
During my stay in Cebu, I decided to book snorkeling tours to two of the best diving spots on the island: Oslob and Moalboal. In Oslob you have the once in a lifetime opportunity of swimming up close with whale sharks, and in Moalboal you can see beautiful coral reefs, the sardine run, and turtles. I highly recommend booking a local guide for the best experience because they will help you find the ideal spots to swim. These beaches are quite far from Cebu City, so be prepared to wake up early for a long trip. Your effort will reward with the memory of swimming next to some of Cebu’s most interesting aquatic wildlife, however!
Swimming with Whale Sharks in Oslob
On my third day in Cebu, I woke up at 5am for a whale shark tour that I booked through Island Trek Tours on Klook. I liked this tour because it included hotel pickup and had snorkeling as an add-on for those who just want to watch the whale sharks from the boat (of course, I chose the snorkeling option). The average cost of the whale shark tours is $55-$75 depending on how much fuel you need to get to Oslob, but the money is more than worth the experience.
The journey to Oslob took about 3 hours but I slept for more than half the way and was the only person in the vehicle. When I arrived in Oslob, I checked in and received my snorkeling gear, then sat down for a short presentation on the rules of swimming with whale sharks. Basically they ask that you do not touch or feed them and also do not wear sun screen because the chemicals from it can harm them. Your swimming time with them lasts around 30-45 minutes because there are multiple tour groups, but that is more than enough time to take pictures and video. After agreeing to the instructions, I boarded a long paddle boat and arrived at the swimming location in mere minutes. I was astonished at how the whale sharks swim so close to shore, because if you have fins you could easily reach them.
It is suggested that you swim beside the whale sharks and not above or below them to keep them from being distressed. Fortunately whale sharks are patient creatures and will usually swim away if they become overwhelmed. I did not feel any discomfort or fear during this experience and would gladly do it again.
Here are some more pictures of the whale sharks and beachfront that I captured with my GoPro.










Whale sharks are endangered and are currently a protected species in the Philippines. If you book one of these tours, please be sure to be respectful of them.
Tumalog Falls



After the whale shark experience, my driver took me to Tumalog Falls where I had the chance to swim in a waterfall! The water was very clean and refreshing. I have never had the chance to swim in the pool of a waterfall before, so this was another first for me that I will treasure for a lifetime. Cebu truly is a haven for beautiful nature.
Food



Since there were limited restaurants by the whale shark beach in Oslob, I decided to just have snacks for lunch and go to Cebu City for dinner on the way back to my accommodation. I found this amazing upscale cocktail bar and restaurant called Circa 1900 that is located in a restored colonial house near the JY Mall. They have both western and Filippino dishes on their menu and the food and drinks are high quality. I ordered grapefruit and mango cocktails with two different appetizers. This was the best food that I had in Cebu and I can’t recommend this place enough!
Swimming in Moalboal



The next day I decided to book an Moalboal island hopping tour through KKday. This tour was pretty pricey due to the fuel cost needed to reach Moalboal, so I paid around $139 for it. However, the package included 3 different snorkeling spots on a private boat so the price was pretty fair for it. One thing to keep in mind is Moalboal used to be one of the best beach destinations in Cebu, but in 2021 a typhoon caused severe damage to some of the reefs and beaches here. The ecosystem has not been the same since and some areas of the beach are quite grainy. The water was not as crystal clear as I had hoped, but I still had fun venturing out here and seeing the sardine run and turtles.


The first dive spot was a beautiful coral reef near a rocky island. I saw a clown fish which was super cute and my guide helped me take videos of me diving with my GoPro. I was happy to see that this reef was in relatively good condition and that there were so many fish swimming here!
The second dive spot was Moalboal’s famous sardine run. Right off the shore of Panagsama Beach there are huge schools of sardines that gather every day. Their scales shimmer in the sunlight and they constantly move in a flowing motion, so they truly are a sight to behold. I had so much fun swimming with them because I had never seen so many tiny fish at once. Though I wished the water visibility was a bit better, I was happy with my experience here.
The last destination was swimming with turtles in the shallow waters of Panagsama Beach (which was very close to the sardine run). I loved seeing the turtles because they were huge and friendly. They didn’t seem to mind people swimming nearby them at all. The sad part was I noticed there was plastic waste in the water and the visibility here was pretty terrible. I had a way better time seeing turtles in Okinawa because the waters were pristine and there was no waste at all. In retrospect, I really wish I could have come to Moalboal before the typhoon but there was no way I could have done that during the height of the pandemic. I still recommend coming to Moalboal if you like swimming and diving, but be aware that the water quality is not always the best here.
Food


For lunch I asked my boat driver what he recommended, and he said to try The Boundary which was really close to the starting point of the tour. The restaurant had so many delicious entrees and drinks I didn’t know where to begin, so I ordered noodles, seasoned eggplant, and rice with a pina colada. Everything tasted amazing. The noodles reminded me of yakisoba in Japan and the drinks were as tropical as ever. Definitely don’t skip this place if you’re in Moalboal!
Thank you for reading my Cebu article series! I had a fantastic four days staying on this scenic island and it was overall a great starting point for my diving adventures. In my next article, I will be writing about my stay in Manila. Please look forward to it!