typhoon damage in cebu phillipines particularly moalboal

[yogavnture]

hello does any one know why none of the dive shops are posting information of reef damage from the recent typhoon. do typhoons do big damage to reefs. its been over a week and none of the dive shops in moalboal are posting any information at all regarding damage to reefs. one post did surface saying that pescador island the reef has been completely destroyed. could that be accurate, or does someone just say that for some particular gain. ? can a reef be completly destroyed by typhoon. im skeptical...............cebu city got it worse than moalboal but isnt some diving occurring in cebu city? why is no information about the condition of dive sites beiing released? possibly the dive shops took alot of phyical damage to their premises and they just havent got around to it yet?

 

[D_Fresh]

Moalboal is still without electricity and cellular communications as far as I can tell. I have family in Sibonga, about a 1 hour drive ENE from Moalboal. Considering that the path of the typhoon was nearly directly over Sibonga and Moalboal, they're likely much too focused on other tasks at hand (on land).

I do not know how the dive operators fared in Moalboal, but in other dive areas, like Bohol, most of their dive boats were destroyed......

Edit to add: While I don't have any first hand knowledge of the reef conditions there, and I haven't seen any comprehensive reports yet, it is quite possible for reefs to be completely destroyed by typhoons. One of my favorite dive locations just north of the Mabini peninsula (Anilao) had their reef almost entirely destroyed during Typhoon Goni (Rolly). Large boulders below the surface get dislodged in the violent surf and roll back and forth over the corals.... They were a Giant Clam nursery and had a large population, most of which was lost, and the topography changed enough that they have not yet resumed the clam nursery operations. The reef is coming back though, just takes time. That's just how nature does it.....

So yes, it's quite possible, but again, will need to wait (maybe quite some time) for any solid updates on the reefs in/near Moalboal.

 

[Centrals]

hello does any one know why none of the dive shops are posting information of reef damage from the recent typhoon. do typhoons do big damage to reefs.

It is the least concern to everyone in the area.
The immediate issue is repairing the damage and get life back to normal as soon as possible.
"Yolanda" caused devastating destruction in Tacloban several yrs ago. Same applied to Malapascua. And what happened since then?
Natural disaster occurs everywhere. Remember the tsunami in 2004?

 

[explore_DMC]

I was in Moalboal in December 2019 when one hit Malapascua. We went to Malapascua a few days later and they were just getting the power back on...so it took some time. Some of the sites were considerably damaged by that typhoon. It was really shocking to see the damage but reefs at considerable depth can still be damaged by storms.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Pescador island off Moalboal is mainley vertical down to around 90 feet and the reef keeps going down many areas far below that. Hopefully that helped protect if from heavy objects rolling around.

Id love to find out if the Dolphin Resort in Moalboal is alright. That place is heaven on earth and they also have their own reef that you walk out to on a small cement walkway. They have feather starfish there that float around in the water. Pretty amazing creatures that look like gigantic spiders in the water.

 

[Rickk]

I am in Moalboal and was here during the storm.

Lots of damage, houses destroyed power was off several weeks, we were dark 29 days, other places locally still not restored.

Most of the dive boats were destroyed. Only one belonging to Cebu Dive Center is whole but for other reasons is in dry dock. Some of the is;land hopping boats are available for use so I have had a couple boat dives.

Much of the waterfront at Pagasama was damaged. Chili Bar badly damaged and from there north to at lease Cebu Dive Centre were badly damaged.

Cebu Dive Center was destroyed. They lost all the tanks, not sure if they will rebuild there or elsewhere, but I have been told that they will reopen soon.

The reef took a lot of damage , especially in the shallower parts. The storm hit at high tide which protected the reef somewhat but increased the damage on shore.

The airplane which was at 20 some m was moved over the drop off and is now at about 60 m. Pescador Island is closed to all diving and island hopping tours for at least 3 months.

Lots of debris in many places underwater.

There is a push to remove all structures from Chili Bar to the north to allow a beach to resume and to open up the area. Yet to be seen how this goes.

 

[Centrals]

Any divers arrived from aboard or anywhere?

 

[dumpsterpurrs]

Any recent update from Moalboal? I'll be in Panglao for a Tec course next month, then I'll have a few days to spare. Trying to decide between Moalboal and Siquijor+Dauin.

 

[Searcaigh]

Dauin and Dumagette were hit last month by a severe storm and we felt the side effects in North Sulawesi.

On the island of Leyte though they had landslides killing more than 100.

 

[Centrals]

Dauin and Dumagette were hit last month by a severe storm and we felt the side effects in North Sulawesi.

On the island of Leyte though they had landslides killing more than 100.

Did not realize that.
Fact of life for those living in the country.