I had a brief 3 day dive holiday in Moalpoal, Philippines to break up a 2 month secondment in Hong Kong. I posted a review on Tripadvisor relating to the accommodation (Turtle Bay Dive Resort, my review is HERE if anyone is interested). For SB I'll just focus on the diving.
Overall I thought the diving in Moalboal was good, but not spectacular. It tended towards the macro stuff, whereas I tend to prefer wrecks and big pelagics. Oh well, do my research better next time.
For me the dives basically broke into two: Pescador Island, and the rest. For "the rest" you are usually diving within 100 yards of shore, where the reef descends from about 12 feet fairly sharply to a dropoff, which went vertically to (I am told) about 270 feet. The depth of edge of the drop off varied, but it was never below 100 feet on any dive that I did. Standard practice was to get dropped off one a mooring bouy, go down to 90 feet or so, slowly work your way shallower to the next mooring bouy, and then have an extremely long safety stop swimming around in the shallows. There was no current I ever detected on the "shore" dives, and water was generally very clear and warm (even in November). The marine life, as noted above, was heavily focused on macro stuff. And turtles. Lots and lots of turtles. Dives tended to be very long by recreational standards - my shortest dive was 56 minutes, my longest 1 hour, 12 minutes. Most were just over an hour.
Pescador island was the highlight spot for Moalboal. It really was a small islet with an absolutely sheer wall all around. However, because it was limestone it was punctuated with more arches, ledges and caverns which made it more interesting. And because it was further from the mainland, it had far more (and bigger) fish. The north side of hte island is home to a fairly perpetual (and huge) school of baitfish which brings in the pelagics. It also had currents (usually mild, but one day we had ripping currents - an experience which I posted on separately HERE) and slightly lower viz. Dives were still conducted in the same way - you got dropped at one mooring and swam around to the next where you got picked up.
The resort dive operator was very competent and professional (and scrupulously clean). Nitrox was available but you had to pay a surcharge. All the dive guides were Filipino, and they had an amazing knack for spotting tiny macro life.
Short summary: I enjoyed my break there, although to be entirely honest I don't think I'd be in a hurry to rush back. I am just not a macro guy. I suspect next time I come to Cebu (and I am sure I will come again), I will head north to Malapascua (Thresher Sharks) or east for Sogod Bay (Whale Sharks).
Some pictures (bit rough, not Photoshopped yet) shown to give a flavour.
Overall I thought the diving in Moalboal was good, but not spectacular. It tended towards the macro stuff, whereas I tend to prefer wrecks and big pelagics. Oh well, do my research better next time.
For me the dives basically broke into two: Pescador Island, and the rest. For "the rest" you are usually diving within 100 yards of shore, where the reef descends from about 12 feet fairly sharply to a dropoff, which went vertically to (I am told) about 270 feet. The depth of edge of the drop off varied, but it was never below 100 feet on any dive that I did. Standard practice was to get dropped off one a mooring bouy, go down to 90 feet or so, slowly work your way shallower to the next mooring bouy, and then have an extremely long safety stop swimming around in the shallows. There was no current I ever detected on the "shore" dives, and water was generally very clear and warm (even in November). The marine life, as noted above, was heavily focused on macro stuff. And turtles. Lots and lots of turtles. Dives tended to be very long by recreational standards - my shortest dive was 56 minutes, my longest 1 hour, 12 minutes. Most were just over an hour.
Pescador island was the highlight spot for Moalboal. It really was a small islet with an absolutely sheer wall all around. However, because it was limestone it was punctuated with more arches, ledges and caverns which made it more interesting. And because it was further from the mainland, it had far more (and bigger) fish. The north side of hte island is home to a fairly perpetual (and huge) school of baitfish which brings in the pelagics. It also had currents (usually mild, but one day we had ripping currents - an experience which I posted on separately HERE) and slightly lower viz. Dives were still conducted in the same way - you got dropped at one mooring and swam around to the next where you got picked up.
The resort dive operator was very competent and professional (and scrupulously clean). Nitrox was available but you had to pay a surcharge. All the dive guides were Filipino, and they had an amazing knack for spotting tiny macro life.
Short summary: I enjoyed my break there, although to be entirely honest I don't think I'd be in a hurry to rush back. I am just not a macro guy. I suspect next time I come to Cebu (and I am sure I will come again), I will head north to Malapascua (Thresher Sharks) or east for Sogod Bay (Whale Sharks).
Some pictures (bit rough, not Photoshopped yet) shown to give a flavour.
