Malapascual and Moalboal

[PeterVV]

My girlfriend and I are going to Cebu for a couple of weeks in April next year. From reading the experiences here we have decided to go to Malapascua and Moalboal but we have a few questions.

- Where to stay? It does not have to be super budget or expensive but somewhere in the middle or above. Quality of diving is top priority but we would like to live a fairly nice place.

- What will the water temperature be like in April and what suit to bring? I get cold easily and prefer to stay quite warm. I can see that people have mentioned 29C but is that also the same at depth?

Thanks

 

[Centrals]

Malapascua: Evolution but if you need a swimming pool then...no idea.
Moalboal: Dive with Nelson and stay at Eve's Kiosk(next door). There is NO beach along that stretch of land.
3mm full suit, 5mm full suit, tropical dry suit, shortie, broad shorts with t-shirt etc etc. Thermal protection is really difficult to suggest, we all have different tolerence to coldness. I normally dive with multi-layers.

 

[Mucksavage]

Water will be 28 to 29 in April and maybe in some places in Malapascua it might be 27 at depth. All in all it is a pretty great and hot time in the Philippines. For the Thresher Shark dive in Malapascua you tend to stay quite still for 25 to 50 (nitrox) minutes so a hooded vest sounds like an good extra layer for you. You can also expect to do a few blue water Hammerhead dives at that time of year.There are lots of places in both locations that will meet your needs, of course Evolution is one top option for Malapascua! In Moalboal other good options from the one mentioned might be Savedra, Turtle Bay, Magic Island, Kasai Village etc.April is a very busy time in the Philippines and certainly on Malapascua so worth booking early so get what you want. You will have a great trip!

 

[Ben_ca]

+1 for Evolution.

 

[StirlingDiver]

Don't know about Malapascua, but for Moalboal, I stay at Nido's Garden and dive with Blue Abyss. Nido's is nice, but it doesn't have a pool or onsite restaurant. Last time I was there it was about 1000 pesos a night. If you want a pool etc, you could try Marcosa's just down the road from Nido's. Both are really close to Blue Abyss. This part of the "beach" is quiet, but it has a range of nice places to eat and drink and it's only a couple of minutes walk to the main part of Panagsama Beach.

Blue Abyss is a very well run operation and has a pretty good house reef. You'll find the dive guides very knowledgeable. They have a very good boat and crew, too.

Re water temperature, it's likely to be 28 to 29C. I dive without a wet suit at these temperatures and was very surprised that the temperature at 40m was almost the same as in the shallows. That was in July, though, not April.

 

[PeterVV]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Makes booking a lot easier.

 

[klausi]

27-28 in April, it does not get much colder above 50 meters. Malapascua, definitely Evolution. Love the place. Moalboal: I'd like to invite you to dive with us at Savedra. We do fun dives 3-4x a day, but if you feel like more we also offer tech, photo courses, marine bio workshops, free diving ....

 

[marijev]

at the risk of getting boring: evolution. great for staying, best for diving.
and if they don't have place for you, book your dives with them and they can help you to arrange a place to stay nearby.

 

[critterdiver]

For Malapascua theres a new place called buena vida, although its not directly by the beach, but nice place. Also stayed once in Ocean Vida Beach Resort and did great dives with Sea Explorers. Had a great time at the resort especialy during sunset by the beach with the big pillows.

 

[Divebooker.com]

There are several recommended facilities in Malapascua and Moalboal which can offer both affordable accommodation and diving options (please follow the links).


As for water temperatures, basically, May is the warmest month in the area with April being quite close to that as well, so 28-29C is guaranteed. Usually, a shorty is more than enough, but since you are fond of warmth, bring a 3mm full wetsuit with you just in case.