Moalboal, The Philippines - Day One

[Marriard]

I am way, way behind on getting my images through my workflow... I have been on three short dive trips since Moalboal and I have only done one of three diving days there.

Moalboal, for those who don't know it, is on the west coast of Cebu in The Philippines. You can fly directly to Cebu City or it is a short hop from Manila. It is then a 3 hour drive down to Moalboal.

Day one - I remember enjoying the dives and being pleased with the diving, however i don't remember being as happy as I was as I processed the first days images.

Here is a sample of some of the ones that appealed to me in the first pass through:

Elegant Squat Lobster - Allogalathea elegans

Decorator Spider Crab - Cyclocoeloma tuberculata

Orangutan Crab - Archaeus japonicus (Cropped as some of the background was blown out trying to get some decent detail in the crab)

Chromodorididae Nudibranch - Chromodoris kunei - floating down a coral reef head at night

Robust Ghost Pipefish - Solenostomus cyanopterus

Colonies of Mushroom Leather Corals - Sarcophyton sp.

Rigid Shrimpfish School - Centriscus scutatus

Small Scale Scorpionfish - Scorpaenopsis oxycephala

Enjoy,
M

 

[ssra30]

Wow, this is probably the best picture of Orangutan crab I ever saw.
Usually I just see a red fuzzy blob and could not really make much out of head or tail of the crab.

 

[calypsonick]

Great shots. The crispness is outstanding! I really like the sunball and razorfish, good job>

 

[SeaYoda]

I like the scorpionfish a lot. Nice pics.

 

[fpoole]

Great shots, any above water...
I was there a long time ago and loved it. Got there with a cold, so couldn't dive it, but the San Miguels were cheap and cold.. heheh... a real hidden paradise there.
Just wish I could have dove and now more so...
fun drip..

 

[jonix]

very nice pics indeed. thanks for sharing.

 

[gabyne]

I was there a long time ago and loved it.

I was also there, in 1998 - it was fantastic. Reefs were intact, walls were beautifully covered with hard and soft corals. However, I heard the reefs deteriorated a lot since then, maybe caused by El Nino in '98. What do you think about their condition?

Gaby

 

[Marriard]

I was also there, in 1998 - it was fantastic. Reefs were intact, walls were beautifully covered with hard and soft corals. However, I heard the reefs deteriorated a lot since then, maybe caused by El Nino in '98. What do you think about their condition?

Gaby

Reefs and small fish life are excellent and extremely healthy and in great shape in general. The sea fans are really big and so is the black coral 'forests'. However like a lot of The Philippines, the big fish are missing until you go way out and I had to go deep just to get a glimpse of a shark. If you hit a good vis week (and I did on this trip), it is great and you can dive all day with a wide angle lens and takes beautiful reef scenics.

But if you didn't hit good vis, Moalboal doesnt quite have the huge array of macro life that a Malapascua or an Anilao does so it is a little quieter than you maybe would like. Also you really have to push the local dive resorts to get into the water - I got them to 5 dives a day which was really two more than they wanted to really do.

Great thing with Moalboal is that you can fly into Cebu and be there in a couple of hours, so it is a great 2-3 day trip.

M

 

[gabyne]

Reefs and small fish life are excellent and extremely healthy and in great shape in general. The sea fans are really big and so is the black coral 'forests'.

Good to hear! I thought the reefs are gone... We didn't have big fish back in '98 either - they seem to have long gone before (dynamite, extensive fishing...?)

However, I remember some sharks at Sunken Island and Pescador Island - both great spots!

Gaby

 

[Spoon]

Reefs and small fish life are excellent and extremely healthy and in great shape in general. The sea fans are really big and so is the black coral 'forests'. However like a lot of The Philippines, the big fish are missing until you go way out and I had to go deep just to get a glimpse of a shark. If you hit a good vis week (and I did on this trip), it is great and you can dive all day with a wide angle lens and takes beautiful reef scenics.

But if you didn't hit good vis, Moalboal doesnt quite have the huge array of macro life that a Malapascua or an Anilao does so it is a little quieter than you maybe would like. Also you really have to push the local dive resorts to get into the water - I got them to 5 dives a day which was really two more than they wanted to really do.

Great thing with Moalboal is that you can fly into Cebu and be there in a couple of hours, so it is a great 2-3 day trip.

M

you mean to tel me anilao has better macro life? ive been doing 99% of my diving here and honestly its getting old for me.