aquino’s Guesthouse and I honestly recommend it. It is tucked right next to Savedra but down a short alley so it’s private from the many tourists. It took less than 2 mins to exit the room and be in front of the dive shops/the beach where the sardine run was. We picked it for its cheap price (relative) and location but the rooms were very nice with strong aircon and space for hanging things to dry outside on the porch area. Breakfast was also included.
Only note is that the cottages/rooms seem newly constructed and our door locked us out of the room once as the doorknob malfunctioned. Luckily some construction guys were there and sawed (!) the doorknob off (at the accommodation manager’s request) and replaced it immediately.
The dive operation: We dove with Amigos, which is located right next to Savedra. The operation was pretty good. They were responsive on WhatsApp to any questions I had.
We began the days usually with the morning shore dive for the sardines. We showed up (6:45), set up our gear on our tanks, received a briefing from our DM (Aldrin, who stayed assigned to us the entire time we dove in Moalboal), and then walked directly onto the beach.
After the shore dive ended, the Amigos boat was parked on the shore so we would exit the water and directly climb onto the boat. The boat didn’t leave until 8:30 so there was some time to grab our bag from the shop, which we left in their lockers. The lockers didn’t lock but all the guests and some of the DMs used them. No one ever touched our bag.
We even received a boat briefing from one of the DMs. The boat then left, usually for Pescador Island (~15 mins ride). We would arrive at the dive site and then finish waiting out our SI.
After the Pescador dive, people ate bananas as a snack while we transited to the next site (a local one along the coastline). Coffee/tea/water was available. Transit time was short, so we always waited ~30+ mins for the SI. The DMs changed our tanks on the boat. After this second dive we rode back to the shop (arrived ~12:30).
On the days where we did the sardine run, this is where our day ended. But on our third day of diving, we did not do the sardine run and added on a third boat dive instead, which left at 13:30 and was also a local site along the coastline.
Tanks were a little short of 3000 PSI, between 2600-2900 PSI. We always hit 60 mins on the dives, though. Aldrin was a good guide and probably checked on us during the dive more often than any other place we’ve dove with so far.
Day 1:
Dive 1: Sardine Run
Max depth 30ft, 67 mins, min water temp 82F.
Easy shore entry as the Amigos shop is within 10m of the shoreline, directly in front of where the sardines are. I’m glad we started our dives early, shortly before 7:00, as there were no other divers (scuba or free) or snorkelers. The sardine run was a nice experience.
Dive 2: Pescador Island West (Cathedral)
Max depth 80ft, 64 mins, min water temp 83F.
The west side of Pescador was the “best” side (hard coral coverage wise) pre-typhoon. Unfortunately it is all gone now. When you drop down at the top of the reef (south side), it is 90% sand and bare rock with 10% coral recruits (young corals) of pocillopora. The walls during the dive were also quite barren.
Dive 3: Lo-Oc (also known as Dolphin House)
Max depth 73ft, 64 mins, min water temp 83F.
One of the remaining areas with some semblance of coral coverage at the top of the wall. There were scattered heads of branching porites, maybe 20-30% coverage for a small stretch. This is the second best remaining area of shallow corals in Moalboal.
Day 2:
Dive 1: Sardine Run
Max depth 35ft, 69 mins, min water temp 81F.
Same as the day before.
Dive 2: Pescador Island East
Max depth 96ft, 64 mins, min water temp 82F.
Same thoughts on where you drop in. Once you head east, for the first third of the dive, starting at 18m, there are very nice carnation corals (soft corals). Lots of good corals! The carnation corals set this wall apart from others. We actually preferred it over the walls at Apo Reef and Tubbataha because of this. However, once you hit the rubble slope this goes away.
Dive 3: Talisay
Max depth 81ft, 62 mins, min water temp 83F.
Only a small 10m portion at the top (~8m deep) has a very small patch of branching coral remaining. The wall had a decent showing of gorgonians, carnation corals, and black corals, but nothing like Pescador East. Best wall on the mainland though.
Day 3: Snorkel day. We walked ~10 mins down to a public accessway to the ocean behind Club Hari and snorkeled from there all the way back to where the sardine run is. It was right next to the Talisay dive site. Other than the decent patch described in the Talisay section, the coral and fish were abysmal if you’ve snorkeled at places like Coron, Apo Island, etc.
