Moalboal

Moalboal is a small town on the south-west side of Cebu Island. The town sits at the base of a peninsula which runs north from there and has an assortment of tourist facilities &mdash; resorts, dive schools, bars and restaurants &mdash; along much of its west coast. Most of those are at Panagsama Beach, some further from town on White Beach.

Understand
In the 20th century Moalboal was mainly a backpacker destination, one of the first Philippine places to become part of the Banana Pancake Trail. It still gets many budget travellers, but now is more developed and has a considerably broader range of tourist facilities.

There are two main beach areas:
 * Panagsama Beach (Barangay Basdiot), closer to town and busier. The diving is good, with underwater cliffs that have much marine life, but the beach is somewhat rocky. This is a haven for snorkelling and diving, with many dive resorts and dive schools. There is also other accommodation and many dining and night life options.
 * White Beach (Barangay Basdaku), further north and quieter (fewer tourists). This area has two white sand beaches and may be preferable if sunbathing and swimming, rather than diving, are your main interests. Establishments are far from each other so you only enjoy the hotel and its amenities. There are entrance fee of per person to enter the area and another entrance fee of  per person and   per vehicle to the White Beach.

You can travel between the two beaches on a habal-habal (motorcycle taxi) for.

Most visitors will spend nearly all their time in the beach areas.

Get in
The easiest way to reach Moalboal is from Cebu City. The road is in good condition, even the part in the mountains, and is about 80 km.

By van
Many of the hotels and guest houses in Moalboal will send a car or van for pickup at Cebu Airport.

Be ready to pay around for this 2½-hr trip. This is absurdly expensive for a single person or couple, but may make economic sense for a larger group. Consider a group of six: two taxis to the bus station for at least each,  per person for the bus, around  a couple for tricycle to the beach. You would spend close to for the trip, and paying more to get there quicker and in comfort may be worthwhile.

By taxi
Taxis can be hired at Cebu Airport for (fixed rate as of Sep 2018).

By bus
As usual, the cheapest method is a local bus; from Metro Cebu these depart from the South Bus Terminal, takes around 4 hr. The main company is the yellow color buses of Ceres Liner. the bus fare was for non-AC bus,  for an air-conditioned bus (as of June 2019). You will be dropped after the Moalboal market. See the Cebu Airport article for ways of reaching the South Bus Station; the cheapest is getting the airport Mybus to SM City for then a  taxi to the South Bus Terminal for. A taxi ride directly from the airport to the South Bus Terminal is, a more convenient way if you have a lot of luggage. It may also be worth spending a few days in Cebu City before heading to Moalboal.

Coming from Dumaguete, it is a four-step process: Two ports can be used, one in Sibulan or one in San Jose (Negros Oriental); for most travellers San Jose works better. The port in Sibulan is closer to Dumaguete and has a shorter and cheaper ( vs. ) ferry ride, but is farther to the bus station and the trike costs more (around vs ). Also, there is only one ferry an hour there but two or three at the other port. The Sibulan port can be reached for about by tricycle from the city center or  by jeepney. San Jose is over an hour and by jeepney, or you can pay about  to travel in comfort by Ceres bus since all the Dumaguete-Cebu buses use this port. See Dumaguete for locations of the jeepney terminals.
 * get to a ferry port (not Dumaguete port, but one further north)
 * cross to Cebu Island by ferry
 * take a trike to the bus station
 * catch a bus to Moalboal.

Once you reach the bus station on the Cebu side, look for yellow Ceres buses headed for Cebu City; some of them go via Moalboal (ask the driver). The bus fare is (as of early 2018).

Get around
The easiest way to get around is to use tricycles also known locally as habal-habal. From Moalboal to Panagsama Beach 3.5 km, the fare is  for a (shared tricycle per seat) by day. Don't pay more than if you're alone on the tricycle. To White Beach most people were paying (as of Apr 2018). But if you just get one seat, the tricycle is. A tricycle ride anywhere in Moalboal town is.

Most travellers just take a trike to Pangasama then walk everywhere. The main road there has most of the area's restaurants, bars and souvenir shops, plus several resorts and diving schools. There are other resorts and dive places on White Beach, and some on Pangasama south of the main strip. There are also places to stay a bit inland.

See




Kawasan Water Falls



 * Getting to the falls is approximately a 30 min ascent through an impressive landscape. You can take a nice cooling swim in the natural pools, or take a raft out to the falls. There are resting place tables for a charge, some small restaurants and very simple accommodation available.


 * The falls can sometimes be a bit crowded (especially on weekends) so if you're looking for more of a nature experience, check out the guided canyoning tours that are offered by some resorts in Panagsama. Tours start in the morning, above the waterfalls, and you make your way down wading along the river, swimming through deeper sections and jumping down waterfalls. Takes about one day, around per person.



