27.08.2022 | Asia, Philippines

Swim with the Sardine Run in Moalboal and visit waterfalls on Cebu Island

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The island Cebu is known for incredible waterfalls and you should absolutely visit some of them! Our favorite one was Inambakan Waterfalls. After arriving at the airport we recommend to directly go to Moalboal further South. It’s a good base for waterfall day tours and you can find some good restaurants here. Also it’s known for snorkeling or freediving in the Sardine Run close to the shore.

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EXPLORE THE UNDERWATER WORLD

1. Snorkel or dive in the Sardine Run in Moalboal

Seeing the Sardine Run was one of the greatest things I have ever seen, next to whale sharks, dolphins and turtles :). It’ such an incredible feeling being between these huge groups of fish, moving together in all directions. You can either snorkel and watch the Sardines from above, they move actually only 2-5 meters under the surface very close to the shore. Or you freedive down to 3-6 meters through the groups of Sardines or even underneath. You will notice that it gets pretty dark getting in such a group of Sardines. You can see the Sardines all day and year long, however the water visibility is best at sunrise and there are a lot less people. If you are lucky you can also see some turtles.

2. Book a freediving course with Jean-Pol and @freedivingplanet

Jean-Pol is a famous freediver, holds different records and knows all the good freedivers like Alexei Moltschanow, Ocean Ramsey or Guillaume Nery and many more. He even organized the locations in the Philippines for one of the famous movies of Guillaume Nery and judged the biggest freedivers. Jean-Pol, originally from Belgium, built his own freediving school in Moalboal, as well as a hostel and a restaurant.

Since we already did an introductory course in freediving in Mexico, we directly booked the Molchanovs Wave 1 course with Jean-Pol in Moalboal. We highly recommend to get the certifications with the organization Molachanovs, the online platform is just the best, even better then AIDA. For the WAVE 1 certification you can do your theory already from home, so you only have two days of practice in the pool and ocean. We went down to 18 meters at the rope in different styles, hold our breath for 3 minutes in static and learned about breathing techniques and equalization. It was incredible! Jean-Pol is a very good and calm teacher! Please only go freediving after visiting a freediving course, otherwise in can get very dangerous! Some scuba instructors still teach a hyperventilation technique which is wrong and very dangerous! So book with a good Molchanovs or AIDA freediving instructor!

3. Don’t go to Oslob to see whale sharks!!

Please don’t travel to Oslob to see whale sharks!! There are way better places to swim with these beautiful creatures! It’s incredibly sad how hundreds of tourist boats are chasing the sharks in Oslob and how they feed the animals forcing them to stay. That’s not okay and not natural! You don’t want to be part of this torment! There are a lot of places where you can snorkel with whale sharks, without feeding them, just because they want to. In The Philippines they told us that Donsol and Southern Leyte is a great place for Whale Sharks. We already swam with whale sharks in La Paz Mexico, where the animals aren’t fed and where only a few boats from registered organizations are allowed to go out. Therefore we were happy with don’t seeing whale sharks in the Philippines.

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HIKE SOME PEAKS

1. Get a scooter and explore Cebu island

When you are done with snorkeling or diving in the ocean, we highly recommend to rent a scooter in Moalboal and to explore the area! You can reach all waterfalls from Moalboal and visit some mountain peaks. Stop at the villages, kids will scream and want to get in touch with you. It’s so cute!

2. Osmena Peak for sunset

For Osmena Peak you have to drive South on the main road along the ocean and then drive inland. You will drive up a lot of mountain roads until you finally arrive. Osmena Peak is pretty popular amongst tourists, especially for sunset. But it’s also a pretty easy hike and the view is fantastic. You can also book a tour from Moalboal, so you don’t have to drive on a scooter on your own.

3. The lesser known Casino Peak, or Kandungaw Peak for sunset

This is our secret tip for you! While many people hike up to Osmena Peak, 5 minutes away from Osmena Peak you will probably be the only one at the incredible Casino Peak! The hike is similar, but the view is even better! We first climbed Osmena Peak and then went to Casino Peak fo sunset. We heard that there is another close unpopular hike, Kandungaw Peak.

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GO ON A WATERFALL MISSION

Cebu is THE island for waterfalls! There are so many waterfalls, you probably can’t visit them all! We started very early in the morning from Moalboal with our scooter and went on a day trip to the north and in the south to visit a few of the waterfalls. We arrived early in the morning and had the waterfalls all for ourselves. Most of the waterfalls are only accessible with a guide, however they only ask for a small tip and tell you where it’s save to jump.

1. Mantayupan Waterfall – the highest fall

Mantayupan Waterfall is the highest waterfall of the Philippines. Most waterfalls are located in the South, but this one is located in the North of Moalboal, actually between Cebu and Moalboal. After paying a small amount at the entrance (around 40 PHP) you can walk down to the first smaller waterfall, then you can hike along the bridge to the second huge waterfall. They have a wooden platform there, which you can move along a line to the center of the pool! We really loved this waterfall, since there were only locals, however the water wasn’t as blue as at the waterfalls in the South.

2. The famous Kawasan Falls

The Kawasan Falls are probably the most famous waterfalls on Cebu island. You’ve probably seen the pictures from platform one on Instagram. Unfortunately, the Kawasan Falls got pretty destroyed in the typhoon in December 2021. Therefore the Falls were closed for tourists when we visited in May 2022. However, it was still possible to book the famous canopying tour for these falls, where you jump down several cliffs with guides. We decided to skip this waterfall, since the most beautiful platform one was closed for everyone and we prefer to explore the less touristic waterfalls.

