After some advice from this forum and elsewhere, I elected to go to split my Cebu trip into two parts, the first being 4 days at Moalboal and the last 4 being in Panglao.
Given the challenges in booking a place around Moalboal, I went with the easiest one, which was Savedra. Theyve made reservations for me and arranged transfers at 4am both ways, which was very helpful. I dont really feel like negotiating with Cabbies at that hour, and not having slept yet. Ive done 8 dives here in Moalboal, including a nitrox course, which was great and adds a great deal of value to someone who likes to do many dives per day.
Stayed at Sole E Mare, which is decent, though simple. A nice balcony with a view of the water, but the beds werent comfortable and you get a sheet only and no blanket. The water is hot and the ac is cold, but as far as value goes, Im not sure that its the best.
I must say though, that the diving itself was mediocre. Part of this can be attributed to the weather and poor vis, but I really didnt see anything exceptional. I felt like it was old hat and this was all stuff I could see in Indonesia or somewhere else. Its partly my fault, by using Savedra, I knew that I was going to get bigger groups, but at times it felt like there wasnt enough dive site for the divers. Also for all the macro stuff available, none of it was in shrimp form! I dont think I saw one. This is strange to me, as my last set of dives(elsewhere) felt like every crevice had a pair of boxer shrimp under it. No morays either. I was pleased at the opportunity to use the camera again, and did get to see a big honker of a frogfish, and a couple of different types of turtles. Hopefully Alona will be better
Part two to come...
Some pics:
The first(and only) non-rainy day:
Biggest frogfish Ive seen:
This guy looks like hes threatening to throw himself off a bridge!
Everyones favorite underwater photo subject:
Ever wonder where highlighter ink comes from?
Barrel sponges have always been beautiful to me, and these were big ones.
Given the challenges in booking a place around Moalboal, I went with the easiest one, which was Savedra. Theyve made reservations for me and arranged transfers at 4am both ways, which was very helpful. I dont really feel like negotiating with Cabbies at that hour, and not having slept yet. Ive done 8 dives here in Moalboal, including a nitrox course, which was great and adds a great deal of value to someone who likes to do many dives per day.
Stayed at Sole E Mare, which is decent, though simple. A nice balcony with a view of the water, but the beds werent comfortable and you get a sheet only and no blanket. The water is hot and the ac is cold, but as far as value goes, Im not sure that its the best.
I must say though, that the diving itself was mediocre. Part of this can be attributed to the weather and poor vis, but I really didnt see anything exceptional. I felt like it was old hat and this was all stuff I could see in Indonesia or somewhere else. Its partly my fault, by using Savedra, I knew that I was going to get bigger groups, but at times it felt like there wasnt enough dive site for the divers. Also for all the macro stuff available, none of it was in shrimp form! I dont think I saw one. This is strange to me, as my last set of dives(elsewhere) felt like every crevice had a pair of boxer shrimp under it. No morays either. I was pleased at the opportunity to use the camera again, and did get to see a big honker of a frogfish, and a couple of different types of turtles. Hopefully Alona will be better
Part two to come...
Some pics:
The first(and only) non-rainy day:
Biggest frogfish Ive seen:
This guy looks like hes threatening to throw himself off a bridge!
Everyones favorite underwater photo subject:
Ever wonder where highlighter ink comes from?
Barrel sponges have always been beautiful to me, and these were big ones.
