Moalboal, Cebu

Moalboal Town

Moalboal is a coastal town south of Cebu City. The town is known as the diving capital of Cebu as the sea is home to thriving coral reefs and several interesting wrecks. Pescador Island, which is also famous for it's dive spots, is only 15 minutes away by boat from Moalboal. Aside from diving, it is also home to picturesque Kawasan Falls and is near Tison & Montaneza Falls wher you can go canyoning.

Me at the back of the municipal hall near the market

church ruins

Moalboal town proper

Transportation

To go to Moalboal from Cebu City, you'd have to take a 2-1/2 hour bus ride from Cebu City's Southern Bus Terminal near the Taboan Market. Ceres and Librando liners ply the route with a stop-over at Shamrock in Barili Town, the only Shamrock outlet in Cebu that I saw that didn't sell otap. Aircon buses to Moalboal are limited and the only bus line I saw that had aircon buses was Ceres Liner. Non-aircon buses leave every hour going to Moalboal. The fare for an aircon Ceres bus going to Moalboal is Php 107.00 while for non aircon it is Php 97.00 as of March 2011 (if memory serves me right). If you're a chicharon lover like me, you might want to get off at Carcar (which is along the way), to try their famous chicharon before going to Moalboal.

Beaches

There are two popular beaches in Moalboal: Basdako, and Panagsama. Both beaches are about 6.5km from the town proper. Basdako and Panagsama have glaring differences: Basdaku is a white sand beach while Panagsama, despite the "beach" tag,  almost has no sand and is more like Anilao Batangas - perfect for diving because of the rocky shore. If you wanted a picturesque beach with powdery white sand ala Boracay then I suggest you go to Bantayan Island instead. But if you're a snorkeling or diving enthusiast then this is the place to go.

The weird part about this is that if you want to bum around a sandy beach and enjoy a little snorkeling - you'd want to go to Basdaku, while if you are more into snorkeling and scuba diving and don't care about the sand, you'd have to go to Panagsama Beach. To travel to both beaches, you'd have to ride a tricycle from the town center, each passenger is charged 25 to 30 pesos. If you want something faster and also want to add some danger into your life, try riding a motorcycle or "habal-habal" for the same fare as a tricycle's. You might want to get the tricycle driver's number in case you wanted someone to fetch you, as the availability of transportation going back to the town proper is limited.

Basdaku / Basdako

Basdaku has white sand, although it isn't as fine as Boracay's or even Puerto Galera's.  The beach has a very small shoreline - a 30 minute walk will cover its entirety. When I went there I noticed that several parts of the beach have exposed rock, the white sand has been washed off by the sea. I read somewhere on the net(still trying to get my source) that the white sand was relatively new and was only deposited when a big storm hit Moalboal. You wouldn't have to rent a boat to snorkel, as corral reefs are but a few meters from the shore.

rocks on the shoreline

still more rocks - corrals are but a few meters away

sandy shore 

welcome to Basdaku

beach front near Ravenala

Locals say that the corrals aren't as beautiful as Panagsama's, but I never had the chance to check out the latter. Several resorts rent out snorkeling gear (snorkel, goggles, life vest, aqua socks) and you can also rent a boat to go snorkeling somewhere else or go fishing. If you aren't into nightlife activities, you'll like Basdako more as there are no bars in the area and the only restaurant I found closes at 7:30pm. If you're insomniac, or you like to have midnight snacks, order food before the restaurant closes or you'll have to travel to Panagsama to get a midnight snack at one of the bars there.

HK Resort

During our stay at Basdaku, we checked in at HK resort, they have simple aircon rooms at 1,500.00 but there's no TV. Probably the best thing about HK is that it has one of the sandiest beach fronts in all of the resorts at Basdaku, so you don't have to walk far to go sun bathing. They also have one of the few restaurants along the beach (although prices are quite high - meals are at Php150-200) and the restaurant is open until 7:30pm.

They don't have a website and booking is done via texting or calling this number: 0919-476-6385.

HK's Php 1,500 a night cottages

HK Resort's beach front

There's also Ravenala Beach resort, a better looking resort than HK but the rates are more expensive.The resort has a tropic ambiance and they offer non-aircon rooms for Php1,500.00 and aircon rooms at Php 3000.00 You could book by calling 0917-324-8680   Here's a blog with a good review of Ravenala: http://theislandexplorer.blogspot.com/2009/08/ravenala-beach-resort-bas-daku-moalboal.html.

