My first trip report. I'm an AOW diver with about 50 dives and spent a week on Cebu island diving Moalboal (1 day) and Malapascua island (3 days). Itinerary was slightly affected by the 9/30 earthquake but everything turned out fine at the end. I will share my diving experience, information on public transportation in case anyone finds it useful, and photos.
Day 1: Landed in Cebu city in the morning. Bus to north bus terminal, jeepney to south bus terminal, ceres bus to moalboal, motorcycle ride to hotel near Moalboal beach (6pm).
Day 2: Booked 3 dives with Neptune Diving Resort for 4600pesos including equipment. Departures were 9am Dolphin House, 11:30am Kasai point and 3pm Sardine Run. We went out on boat and came back to rest after each dive. Staff handled all the gear carrying and guests didn't need to lift a finger. It is a solid shop and they also have rooms.
3 dives were all local wall dives and my main interest was the sardine run. Unfortunately visibility wasn't great on the day (10m). It was still stunning to see the sardines moving back and forth constantly above us as we moved along the wall in one direction. Also saw a white/greyish fish perfectly camouflaged with the coral and a cool colorful clam(?).
Returned to Cebu city via minivan in the evening.
Day 3: Left early in the morning in minivan from north bus termimal for maya point and planned to arrive on Malapascua island in the afternoon. HOWEVER, the traffic was really bad because of earthquake relief efforts and the 4hr ride became 12hr. Had to stay overnight at maya port.
Day 4: In order not to lose any diving time, caught the first ferry in the morning (7am) and headed straight to the diveshop. I booked with Atlas Divers and they offer a 9 dive package for a competitive 15000pesos including trips to Gato island and the thresher sharks. Equipement is also included. They don't have the fanciest boats but DMs/staff are all very friendly and helpful. They serve lunch on normal morning departure and breakfast and lunch for shark diving day (6am). DM to divers ratio was 1 to 2 for my entire 3 days with them.
On the first day we did local dives at Lapus Lapus, Deep Slope and Evo Reef. The current was really strong and I was nearly exhausted. I think on the 3rd dive we had to swim against the current to reach that manmade concrete shark sculpture. DM noticed I was struggling and lent me his pointer stick so that I could anchor myself in the sand bottom and rest a bit. It was like underwater hiking lol. A lot of nice soft corals there but not that many fish. Saw a giant turtle hiding inside a cave, a cuttlefish(?) and lots of sea urchins that emit light and giant sea cucumbers.
I also did a half sunset/half night dive. The goal was to see mandarin fish mate but we didn't spot any. It was still cool though because it was my first night dive experience and it was not as scary as I had imagined.
Stayed at Aabana beach resort next to Evolution on the east side of the island and it was very quiet and lovely at night. Saw locals cooking, kids playing on the beach, dogs and roosters resting nearby, moon lighting up a small area of ocean surface.
Day 5: Boat left at 6am for Monad Shoal/Kimud Shoal. Visibilty was great (15-20m). First dive was at Monad Shoal. Didn't see any tiger shark or white tip shark. Saw mantis shrimps. The next 2 dives were at Kimud Shoal. The threshers sharks were a majestic sight and I couldn't get enough. They probably came and went 4-5 times on each dive and they got really close to me. Additionally we saw a yellow frogfish.
Day 6: Because Gato island was closed due to the risk of possible aftershocks, I did Monad Shoal/Kimud Shoal again. Still didn't see any tiger shark or white tip shark. Saw a lot of thresher sharks again and took a good 2 minute video of one circling right in front of me. Saw the same mantis shrimps and frogfish from the day before lol and an octopus outside its home and pink corals.
Left the island in the afternoon and took the bus back to cebu city. The flight was next day at noon.
Day 7: Flew back home from Cebu to Shanghai via Manila.
Summary of public transportation I used on this trip:
Cebu airport to north bus terminal: 50pesos
Jeepney from north bus terminal to south bus terminal: 15pesos
Ceres bus from south bus terminal to Moalboal: 210pesos, 4 hours in normal traffic
Motorbike ride from Moalboal bus stop to beach: 100pesos (which is the maximum they are allowed to charge)
Shared minivan from Moalboal to Cebu south bus terminal: 180pesos, 3 hours in light traffic in the evening
Shared minivan from Cebu north bus terminal to maya point: 350pesos
Ferry from maya point to Malapascua: 200pesos+150pesos environmental fee. First public ferry departure is 7am.
Ferry from Malapascua to maya point: paid 300pesos because ferry was not full but we wanted to leave immediately. Last public ferry departure is 5pm.
