Recently did a 3 day trip to Moalboal, which is famous for the Sardine ball just off the beach.
Accommodation: We stayed at the Dreamcatcher Hostel, which is in Panagsama approx 300m from the beach. We picked this place on arrival as it’s up a small lane and therefore escapes all the traffic noise. The rooms are comfy enough with fan and a/c. There is a nice area out front with hammocks and chairs to chill. Staff were really nice.
Diving: We initially went into ‘Amigos Dive Centre’ but the music was just too loud for us in there. Asking questions at the reception desk and had to strain to hear the replies. After a dive i want to relax and talk to others, not listen to loud music, so we decided to look elsewhere.
Next dive centre we visited was Savedra. The reception staff were really friendly and answered all our questions with ease. They told us dive groups were a maximum of 4. When we realised also that there was plenty of space, including your own place to hang your equipment, we decided to search no further.
The next day however we realised the dive guides and staff were too busy to give us a welcome or even a briefing. We asked for a couple of tanks and set up our gear (we always set up our own). We were introduced to our dive guide. I shook his hand and said ‘pleased to meet you’. He said ‘yes’ and then walked off. Ok…. He’s probably busy. We then waited around and the dive centre emptied out. We were beginning to feel we had been forgotten. Asking one of the staff, we were informed we should be on the boat. We asked them to show us where the boat was, and climbed aboard. Yes, there was our dive guide and equipment. He’s just forgotten to inform us.
After getting to the dive site there was a very minimal briefing and the guide jumped in the water. Was he doing a current check? Where we meant to follow? We were not sure but decided to jump in. We descended and off we went!
The dives were planned to one hour, which is important to us as we don’t like going up after 45 mins. Our guide was good at pointing out ‘good stuff’ such as frog fish. We enjoyed his diving style i.e. not asking us our air and if we are ok every 5 minutes, just getting the most out of the dive.
The diving is not that great, although pleasant. It’s mostly wall diving that is completely fished out - rare to see even a small grouper or snapper. You get a lot of pipefish, and the odd nudi and frogfish, scorpionfish etc. Basically, the non-edible stuff is still there. Our favourite was diving pescador island, recommended by a fellow diver and just a short boat ride away. It seemed there were a few more things to see here - lots of frogfish - and we enjoyed the light current and overhangs.
On our last day we did the sardine dive. Suddenly the ‘four divers per group’ rule went out the window, and we went in a group of six. Haha they were novice divers so it was quite chaotic. With the sardines ticked off our diving in Moalboal was completed. Just five dives, but we were keen to get to Malapascua before the Easter weekend. To be honest, five dives was enough, as we have preferred the diving elsewhere in the Philippines so far.
Pros: A large and well organized dive centre with a good boat. Great front desk staff (really friendly and helpful).
Downside: Minimum engagement between guide and divers. It would have been nice for the dive guide to talk to us. Perhaps have a conversation about the best dive sites? In his defense he is working his butt off in a busy centre with a high turnover of customers. Still, a little bit of conversation would have been nice. He was good at showing us good stuff though, and went out of his way to find a ghost pipefish that he knew was nearby. He also went the extra mile in finding a sea moth for my wife, who asked if he was able to find one.
Would we return: Well, once in Moalboal is enough for us. But if were to go back would we return to Savedra? Yes we would. However, we would probably check out a couple of other Dive Centres first to see if we could get a more personal service there. If we dived with Savedra again we would just do our own research on the best sites and make those requests when booking in.
Accommodation: We stayed at the Dreamcatcher Hostel, which is in Panagsama approx 300m from the beach. We picked this place on arrival as it’s up a small lane and therefore escapes all the traffic noise. The rooms are comfy enough with fan and a/c. There is a nice area out front with hammocks and chairs to chill. Staff were really nice.
Diving: We initially went into ‘Amigos Dive Centre’ but the music was just too loud for us in there. Asking questions at the reception desk and had to strain to hear the replies. After a dive i want to relax and talk to others, not listen to loud music, so we decided to look elsewhere.
Next dive centre we visited was Savedra. The reception staff were really friendly and answered all our questions with ease. They told us dive groups were a maximum of 4. When we realised also that there was plenty of space, including your own place to hang your equipment, we decided to search no further.
The next day however we realised the dive guides and staff were too busy to give us a welcome or even a briefing. We asked for a couple of tanks and set up our gear (we always set up our own). We were introduced to our dive guide. I shook his hand and said ‘pleased to meet you’. He said ‘yes’ and then walked off. Ok…. He’s probably busy. We then waited around and the dive centre emptied out. We were beginning to feel we had been forgotten. Asking one of the staff, we were informed we should be on the boat. We asked them to show us where the boat was, and climbed aboard. Yes, there was our dive guide and equipment. He’s just forgotten to inform us.
After getting to the dive site there was a very minimal briefing and the guide jumped in the water. Was he doing a current check? Where we meant to follow? We were not sure but decided to jump in. We descended and off we went!
The dives were planned to one hour, which is important to us as we don’t like going up after 45 mins. Our guide was good at pointing out ‘good stuff’ such as frog fish. We enjoyed his diving style i.e. not asking us our air and if we are ok every 5 minutes, just getting the most out of the dive.
The diving is not that great, although pleasant. It’s mostly wall diving that is completely fished out - rare to see even a small grouper or snapper. You get a lot of pipefish, and the odd nudi and frogfish, scorpionfish etc. Basically, the non-edible stuff is still there. Our favourite was diving pescador island, recommended by a fellow diver and just a short boat ride away. It seemed there were a few more things to see here - lots of frogfish - and we enjoyed the light current and overhangs.
On our last day we did the sardine dive. Suddenly the ‘four divers per group’ rule went out the window, and we went in a group of six. Haha they were novice divers so it was quite chaotic. With the sardines ticked off our diving in Moalboal was completed. Just five dives, but we were keen to get to Malapascua before the Easter weekend. To be honest, five dives was enough, as we have preferred the diving elsewhere in the Philippines so far.
Pros: A large and well organized dive centre with a good boat. Great front desk staff (really friendly and helpful).
Downside: Minimum engagement between guide and divers. It would have been nice for the dive guide to talk to us. Perhaps have a conversation about the best dive sites? In his defense he is working his butt off in a busy centre with a high turnover of customers. Still, a little bit of conversation would have been nice. He was good at showing us good stuff though, and went out of his way to find a ghost pipefish that he knew was nearby. He also went the extra mile in finding a sea moth for my wife, who asked if he was able to find one.
Would we return: Well, once in Moalboal is enough for us. But if were to go back would we return to Savedra? Yes we would. However, we would probably check out a couple of other Dive Centres first to see if we could get a more personal service there. If we dived with Savedra again we would just do our own research on the best sites and make those requests when booking in.
