After Bohol it took most of our day to get to Moalboal. We had to get a taxi to the pier, a ferry, a taxi to the bus station in Cebu and then a bus to Moalboal. We eventually checked into Chief Mau hostel, which is another I would really recommend. In the evening we had the most delicious burger, it may be because it how much we missed western food but it was great!
For our first full day we had to wake up at 5.30am to be picked up for the Kawasan Falls Canyoneering trip. This was probably the most anticipated trip we knew we were going to do in the Philippines, and we chose to book this private tour a friend recommended to us. It was a funny experience, to book it I messaged him on Instagram, and then we were picked up on a motorbike were me and Laura both were on the back and taken to the beginning of the canyoneering. We specifically wanted to go as early as we could because we had heard how busy it gets with all the tours. We had the most unbelievable time! Our guide was so good, he was happy to take millions of pictures for us, and told us all the good spots to jump from. Halfway through we reached a swing that one of the locals had made, and you could pay a tiny amount of money to swing off a rock and jump into the water, I didn’t want to leave it was so fun! At the end of all the jumps and climbs we reached the Kawasan Falls. Words cant even describe how blue the water is! It looked like gallons of Gatorade it was that unique of colour. Unfortunately this bit was crowded with people, but our guide told us its because it is summer and many people live close by, to it was busy with local families.
The next day we planned to have a day of snorkelling. Just when I thought our trip to Moalboal couldn’t get any better after the canyoneering, about 30 seconds into Laura and I going into the sea we FINALLY saw a sea turtle. We were swimming right next to it for ages with no one else around, watching it eat the grass and swimming about. It truly was amazing, since we had left home the main thing we had spoke about nearly every place we have been is we were desperate to see a sea turtle, and within a minute of swimming from the shore in Moalboal we see one with no one else around! Eventually other people joined us in observing, but for a long time there was no boats or anything. To top it off, throughout the day we saw 2 more turtles, one small one and one giant one. Although seeing the turtles was obviously a big highlight for us, this isnt the main reason why snorkelling is a big thing to do in Moalboal. For some unknown reason to the locals, millions of sardines are staying a few metres from the coast, and you can swim right up to them and see them creating a huge wall as they swim, and swim right through them as they create a hole for you to swim through. It was so cool to see but unfortunately it was quite dark to get any good footage on the GoPro. We spent the night in Chilli Bar having some drinks and dancing, it was good fun but we were definitely feeling tired from the last few days.
Moalboal was surprisingly one of my favourite parts of the Philippines! Aside from the canyoneering and seeing the turtles, it was just a nice area with friendly people and just enough options for food that it doesnt feel too touristy and keeps the local feel to it. Granted we weren’t staying in the town, but I really enjoyed the area we were in by the sea. I also had another chance to play some more basketball with the locals which they of course, were really good in flip flops again!
Lee Teivans Travel Blog 