3. Montpellier Waterfall and Cambais Waterfall

Since there are so many beautiful waterfalls, we had to choose and skipped Montpellier and Cambais Waterfall. However, they look absolutely beautiful on the pictures and they are located directly on the way to Osmena Peak and Casino Peak. You can easily visit them in the day and catch the sunset on one of the peaks.

4. Inambakan Waterfall – our favorite one!

Inambakan waterfall was our absolutely favorite waterfall on Cebu island. We started the day trip very early in Moalboal with our scooter. From there we needed around 1,5 hours to reach these beautiful falls. The entrance fee is 50 pesos and 10 pesos for parking the scooter. The family living at the entrance was absolutely adorable. The son went to all the different waterfalls with us.

Although we like to explore places on ourselves, we found it pretty amazing to have him with us, since he showed us where we can jump head forward in the water. You never know the depth of the water, the knowledge of a local makes it so much easier. It was his playground, he knew every corner and was pretty good at jumping! He even helped with the pictures. Give him a little tip in the end! The waterfall has different platforms and early in the morning we had them all for ourselves.

5. The incredible looking Dao Falls

Well, these waterfalls look pretty special. We went there after visiting Inambakan Falls, and again we were the only ones. The drive between the palm tree fields to the waterfall itself was absolutely beautiful. At the entrance you need a guide for 60 pesos, who gives you water shoes and a helmet. Since this waterfall got destroyed in the typhoon 2021, too, there are some dangerous passages now. We were told, that you once could slide from one waterfall pool to the next. This wasn’t possible anymore when we visited. However, the drone shots of this place blew our minds!

6. The mystic Binalayan Hidden Falls

This was our 3rd waterfall we visited after Inambakan and Dao. Again we were completely alone. It’s mandatory to go with a guide, however I think you don’t need one here, however the hike next to the first waterfall leading to the second one is a little bit tricky. You need to understand that the local families make their income with guiding the tourists. It’s still a very small amount they ask for, so I think it’s nice to support the locals this way. There are different jumping options as well.

7. Climbing through Aguindid Waterfalls

We skipped this waterfall, since friends told us that you need to climb through all the waterfalls with two guides and that you get completely wet. We had our camera and drone with us, and although we had good waterproof-bags with us, we decided to see the “easier” waterfalls. However, it looked like a lot of fun, and with less baggage it must be an incredible experience!

8. Kabutongan Waterfall

If you still don’t have enough of waterfalls, there is another one: Kabutongan. The other ones listed above are more spectacular in our opinion, but Kabutongan is still very beautiful!

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WHERE TO EAT ?

Since you probably stay in Moalboal, as recommended above, you will find yourself in a place with many good and healthy food options!

1. Bowls at Shaka Café, Moalboal

Hmmmmm, the bowls are sooo tasty! There are several Shaka Cafés in the Philippines, and they are all amazing! Some offer only bowls, like in Moalboal, some also have lunch and dinner dishes like in Bohol. The peanut butter and banana bowl is perfect before a dive day!

2. Smooth Café, Moalboal

Another great restaurant is the Smooth Café. It’s a popular place with vegan options and you can get great falafel wraps, salads and many more. It’s located directly at the main road. It can get pretty busy in the evening.

3. Okeanos, Moalboal

Okeanos is a great restaurant and café, too! It’s the place of our freediving teacher Jean-Pol (in the right of the picture). He runs an airbnb with a few rooms, this café and his freediving school. Oceanos offers very healthy meals, perfect before or after a freediving session. We also met there before or after our diving sessions to watch the video material or fill out the papers for our certificate. The guy in the left on the picture was our second freediving teacher. They are both incredibly kind and experienced people! I had the honor to perform a safety rescue on our second teacher.

4. Altrove, Moalboal

If you want to eat some good Italian food, pizza and pasta, this place is for you!

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WHERE TO SLEEP ?

We only stayed at Harman Suites for 5 nights and loved it! The owner is a lovely Australian guy, one of the best hosts we ever had! He even worried, when we came late from a scooter waterfall mission, organized us a driver in the middle of the night to get to the ferry to Bohol and simply tried to help us everywhere he could. He is friends with Jean-Pol, too. You can also stay directly at Jean-Pol’s place at Oceanos, unfortunately we didn’t know that when we booked our airbnb.

1. Harman Suites !!!

The rooms are very beautiful and more then clean. It’s located in the middle of the center, still it’s completely silent, since you walk through a garden to your room.

2. Others

• Okeanos (owner Jean-Pol, Freediving School)
• The Blue Orchid Resort (recommended by another freediving teacher, since it’s located directly at the ocean at a reef)

Getting to CEBU

From Palawan or Siargao it’s only possible to get to Cebu by a short inland flight (around 1 hour). These flights are propeller flights. Sometimes these flights were a little delayed, however we didn’t have any problems with the inland flights. Between Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor you can only take the ferry right now. However, they are just building a new airport on Bohol.

About the damage of the typhoon

In Palawan we barely noticed the damage of the typhoon which caught the Philippines in the end of 2021. Unfortunately, Cebu and Siargao were in the center of the typhoon and there is a lot of damage! Although we could still visit the waterfalls, went freediving and could drive on all roads, we saw so much damage! A lot of broken rooftops, broken palm trees, buildings that were completely destroyed. Our diving teacher told us the typhoon was horrible! He had a diving school directly at the ocean, which is right now completely destroyed. It will take a few months or even years to rebuild everything. However, you help the locals with spending money at these places!