Ceres bus from maya point to Cebu north bus terminal: 320pesos, 5 hours in normal traffic.
For my next trip I'm thinking Bohol or Dumaguete or Coron.
Day 1: Landed in Cebu city in the morning. Bus to north bus terminal, jeepney to south bus terminal, ceres bus to moalboal, motorcycle ride to hotel near Moalboal beach (6pm).
Day 2: Booked 3 dives with Neptune Diving Resort for 4600pesos including equipment. Departures were 9am Dolphin House, 11:30am Kasai point and 3pm Sardine Run. We went out on boat and came back to rest after each dive. Staff handled all the gear carrying and guests didn't need to lift a finger. It is a solid shop and they also have rooms.
3 dives were all local wall dives and my main interest was the sardine run. Unfortunately visibility wasn't great on the day (10m). It was still stunning to see the sardines moving back and forth constantly above us as we moved along the wall in one direction. Also saw a white/greyish fish perfectly camouflaged with the coral and a cool colorful clam(?).
Returned to Cebu city via minivan in the evening.
Day 3: Left early in the morning in minivan from north bus termimal for maya point and planned to arrive on Malapascua island in the afternoon. HOWEVER, the traffic was really bad because of earthquake relief efforts and the 4hr ride became 12hr. Had to stay overnight at maya port.
Day 4: In order not to lose any diving time, caught the first ferry in the morning (7am) and headed straight to the diveshop. I booked with Atlas Divers and they offer a 9 dive package for a competitive 15000pesos including trips to Gato island and the thresher sharks. Equipement is also included. They don't have the fanciest boats but DMs/staff are all very friendly and helpful. They serve lunch on normal morning departure and breakfast and lunch for shark diving day (6am). DM to divers ratio was 1 to 2 for my entire 3 days with them.
On the first day we did local dives at Lapus Lapus, Deep Slope and Evo Reef. The current was really strong and I was nearly exhausted. I think on the 3rd dive we had to swim against the current to reach that manmade concrete shark sculpture. DM noticed I was struggling and lent me his pointer stick so that I could anchor myself in the sand bottom and rest a bit. It was like underwater hiking lol. A lot of nice soft corals there but not that many fish. Saw a giant turtle hiding inside a cave, a cuttlefish(?) and lots of sea urchins that emit light and giant sea cucumbers.
I also did a half sunset/half night dive. The goal was to see mandarin fish mate but we didn't spot any. It was still cool though because it was my first night dive experience and it was not as scary as I had imagined.
Stayed at Aabana beach resort next to Evolution on the east side of the island and it was very quiet and lovely at night. Saw locals cooking, kids playing on the beach, dogs and roosters resting nearby, moon lighting up a small area of ocean surface.
Day 5: Boat left at 6am for Monad Shoal/Kimud Shoal. Visibilty was great (15-20m). First dive was at Monad Shoal. Didn't see any tiger shark or white tip shark. Saw mantis shrimps. The next 2 dives were at Kimud Shoal. The threshers sharks were a majestic sight and I couldn't get enough. They probably came and went 4-5 times on each dive and they got really close to me. Additionally we saw a yellow frogfish.
Day 6: Because Gato island was closed due to the risk of possible aftershocks, I did Monad Shoal/Kimud Shoal again. Still didn't see any tiger shark or white tip shark. Saw a lot of thresher sharks again and took a good 2 minute video of one circling right in front of me. Saw the same mantis shrimps and frogfish from the day before lol and an octopus outside its home and pink corals.
Left the island in the afternoon and took the bus back to cebu city. The flight was next day at noon.
Day 7: Flew back home from Cebu to Shanghai via Manila.
Summary of public transportation I used on this trip:
Cebu airport to north bus terminal: 50pesos
Jeepney from north bus terminal to south bus terminal: 15pesos
Ceres bus from south bus terminal to Moalboal: 210pesos, 4 hours in normal traffic
Motorbike ride from Moalboal bus stop to beach: 100pesos (which is the maximum they are allowed to charge)
Shared minivan from Moalboal to Cebu south bus terminal: 180pesos, 3 hours in light traffic in the evening
Shared minivan from Cebu north bus terminal to maya point: 350pesos
Ferry from maya point to Malapascua: 200pesos+150pesos environmental fee. First public ferry departure is 7am.
Ferry from Malapascua to maya point: paid 300pesos because ferry was not full but we wanted to leave immediately. Last public ferry departure is 5pm.
Ceres bus from maya point to Cebu north bus terminal: 320pesos, 5 hours in normal traffic.
For my next trip I'm thinking Bohol or Dumaguete or Coron.