Day 4:
Dive 1: Pescador Island East
Max depth 100ft, 62 mins, min water temp 83F.
Same thoughts as before.
Dive 2: Tongo Point
Max depth 84ft, 63 mins, min water temp 83F.
Of the wall dives, the shallows were the worst here. The corals were absolutely obliterated in the first 10m. At depth, the corals were similar to Talisay, with small amounts of carnation corals and gorgonians.
Dive 3: Marine Sanctuary (also known as Umbrella Rock)
Max depth 77ft, 66 mins, min water temp 83F.
The corals were completely obliterated. This is where the small airplane used to be, which the typhoon has pushed into technical diving depths. Only one wing remains in recreational depths and you cannot even see the rest of the airplane anymore. We saw a small white tip reef shark sleeping under a rock.
Final Thoughts: The wide patches of reef above the walls (between 0-8m deep) are between 80 to 100% void of hard corals (due to Typhoon Odette). The only exceptions were the small patches (less than 10m long), where the corals were between 30-70% coverage and reminiscent of pre-typhoon conditions. If you want to see a healthy reef, I would not recommend Moalboal at all. The sardine run was nice, though, and there was nothing particularly wrong with the dives. Just not spectacular or the healthy hard coral we are searching for on our trip.
Moalboal: (I thought it would be nice to include why/how we pick destinations on our trip.) Before Typhoon Odette (Dec 2021), Moalboal was known to have beautiful coral reefs, both on the fringing reef and also at Pescador Island. We knew that Moalboal got hit hard by the typhoon, but online reports/pictures were extremely inconsistent so we wanted to assess the damage for ourselves.
Day 0: Very early wakeup in Malapascua since we decided to transit Malapascua -> Cebu City -> Moalboal on the same day.
Sadly we missed the 7:00 ferry from Malapascua that we were aiming for (arrived at 7:08 at the port and they are very strict about the cut-off…). Again the same nonsense about a lack of passengers but we refused again and paid the standard 200P per person. Also again the (7:30) ferry didn’t leave until 8:00.
Once we arrived at Maya there was a bus already waiting at the port and it was, luckily, aircon! We left shortly before 9:00 (600P). Made it to Cebu Bus North Terminal around 13:30. Grabbed lunch in the SM mall next door and then took a Grab (189P) to Cebu Bus South Terminal. By now it was around 15:30 and we hopped on the next bus to Moalboal (Bato via Barili, 420P). We arrived in Moalboal late, shortly before 20:00. We ate dinner in the Jollibee (the normal bus stop for the town of Moalboal) and then took a tricycle (200P) into Panagsama. As a note, the owners of our accommodation told us that the tricycle would cost 200P but it took quite some bargaining to get down to that price.
The accommodation: We stayed in A&C Aquino’s Guesthouse and I honestly recommend it. It is tucked right next to Savedra but down a short alley so it’s private from the many tourists. It took less than 2 mins to exit the room and be in front of the dive shops/the beach where the sardine run was. We picked it for its cheap price (relative) and location but the rooms were very nice with strong aircon and space for hanging things to dry outside on the porch area. Breakfast was also included.
Only note is that the cottages/rooms seem newly constructed and our door locked us out of the room once as the doorknob malfunctioned. Luckily some construction guys were there and sawed (!) the doorknob off (at the accommodation manager’s request) and replaced it immediately.
The dive operation: We dove with Amigos, which is located right next to Savedra. The operation was pretty good. They were responsive on WhatsApp to any questions I had.
We began the days usually with the morning shore dive for the sardines. We showed up (6:45), set up our gear on our tanks, received a briefing from our DM (Aldrin, who stayed assigned to us the entire time we dove in Moalboal), and then walked directly onto the beach.
After the shore dive ended, the Amigos boat was parked on the shore so we would exit the water and directly climb onto the boat. The boat didn’t leave until 8:30 so there was some time to grab our bag from the shop, which we left in their lockers. The lockers didn’t lock but all the guests and some of the DMs used them. No one ever touched our bag.
We even received a boat briefing from one of the DMs. The boat then left, usually for Pescador Island (~15 mins ride). We would arrive at the dive site and then finish waiting out our SI.
