Diving in Pescador Island

Located in Municipality of Moalboal in the South of Cebu about 2 hours drive from Cebu City.  Pescador Island takes about 25 minutes by speedboat or by motorized banca from Panagsama beach where most dive operators and dive resorts are located.  The best time to go diving in Pescador Island is during early morning as during the afternoon the wind can be tricky and the sea can be very choppy.  The island is located in the open water and currents can be strong at times.

resident frogfish

I been to Pescador island about 5 times this year already and still counting.  Usually visibility is very good.  I usually go with Ocean Safari Divers, the dive masters there are fun to dive with and they are reasonably priced.  Pescador Island is one of my favorite dive sites in Philippines.  Although, traces of dead corals are obvious, it was when the El nino hit the Philippines about 20 years ago a lot of corals died but Pescador Island is still worth diving.  The island is a large pinnacle rising from the bottom of the sea.  There are no inhabitants on the island as it is not habitable due to the lack of fresh water.

weird looking nudibrach

Pescador island is famous for “Cathedral” its an open top fuel that bottoms out at 34 meters, the funnel is open also on its outer side at 15 meters.  Shafts of sunlight shine into the funnel around noon.  Pescador walls have very rich marine life.  I love the resident frogfishes that are usually in the same spot everytime I dive as if waiting for me there.  There is also the shoal of sardines, so thick that I’m always tempted to swim thru them.  If you get lucky, you may encounter green turtles, hammerheads, manta rays, grey reef sharks and even whale sharks.   Pescador island is a great dive site.  I would dive there everyday if it’s close to where I live.  

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Oslob - Snorkel with Whale Sharks

Since I got back in Cebu I been hearing about whale sharks sightings in Oslob. Its a 3 hours drive down south of Cebu province from the city.  This place is not famous and no one would hear about Oslob until the whale sharks started appearing in shallow water of this sleepy town sometime in September last year.

Apparently, during this time of year it is the season for the fish locally known as "bolinao" or the "Philippine Anchovy".  During the bolinao season, the local fishermen would group together to catch "bolinao" with their big fishnet.  What happened this time in Oslob was, when the fishermen were catching bolinao, the whale sharks were pitching in from their catch.  Most of what they have left of the bolinao were half eaten.  So, the fishermen decided to have 2-4 fishermen assigned everyday to feed the whale sharks while the rest catches bolinao and they split the catch equally amongst themselves.  They went on like this for a couple of days until one day, 2 of the smaller whale sharks followed their boat to shallow water thinking that they were following the source of food.  This was the start of this amazing whaleshark phenomenon in shallow waters of Oslob that stirred Cebu since it was sighted.

I drove there with Loquito, since we were already in Moalboal doing some scuba diving.  Although I've seen whale sharks before but the excitement of seeing this huge creatures again in my home province is more than exciting - it's ecstatic.  So we drove after lunch so we could still do one more scuba diving before leaving Moalboal.  I have not tried driving to Oslob from Moalboal before and I haven't been there in a long time so I was not really sure how to get there, but it looked like there was only one road according to goggle map.

We drove about 2 hours and  got there at about almost sunset.  It was easy to find, we just followed the signs and definitely there is only one road to get there - we never got lost!  Apparently the whale sharks are gone after lunch time, so there wasn't a chance of us to see it when we arrived.  We decided to stay over night and head to sea first thing in the morning.  There were many cottages for rent overnight and we found one by the beach where the whaleshark watching happens.  Aaron Beach Resort. It was a house but converted into an overnight hostel sort of, 3 rooms, cable TV, kitchen, dining and they have a dive shop.  I was told it is owned by an Australian guy married to a local lady, but they prefer to live in Australia and only come for vacation in Oslob.  The care taker of the house were very friendly and accommodating, we were also allowed to cook if we want to, otherwise they will cook for us and charge accordingly.  It was cheap either way.  

At the break of dawn, we were already awake, too excited to let any minute pass us by, we got up and had breakfast with the guys working at the house. Then we were led to get tickets to watch or snorkel with whalesharks.  Tickets vary depending if you are a local and foreigner.  HAHAHA, I had the biggest laugh. I got me a local ticket while my companions were made to pay 50% more than I did. But to be honest I wasn't proud of this.  People should enjoy this at the same price regardless, the experience will be the same for any of us no matter how much you paid for it at the end of the day.  But anyway, they were just happy to be able to see this huge creatures and didn't really mind if they paid 10 times more.  It is an experience to be had, I must say.

