Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines - the cool critters and notable absentees.

A Turtle swims overhead at Tongo.

By Ryan Pearson

DD and I came to Moalboal when we were in the Philippines 2 years ago, and we remember it being amazing! Mind blowing even. There was a massive school of sardines that completely surrounded Pescador Island, and was one of the main attractions along with the Thresher Sharks that came in hunting them. This year... they're no where to be seen...

A pygmy seahorse. There's quite a few around Moalboal. None are easy to shoot though.

Now, that's not to say the diving is bad. There's still plenty to see, and if we hadn't just come from the mind-blowing Malapascua Island, we'd probably be absolutely stoked with what we're getting here. But, the sad truth is, I think we've been tainted by how spoilt we were at Malapascua. There are some amazing critters still around Moalboal, but they're much harder to find, and there's less of them.

That said, we're still having a great time with very cheap food and drinks, and some well above average diving. Here's some pics from the first 4 dives here at Tongo, Airport, Pescador, and Looc (Yes, airport is named that way because there is a plane wreck there, but I don't have pics because I had the macro port on).

The first lionfish that has ever looked at my camera. I've been trying to get a front on shot for years! ha

Another turtle at Tongo

One of millions of tiny sea cucumbers found at every dive site.

A tiny fish rests on a sponge.

One of the few nudibranchs of spotted on the 4 dives so far. Found at Tongo.

A new one for me. A Sea moth at Airport site.

One of many pipefish around the place bowing his head.

A nudi at Pescador Island.

One of many varieties of anemonefish at Pescador.

A frogfish does his best sponge impersonation at Pescador.

This moray eel is clearly a cocaine addict.

A blenny. These guys always seem to pose perfectly until I'm within range to take a shot. This one luckily let me get close enough for a split second.

A large school of striped catfish.

Anemonefish family at Looc.

Whatchoo lookin at fool? A pipefish checks me out at Looc.

 Ultimately, in my opinion, if you can only choose one place to dive in Cebu (Philippines), and you absolutely must see turtles, come to Moalboal. If you can skip the turtles, and want to see about a billion new critters on each dive, and mantas, and thresher sharks... go to Malapascua.