After the Pescador dive, people ate bananas as a snack while we transited to the next site (a local one along the coastline). Coffee/tea/water was available. Transit time was short, so we always waited ~30+ mins for the SI. The DMs changed our tanks on the boat. After this second dive we rode back to the shop (arrived ~12:30).
On the days where we did the sardine run, this is where our day ended. But on our third day of diving, we did not do the sardine run and added on a third boat dive instead, which left at 13:30 and was also a local site along the coastline.
Tanks were a little short of 3000 PSI, between 2600-2900 PSI. We always hit 60 mins on the dives, though. Aldrin was a good guide and probably checked on us during the dive more often than any other place we’ve dove with so far.
Day 1:
Dive 1: Sardine Run
Max depth 30ft, 67 mins, min water temp 82F.
Easy shore entry as the Amigos shop is within 10m of the shoreline, directly in front of where the sardines are. I’m glad we started our dives early, shortly before 7:00, as there were no other divers (scuba or free) or snorkelers. The sardine run was a nice experience.
Dive 2: Pescador Island West (Cathedral)
Max depth 80ft, 64 mins, min water temp 83F.
The west side of Pescador was the “best” side (hard coral coverage wise) pre-typhoon. Unfortunately it is all gone now. When you drop down at the top of the reef (south side), it is 90% sand and bare rock with 10% coral recruits (young corals) of pocillopora. The walls during the dive were also quite barren.
Dive 3: Lo-Oc (also known as Dolphin House)
Max depth 73ft, 64 mins, min water temp 83F.
One of the remaining areas with some semblance of coral coverage at the top of the wall. There were scattered heads of branching porites, maybe 20-30% coverage for a small stretch. This is the second best remaining area of shallow corals in Moalboal.
Day 2:
Dive 1: Sardine Run
Max depth 35ft, 69 mins, min water temp 81F.
Same as the day before.
Dive 2: Pescador Island East
Max depth 96ft, 64 mins, min water temp 82F.
Same thoughts on where you drop in. Once you head east, for the first third of the dive, starting at 18m, there are very nice carnation corals (soft corals). Lots of good corals! The carnation corals set this wall apart from others. We actually preferred it over the walls at Apo Reef and Tubbataha because of this. However, once you hit the rubble slope this goes away.
Dive 3: Talisay
Max depth 81ft, 62 mins, min water temp 83F.
Only a small 10m portion at the top (~8m deep) has a very small patch of branching coral remaining. The wall had a decent showing of gorgonians, carnation corals, and black corals, but nothing like Pescador East. Best wall on the mainland though.
Day 3: Snorkel day. We walked ~10 mins down to a public accessway to the ocean behind Club Hari and snorkeled from there all the way back to where the sardine run is. It was right next to the Talisay dive site. Other than the decent patch described in the Talisay section, the coral and fish were abysmal if you’ve snorkeled at places like Coron, Apo Island, etc.
Day 4:
Dive 1: Pescador Island East
Max depth 100ft, 62 mins, min water temp 83F.
Same thoughts as before.
Dive 2: Tongo Point
Max depth 84ft, 63 mins, min water temp 83F.
Of the wall dives, the shallows were the worst here. The corals were absolutely obliterated in the first 10m. At depth, the corals were similar to Talisay, with small amounts of carnation corals and gorgonians.
Dive 3: Marine Sanctuary (also known as Umbrella Rock)
Max depth 77ft, 66 mins, min water temp 83F.
The corals were completely obliterated. This is where the small airplane used to be, which the typhoon has pushed into technical diving depths. Only one wing remains in recreational depths and you cannot even see the rest of the airplane anymore. We saw a small white tip reef shark sleeping under a rock.
Final Thoughts: The wide patches of reef above the walls (between 0-8m deep) are between 80 to 100% void of hard corals (due to Typhoon Odette). The only exceptions were the small patches (less than 10m long), where the corals were between 30-70% coverage and reminiscent of pre-typhoon conditions. If you want to see a healthy reef, I would not recommend Moalboal at all. The sardine run was nice, though, and there was nothing particularly wrong with the dives. Just not spectacular or the healthy hard coral we are searching for on our trip.
