There is a superb scuba diving region near Moaboal town on the western side of Cebu island. Moalboal lies inland a few kilometres but driving from there to the coast takes you on to a peninsula fringed by delightful white sand beaches and some pristine coral reefs.
A little away from the better known parts of the central Visayas region, diving around Moalboal has always been well regarded due to the dramatic wall dives that parallel the beach. Coated in hard and soft corals, the walls are populated by lots of small schooling fish, including a surprising number of razorfish that live in clusters of several hundred. However, the real star of this region is Pescador island.
The story goes that a few years back a massive school of sardines appeared from nowhere but dispersed shortly after. They reappeared the following year and have been there ever since. Like the more famous South African sardine run, they attract substantial predators, including schools of jacks, tuna, mackerel and (occasionally) thresher sharks. This is an exceptional marine phenomenon with so many sardines that at times the sun is completely obscured.
