This was one of my favorite things we did over the course of 7 months in Asia. If you’re ever make it to Cebu while exploring the Philippines, the Moalboal bait ball is a must-do.
Just off shore, some 100 meters from the main beach in Moalboal, there is a massive sardine bait ball that we were told exists year-round. We grabbed our masks and swam out to where the reef dropped off significantly, and sure enough, there was a mass of sardines so large you couldn’t see the end off it. I can’t stress enough how accessible this was. We didn’t even have fins and we were easily able to swim out to the bait ball and enjoy it for hours. If you don’t have a mask already, there are high-quality masks for sale at the local stands along the waterfront at around $10 each. There are also a lot of dive shops in Moalboal, so it’s possible you could pick a used mask up for even cheaper.
At the time we were there, I would estimate that the ball itself was about 400 meters wide, with a depth of approximately 30 meters. As we dove through the large school of fish, they moved to avoid us, contorting together to create tunnels around us. The fish were packed together so tightly that when we were in the center, we couldn’t see anything but sardines in any direction, above, below or beside us.
Anna, Soren and I had a blast diving down into the tubes of fish, and we even caught the occasional glimpse of a barracuda gliding along the surface of the water, practically invisible due to their thin shape.
On the reef off the same beach as the bait ball, we also found a group of sea turtles eating the coral. It was Anna’s first time seeing a sea turtle in the wild, so that was a major highlight for her.
Getting to Moalboal from Cebu City was fairly straightforward via bus. In Cebu, we arrived at Cebu South Bus Terminal and purchase a ticket for a bus leaving approximately 15 minutes later. During the day, busses leave every half hour, so if you just arrive at the terminal, the wait will never be too long. The busses are not glamourous by any means, but they get you where you’re going and drop you off right in “downtown” Moalboal.
The same bus line circles the island of Cebu, so if you are looking to continue to Oslob where you can swim with whale sharks, you can simply hop back on the bus in Moalboal and continue further along the coast.
Another popular activity to do in Moalboal is canyoneering. To do this, you have to hire a guide to take you, and it seems like there are probably about 30 different companies that you can choose from. I would recommend just going with the company that gives you the cheapest price, because they all go to the same place, and it’s crowded regardless of how many people are in your group. The canyon itself is spectacular, but it’s very crowded and they make you wear life jackets and helmets the entire time. But, if you take it for what it is (a tourist trap), it’s a lot of fun traipsing through the canyon with your group. There are even a couple of good cliff jumps.
Because the bait ball is so easy to do, we were able to make a full day out of canyoneering in the morning, followed by swimming in the bait ball during the afternoon and dinner on the beach at one of the local restaurants. We returned to swim in the bait ball again in the morning of the second day before departing for Oslob that afternoon.
