Report from Diving trip in Moalboal

Just got back from Cebu in Philippines, diving at Moalboal, down the south west coast of Cebu – June 2007 – low/rainy season in Philippines.

The diving was a little better than I’d come to expect from the Philippines. The diving is mainly wall dives down to over 50 metres, with the shallows being fringing reefs close to shore. All dive sites are 10-15 minutes boat ride only. The coral health at dive sites such as Tongo Sanctuary was excellent, and the coral colours and diversity at White Beach was second to none. Pescador Island is supposedly the flagship dive site, with stronger currents, the chance of seeing pelagics, and a very nice cavern. Whale sharks supposedly make regular appearances here too.

However, when I dive there were more fishing boats than fish. Indeed, how can one expect to see big fish action or large quantities of fish, when there are twenty fishing boats sharing a dive site the size of a rocky outcrop? The fish life was the disappointing aspect to diving here. The largest fish one regularly encounters is a parrotfish (no, not a bumphead, but a normal sized one!). This I have come to expect from diving in the Philippines, where the sheer weight of human numbers and fishermen, means that the seas are raped down to their limits at all times.

Still, I must say that the coral life does make up for the lack of fish to some degree. The locals are trying to change the habits of their culture and have declared two sanctuaries where fishing is prohibited – Tongo and Ronda Sanctuaries – I have never seen smaller marine sanctuaries in the whole of my life (max 100 metres long), so it is unlikely that this initiative will make any difference at all. Still, a step in the right direction, I suppose.

I dived with Neptune Divers and they proved to be pretty average. I was their only customer so several of the dive centres pool their customers and go out on the same boat. This is a good idea, as it saves unnecessary fuel use in low season, but it does mean that you dive with more divers than perhaps you had imagined. Prices are US$ 20 per dive. The boat is a typical Philippino bangka, with rubberised flooring. It seems designed for Asian guests, as there are no seats except those on the floor. Divers kit up and don their scuba units whilst sitting on the floor, which makes standing up again impossible, unless you are Asian of course! There were no life jackets on board, nor any oxygen, nor any boat briefings. Dive briefings were available on request, it seems. For a PADI 5 Star IDC Centre, this is some thing to be expected, as PADI conduct no third party verification of their centres’ standards.

As for Moalboal itself, well apart from the many dive centres, there is an adventure centre which offers river climbing, kloofing (canyoning), mountain biking, horse riding etc. They seemed a reasonable outfit and the trip was good fun, but again don’t expect the same safety standards – there were no lifejackets provided for the river nor safety helmets – something that would be illegal in most developed and many developing countries.

There is no beach in the central shore area at Moalboal. The only beach is at White Beach, a kilometre to the north. This looked quite nice when viewed from the dive boat, but I do not know anything about the accommodation there. I stayed at Cabana in the centre, which was US$ 50 per night. It has okay seaviews, and cable TV with air-con, shared pool, no internet - an okay resort, if a little overpriced by SE Asian standards.

During my visit in low season, there was perhaps twenty ‘western’ divers in town. Apparently in high season it gets very busy and there are several music / pool bars to hang around at. The dining at Moalboal was surprisingly good. After gotten used to the appalling menu choices, and cooking abilities at all other places that I have visited in Philippines, it was a pleasant surprise to find a restaurant that specialises in Indian, Thai and Indonesian cooking, including vegetarian and vegan options. Too many times have I left restaurants in the Philippines, totally disgusted by the American-inspired junk food menu options, and atrocious chef abilities. This is one of the biggest reasons for not travelling to Philippines, along with the pollution, smog, incessant noise and filth from overpopulated islands. Moalboal has these too.

Overall, I’d say that if you are planning a trip to the Philippines and diving in Cebu, Moalboal is worth visiting. However, if you are looking for a quiet piece of untouched beach paradise, go to another country.