Malapascua vs Moalboal

[Tobal Hale]

Greetings! I am looking at going to either Malapascua or Moalboal for 4-5 days of diving starting August 2. I have lived in Palau, but I have never been to Cebu. Any hints or recommendations. I wont have time to do both. So I need to pick a location. Please assist. THANKS. I am interested in diving comparisons as well as any other comparison you can think of.

 

[Centrals]

Two completely different places.
1. Getting there:
Moalboal: 2hrs by public bus or under P3,000.00 by taxi.
Malapascua: 3-4 hrs by public bus and then ferry. Private transfer is around US$120.00 each way!
2. Diving:
Moalboal: All wall dives along the coast or Pescado Island. School of sardines.
Malapascua: From muck to deep. Thresher shark.
3. Cost:
Slightly cheaper in Moalboal.
4. Accommodation:
Moalboal can offer slightly up-market varieties.

Getting to Malapascua is a bit of hassel( and expensive on private transfer) and if the weather is rough then the ferry crossing won't be very attractive. But the diving is better(my opinion) than Moalboal.

 

[Tzetsin]

Im not sure of your timetable but if you take the long way around to moalboal past oslob you can catch a dive with the whale sharks. I did a tour of cebu over 2 days so im not sure how much extra time this will take. Heck of a thing to get off your dive bucket list though if you can swing it. There isnt anything worth looking at near the whalesharks, so its a wasteful trip on its own really, so if you can pull it off with this other trip its much more economical.

theres actually a small resort in boljoon ( forgive my spelling) that is nearish to olob that has some really nice diving. Its not a dive destination so you need to bring your own gear, but I was pretty impressed with it. You get the odd visit from turtles and whale shark there too.

 

[Tobal Hale]

Thanks so much to these two repliers.

Two completely different places.
1. Getting there:
Moalboal: 2hrs by public bus or under P3,000.00 by taxi.
Malapascua: 3-4 hrs by public bus and then ferry. Private transfer is around US$120.00 each way!
2. Diving:
Moalboal: All wall dives along the coast or Pescado Island. School of sardines.
Malapascua: From muck to deep. Thresher shark.
3. Cost:
Slightly cheaper in Moalboal.
4. Accommodation:
Moalboal can offer slightly up-market varieties.

Getting to Malapascua is a bit of hassel( and expensive on private transfer) and if the weather is rough then the ferry crossing won't be very attractive. But the diving is better(my opinion) than Moalboal.

 

[Mucksavage]

Moalboal offers mainly wall diving while Malapascua has a mixture of walls, reefs, muck dives, Pelagic dives, wrecks etc. So if weather is good you can see a lot of different environments over 5 days. Seeing the Thresher Sharks in Malapascua is certainly worth considering in your decision.

 

[aumexican]

I went to both in May both good and different.
Weather forecast ok so I'd do Malapascua.
Moalboal might be better in bad weather as Malapascua is better for day trips to other sites as house reefs are not that great and is less protected in bad weather.

 

[TheWartHog]

Dived both Malapascua and Moalboal in May/June this year and enjoyed both very much.
If I were to have a choice of going diving to just one of them, I would pick Malapascua personally.

 

[String]

To me i'd say Malapascua (i've done them both) as its got a lot more variety of dive sites ranging from full blown macro to wreck and offshore reef with sharks.

Moalboal is quite OK for diving but is a little more limited in dive sites (mainly wall) although it does have the massive sardine school which is a crowd puller for a dive or two.

If i had to pick one though it'd be Malapascua and make sure you get out to Gato.

Remember though for both of them the weather is likely to be terrible. Theres a strong chance of not getting to Pescador or Gato due to wind and rain.