Panagsama Beach

I wasn't able to explore much of Panagsama Beach or Kawasan falls because we went there primarily for the canyoning activity at Tison Falls. From research though Panagsama beach is where the nightlife is at. Foreigners are the usual visitors there due to numerous diving and snorkeling packages offered by the resorts. They also play soccer friendlies at Tipolo Beach Resort every Monday and Friday that you can join. Here's a map of Panagsama Beach's many dive resorts http://www.moalboal.org.uk/maps/panagsama.html

Kawasan Falls

Kawasan Falls is actually in Badian and not in Moalboal. A trip to Kawasan falls involves about 15-30 minutes trekking to reach the first of three waterfalls. There are a lot of restaurants nearby and there's a hotel where you can spend the night as well.

Opinions posted on Pinoyexchange.com and over the interwebs are varied about Kawasan Falls, some love it for the falls' postcard-like beauty and the gentle streams. But others have been turned off by the exorbitant fees being charged by locals on the use of tables (Php300 per day) and raft rentals (Php 200) as well as over-tourism and the development of a hotel and cottages that has destroyed it's once pristine atmosphere.

I found this blog with nice pictures and details of Kawasan Falls http://mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/kawasan-falls-finally/

Canyoning

We didn't go to Kawasan falls simply because we preferred to go to more undisturbed, secluded waterfalls nearby, although it was much more difficult to get there. We went canyoning at Tison Falls, via Planet Action Adventure tours. Cost is Php 2900, pretty steep but then if you factor in the cost of travel, food, table and raft rentals at Kawasan falls, Tison (and also Montaneza Falls) might be a better alternative. Word of caution, this trip is only for the physically fit. See the details of our trip here: Canyoning-Tison Falls

Other sites:

For more info on Moalboal, you can check the following websites:
http://www.cebudaily.com/townsandcities/moalboal/
http://www.moalboal.gov.ph

For more resorts on Moalboal,visit this comprehensive list at http://cebutouristmapandguide.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=69 and search for Basdaku and Panagsama

Canyoning - Tison Falls

Are you bored with the typical beach, with the typical white sand and the generic activities that come with it (i.e. snorkeling, island hopping, swimming near the beach, banana boat)? Are you looking for a new adventure, something only a few people have done before, something different, close to nature, and a little (or a lot) on the extreme side? 


Perhaps canyoning is the right activity for you.


Our canyoning trip at Tison Falls, at the south end of Cebu Island near the town of Moalboal, involved mountain trekking, swimming, rappelling, river trekking, and my new personal favorite: jumping off of waterfalls and rocks down to deep pools below. 


Hands down, canyoning at Tison Falls is the most extreme and craziest thing we've ever done. 


I almost gassed out during the 2 hour climb up the mountain, which had some rock terrain with 70 degree slopes. 

one of the more manageable slopes 

panoramic shot of the mountains

After reaching the peak, we sometimes ran downhill on foot paths as narrow as 4 feet wide to make up for the lost time (and also because, try as we might, we couldn't fully prevent gravity from speeding up our descent). 

Us, finally near the stream

We then rappelled over 30m water falls and jumped to small lakes and pools below. we then trekked down stream, climbed rocks, swam, rappelled, and jumped off of water falls and rocks. The canyons formed by the stream are a sight to behold:

start of the stream leading to the 1st waterfall

1st waterfall - 30m high

2nd high waterfall

just trying some artsy shots

walking down stream along canyons

boulders and river trekking

The best and craziest part of the tour was the 9.5 meter jump from a rock cliff (see the video below).


Check out this video I made of our canyoning trip in Moalboal Cebu:

The canyoning tour is being offered by Planet Action Adventure, - an adventure tour company based in Tipolo Resort at Panagsama beach in Moalboal, Cebu. Standard rates are 2,900.00 per person. The trip starts at 9am and ends at around 4pm. Remember to have a big breakfast before you start with the trip and bring some food and water with you - you'll need it for the climb. You can check out their website at: http://www.action-philippines.com/ They also offer canyoning at nearby Montaneza Falls and river trekking.

Note: This activity should only be done by physically fit people, and getting bruises is par for the course