Do
Although in Moalboal the most popular tourist activity is scuba diving, there are a lot more outdoor activities to explore. The area is great for hiking, mountain biking and canyoneering, and there are many natural wonders like caves and waterfalls to explore. There are a few companies that arrange adventure tours. In Panagsama you'll find Pescadores Seaview Suites that offers a large choice of tours.

Snorkelling
Not far out from the beach shore in Panagsama Beach, there is a drop-off. Near that area, especially towards the south, there are countless reefs, with soft and hard corals, many different species of fish. Sometimes you can spot lion fish, water snakes, and with some luck turtles. The southern half of White Beach is also a good spot for snorkelling if you want to combine it with relaxing in the sun. On typical days, a number of turtles are often seen very close to the shore line especially at Tonggo Point which is in front of Pescadores Seaview Suites.

Diving
Most divers come for the more famous diving spots in Pescador Island, which offer terrific diving. However, there are a lot more spots to discover around the Moalboal peninsula. In some areas there are fish sanctuaries, and there is a marine preservation program in effect to encourage fishermen not to fish with nets.

Dives usually cost around with gear. There are a few "local owned" dive shops that are per dive. Most of the dive shops operate 3 dives per day and you can even do your own diving schedule on low season!

If you are not a diver yet, a beginners' course will set you back about depending where you go. It's a good idea to look around for a good deal, but make sure to look for the PADI or SSI certifications of the dive shops as they are a guarantee that the equipment and staff meet certain standards. Set aside about 4 days for the course.

See also Diving in the Philippines&mdash;Moalboal.

Freediving
Freediving is becoming more and more popular in Moalboal, because the area offers great conditions for the sport. Close to the shore, the reef drops off to about 40 m (sometimes more) and the water is usually calm and clear. There are several diveshops that offer courses and training session.

Banks & ATMs
Most Philippine banks, including all the ones in Moalboal, add a surcharge for an ATM withdrawal using an overseas bank card and have limit of  per transaction. However, the HSBC ATM in Cebu City accepts most foreign cards, has no fee, and allows per transaction. You may be able to save money by withdrawing funds there before going to Moalboal.


 * There is an PNB Visa card ATM at Panagsama beach in the entrance of Eve's Kiosk.
 * In Moalboal town (about 3.5 km from the beach, reachable by tricycle) there is a Metro Bank ATM in the 360 Pharmacy which takes Mastercards.
 * There is a PNB Bank with an ATM at the Gaisano shopping mall to the left of the main entrance which takes only Visa cards. There is also a Metro Bank ATM at the Gaisano Grand which takes Visa and Mastercard.
 * There is an ATM at Chief Mau at Panagsama Beach which accepts cards including Visa, Mastercard and Bank of China.

ATMs are less likely to work on Sundays as they run out of money.

Malls & supermarkets
There are two Gaisano malls in Moalboal and soon a new Citi mall which will have a Jollibee and a supermarket.

Eat
Panagsama Beach has been overrun by tourists, so expect higher food prices compared to Cebu City. Almost all eateries serve the standard menu of sandwich-pizza-burgers for uncultured tourists, and the local dishes are either limited or considerably high price considering the general price level of the country. On average, a burger costs about upwards and a local dish is about  upwards. There are some local eateries along Panagsama Rd without name banner where you can get a meal for (as of Feb 2019).

Another culinary delight is to pick up a freshly grilled chicken in Moalboal town. You'll find a good place on the left just down the road from the public market, across from the fruit stands. One chicken is.

As in any town in the country, there are some candeleria (serving cheap, plain Filipino food) in the market and along the main street, and the malls have outlets for fast food chains. Other places in the town include: Most of the other eateries are on or near Pangasama Beach.

Drink
There are a lot of restaurants along the beach where you can have a drink with a sea view. Chili Bar in Panagsama Beach is the most popular one and usually full of people all year around. You will find two billiards table there (as in almost all the other bars around) and there's a tournament on Wednesdays. Across from Chili Bar is 7 Sins Bar, also with a pool table and lots of seating.

As you come down to Panagsama from Moalboal and the road turns left, continue straight on down to the beach and take a left to find Ester's Bar. The nice sea view is accompanied by friendly service.

On Saturday nights, there is a disco in Pacitas, just a short walk south along the beach from Panagsama's center. There are also very often discos organised by locals in different locations. Ask around where it is, everybody knows. On your way to Pacitas you can also stop off at Andi's Talisay for some late night singing at their open-mic night.

Go next

 * Oslob
 * Dumaguete
 * Cebu City the bus pick-up point is at the Moalboal market.
 * Badian