Moalboal: Dive Sites Panagsama 1 & 2 – These sites are home to the famous sardine run, where millions of sardines school close to shore every day.
Video taken: September 2025

Moalboal, Cebu: Located on the western side of Cebu island, facing directly towards Negros and siting on the Tanon Strait is home to Pescador Island and the coral reefs of the peninsula.
Images taken: September 2025

Diving in Moalboal & Pescador Island – What to Expect in 2026

Today, Moalboal remains one of the Central Visayas’ most recognisable dive destinations, offering more than 17 established dive sites along its peninsula and additional walls and caves at nearby Pescador Island. Easy access from Cebu City, combined with onward routes to Dauin and Panglao, has long made Moalboal a natural stop on regional dive itineraries. The area is best known for its world-famous sardine run, visible just offshore.

However, the wider diving experience here has changed in recent years following the impact of Super Typhoon Odette in December 2021. This guide looks at what diving in Moalboal is really like today, what has recovered, what has not, and whether it still earns its place on a Philippine dive route.

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Table of Contents

Click a topic below to jump directly to that section of the guide.

1.Super Typhoon Odette

2.Moalboal Road to Recovery

3.Dive Map

4.Diving Highlights

5.Best Time to Dive

6.Reaching Moalboal

7.Where to Stay

8.Frequently Asked Questions

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If you’d like to get a better feel for the dive sites across the Central Visayas, I share short, real-world dive clips on my YouTube channel.

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These three hubs form the backbone of the site — covering long-term living in the Philippines, diving across the country, and the social context that shapes everyday life. Alongside them, you’ll also find selected dive guides from the Central Visayas, highlighting some of the region’s most accessible and rewarding islands, with practical insight into what the diving is really like on the ground.

Super Typhoon Odette – Made Landfall December 16th 2021. Over two days the storm affected more than 10 million Filipinos and caused widespread damage to coastal environments.
Stock Images | Animation Created By JH: 2025

Super Typhoon Odette

On December 16, 2021, Super Typhoon Odette (international name Rai) made its first landfall on Siargao Island before moving westward across the central Philippines over the following two days. The storm brought wind gusts of up to 260 km/h and affected more than 10 million people nationwide. Around 7 million individuals required humanitarian support, with an estimated 2.4 million needing urgent assistance.

Moalboal lay directly in the path of the typhoon and suffered severe damage to its community, local businesses, and coastal environment. In a town where tourism — and diving in particular — underpins much of the local economy, Odette’s destruction was a major setback.

During my visit to Moalboal, I spoke with many people about the event — from tricycle drivers to hotel staff and dive boat crews — and their stories carried the same message of shock at the typhoon’s intensity. One dive master summed it up vividly when he told me, “This was no normal wind. People had to walk like dogs,” describing how the force of the storm was so strong they had to crouch low to the ground just to move forward.

Moalboal Reef – Road to Recovery

Marine recovery after Typhoon Odette began with the temporary closure of Pescador Island, giving the reefs a chance to rest while early restoration work took hold. The Cebu Provincial Government and the Department of Tourism – Central Visayas coordinated coral planting projects to help rebuild reef structure, while local and visiting divers contributed through a Coral Aggregation Program, providing hands-on support. Institutions in the area also carried out wildlife rescue efforts, including turtle protection, as part of broader reef recovery work.

To this day, marine recovery continues both at Pescador Island and along the peninsular coastline. I found that shallow, sloping coral shelves down to around 10 metres showed very heavy scouring, with little to no visible recovery. At the wall drop-offs, however, beautiful soft and hard corals could still be seen at most sites, with clear signs of regrowth. The walls showed some storm impact, but not to a significant degree, largely due to their depth.

So is it time to dive Moalboal? In the words of our hotel manager, "people are starting to come back." I really enjoyed the diving here — it is generally a beautiful place to spend time. Pescador Island has some great structure, beautiful sea fans, and big caves to explore. For me, the peninsular coastline offered good walls and a mix of marine life, and of course the main attraction is still there in the millions: the Moalboal sardine run.

Dive Map – Moalboal & Pescador Island

The map highlights the main transport hubs — Cebu, Tagbilaran, and Panglao Airport — as well as a selection of dive sites around the Moalboal peninsula and Pescador Island.

Moalboal & Pescador Island: Dive Site Map - Click the map pins for location snippets
Map Source: John Hawkins - Leaflet - 2025

Pescador Island – Just a short boat ride offshore, the island is ringed by a very narrow coral shelf that drops into a vertical wall down to 35m. Highlights include Cathedral Cave and beautiful fan corals in the deeper part of the wall.
Video taken: September 2025

Diving Highlights & Final Thoughts – Moalboal & Pescador Island

Sardine Run

I’ve spoken to dive shop owners and dive masters who operate out of Panglao, and the conversation always goes the same way when you mention the Moalboal sardine run: “Well, we have sardines here too.” In part that’s true — there are sardines directly off Alona Beach and at Napaling Reef. But nothing really prepares you for the spectacle at Moalboal. They gather here in their millions, and if you catch them on a clear day with sunlight streaming down through the water, it’s very hard to beat.