So, we paid and got our tickets, we were given our snorkels and lifejackets.  We were told to get on a native boat that took us about 5 minutes, which we could have had just walked on the beach to the venue for the whaleshark watching briefing conducted by the local government.  The briefing took about 5 minutes, of which we were told the do's and don'ts. Somehow, I was glad they implemented something like that, it's good to know that this is not just a sightseeing but also some sort of a learning experience as well as the local government was taking care of those huge creatures.  After the briefing we got on the same boat and headed towards the group of whalesharks being fed by the other boatmen. Our boat guide, was very strict with the lifejacket while on the boat. I tried all excuses to be exempted but it didn't work with him, which was I think good for most visitors that doesnt know how to swim, at least whatever happens they will float for sure!  I was surprised by how close we were to the whalesharks, we can almost touch it, but as per the briefing we were not allowed to, so we refrained from doing so.  At the same time, I felt bad that those gigantic creatures hits the paddles or the bancas (wooden boat) when they try to surface to feed themselves with krill that the fishermen were feeding them with.  There were 14 whalesharks in the area and I was overwhelmed that we had 5 just around us. Even if I've seen them before, it is still something to get excited. Amazing experience.  

Diving in Marigondon Cave

Marigondon Cave is one of the famous dive spots in Mactan, Cebu, although this dive is strictly for advanced divers only.  It is a shore entry and drift towards the cave entrance, about 30 meters. Then drops about 35-40m deep to the cave entrance. The diameter of the cave is about 10m.  It is advisable to bring a reel, torches and ensure that every diver keeps watch of time.

There are lion fish at the entry, deeper inside a school of strange flash light fish blinking in the dark and some giant crabs. This is truly an amazing dive. Nitrox is strongly recommended for this dive.

The first time I went there was during day time, the current was strong so the drift was so fast that I almost got disorientated.  But then thanks to the training and the buddy that I had, I didnt panic at all, the only thing was that I forgot to bring a torch so I had to tail with my buddy.  It was not bad but I vouched to come back.

Indeed I went back so many times that It became almost my daily routine that we didnt need a reel to come back to the mouth of the cave.  And then my buddy and I decided to go there at night. At first I was scared coz we realized at the bottom of the mouth of the cave were 4 tomb stones. Those were tomb stones of divers that apparently died there while diving. But I guess something that divers only understand, excitement was more than fear.  And we went scuba diving at night.

As soon as the sun was about to set we started our swim by the time we submerge the sun was out.  It was a total different from the day dive we been doing. When we were at the bottom on the mouth of the cave my buddy decided to turn off all our torches and sit still for 3 minutes. It was pitch dark and then we saw a lot of flashlight fishes that seemed to glitter in the dark, they hardly move in the same of a big fish.  It was one of the most amazing thing I have seen.

I would really go back there soon, unfortunately my camera is not good enough to take photos in total darkness. I have to upgrade my camera too soon. So if you are heading to Cebu, make sure to do this side trip scuba diving.

Stop! Dynamite Fishing

Since I was young I've heard about dynamite fishing being practiced in our small island - Mactan.  I never really saw this happening however I've heard from my parents and others.  My mom used to tell me that the fishes sold in the market were caught using dynamite fishing.  I never really know what this means before but since I started diving many years ago, I realized how this method has damaged our reefs.

Dynamite fishing or blast fishing is a destructive way of catching fishes.  The fishermen uses a bottle full of kerosine or gasoline and insert a cloth which serves as a wick and then they light it and throw it in the sea and then it explodes underwater.  Unfortunately the blast kills everything in its way including the corals.  There are some fishermen that aren't lucky and blast their hands in the process.  I know a few.  The fishermen also does not realize that this method leaves them very little fishes for human consumption and most dead fishes are turned into pieces and are left underwater for other species to feed on and yet, kills the natural habitat of fishes to breed.  This is very sad.  Although the government is trying their best to stop this way of fishing, but it is very hard to crack the system.

I thought it has been stopped since the construction of many international resorts on the island has somehow prevented local fishermen to do this around the reefs, however just recently while I was diving I heard blast underwater.  It did sound very near us but we never saw it.  Sound travel fast underwater, it may be very far from us however it sounded so near.  The dive master confirmed that it was dynamite fishing.  I thought to myself, no wonder there are no great reefs around the area and fishes has declined in numbers.  I wish the government will do something to rid this practice, so we have a sustainable environment and nice reefs for us divers to enjoy.