Pescador Island

I really like this site — every time I come here I see something new. You can cover the whole island perimeter in two dives, explore the Cathedral Cave, and follow the vertical walls around. There are some truly beautiful coral structures deeper down that stand out when you put a light on them. The macro life is excellent too — make sure you have a spotter with keen eyes — and I almost always see giant frogfish here. Add in the occasional turtle hidden in the wall ledges, then for me its good diving.

Final Thoughts

The Moalboal and Pescador Island reefs are still recovering from the impact of Super Typhoon Odette. In all the areas I dived, including Pescador Island, coral shelves down to around 10 meters were scoured clean, with little to no sign of regrowth — and that’s the hard truth. Along the wall drop-off, you can still find isolated patches of beautiful coral gardens that once stretched all the way to the shoreline.

So what does this mean for Moalboal? In my view, it is still very much a go-to destination for divers coming to the region. When you consider its relative position for dive travel, the wide range of accommodation choices, the sardine run, Pescador Island, and the diverse marine life found here, it’s clear that Moalboal remains special. Sometimes it’s best to set aside the “was” and focus on the “now” — and if you do, you’ll quickly see that Moalboal is a stop worth making.

Best Time to Dive: When to Go and Why

Like all of the Central Visayas, Moalboal has two distinct seasons shaped by the Amihan and Habagat monsoons. The Amihan (northeast monsoon, November to May) brings cooler, drier air and generally calmer seas. The Habagat (southwest monsoon, June to October) brings warmer, humid weather with heavier rain, stronger winds, and is also the period when the region faces the highest risk of typhoons.

Outside of typhoon lows and direct impact, Moalboal is geographically well protected from the monsoons. Sitting on the Tañon Strait between the mountains of Negros and Cebu, the area experiences noticeably lower wind levels compared to the Cebu Strait and especially the dive sites around Panglao and the Bohol Sea.

The low and high seasons here align closely with the monsoons — low season from June to October, and high season from November to May. In reality, as with most places in the Central Visayas, diving is possible throughout the year. While the low season carries a greater chance of weather impact, in my view it’s minimal, and there’s something appealing about the quieter, more laid-back atmosphere that this period brings to Moalboal.

Reaching Moalboal: Routes & Options

Moalboal is a natural stop-off point for dive trips in the region. Whether you’re traveling overland from Cebu City on your way to Dauin and Apo Island, or coming across from Panglao via Siquijor and Negros before looping back up to Cebu, it fits easily into most Central Visayas dive itineraries.

Getting to Moalboal is straightforward from Cebu City, with regular buses and V-hire vans running from the South Bus Terminal — the trip takes around three hours depending on traffic. From Dauin and other parts of Negros Oriental, the route is via ferry: cross from Sibulan, just north of Dumaguete, to Liloan at the southern tip of Cebu, then continue north by bus or van along the coast to Moalboal. This makes the town accessible both from Cebu’s urban hub and from the dive destinations of Negros.

If you are in Panglao, Bohol and want to bypass Siquijor, Dumaguete, and Dauin, you can take the Apekop ferry from Momo Beach that goes directly to Oslob. From Oslob, you can pick up a bus or van heading south to Santander, then continue north up Cebu’s western coast, passing Badian and other coastal towns before reaching Moalboal. I often use this route when visiting Moalboal — the ferry departs Momo Beach at 6:30 am, and I usually arrive at the resort in time to join an afternoon dive.

Moalboal: A destination with a wide range of accommodation to suit every budget, from simple guesthouses to full-service dive resorts. The images feature Turtle Bay Dive Resort, set on the seafront south of Basdiot, with gardens, a pool, and its own dive center.
Images taken: 2025

Where to Stay: Moalboal

The infrastructure, including places to stay, has rebounded very well after the direct impact of Super Typhoon Odette. On my last visit in early September 2025, I had to look hard to see any remnants the storm had left behind. This quick recovery also reflects the resilience of the local communities, who rebuilt their homes, businesses, and dive operations with remarkable determination, ensuring Moalboal remains welcoming to visitors.

One of the attractions of Moalboal is the wide range of accommodation — from budget-friendly guesthouses and backpacker hostels to mid-range hotels and full-service dive resorts. Whatever your budget or travel style, you’ll find plenty of choices within easy reach of the beaches and dive sites.

When I come here I like to use the Turtle Bay Dive Resort. It is located south of the main tourist area of Basdiot, directly on the seafront. The resort is quiet and welcoming, with a good range of rooms to suit different budgets, beautifully kept gardens, a swimming pool, and a dedicated dive center with two bangkas running daily trips to Pescador Island and nearby dive sites.

Be mindful that if you are visiting Moalboal during the high season, especially around holiday periods such as Christmas, New Year, and Easter, it’s best to plan ahead. Resorts and dive shops can book out quickly, and transport options may be busier than usual, so making reservations in advance will save you hassle and ensure you get the choices you want.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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