Swimming with the sardines in Moalboal

CEBU, Philippines - When one speaks of Moalboal, the white sand beach and the great dive sites always come to mind.

But one does not have to dive deep to enjoy the place, as just within reach from the water’s surface is the amazing view of the giant wall of sardines. Even non-divers—since the area where the sardines would frequent is just a stone’s throw away from the shoreline—are attracted by this phenomenon.

When my friends from the Seaknights, a group of cause-oriented divers, opened up the subject last Friday night, the following day we packed our camping tents and dive gear, and headed to Moalboal. The v-hire fare to this southern town is P100, or P115 if travelled by a non-air-conditioned bus.

Upon arriving at the town’s beautiful beach in Basdako, it was already night-time, the group set up our tents so we could retire already. There are several beach resorts in the area offering room accommodations that range from P500 to a few thousands. A fellow Seaknights, Fr. Murphy Sarsonas, who happens to be the assistant parish priest of Moalboal church, brought us to Magics Place, an inexpensive resort in Basdako, and gave us two rooms to use. Since we were 14, the majority opted to stay in tents for a better view of the starry skies above.

Early the next day, from Basdako the group moved to Panagsama for the main event.

The sardines were just about 20 kilometers from the shoreline, or near drop-off. No need to rent a boat to get there, so we just walked to the site with our gear and all. At a signal, we descended and voila, we were met by the thick wall of sardines moving in one direction in a very slow pace. But of course, in order not to distract them, we had to move slowly, too, so, our group stuck to the reef’s wall and just enjoyed the show. The school of sardines was at least 10 meters in width, it was an amazing backdrop for picture-taking.

The sardines were still enjoying their meals at the time we were there, and because we did not want to disturb them, we moved along and dived away. Moalboal dive is not complete without the sightings of sea turtles, we caught two: one on the way out, and another on our way back to where we started.

After spending sometime deeper we maneuvered back to the sardines, they could be seen at 10 feet or less, and saw them still there where we left them. Even a sea turtle and some big fishes seemed to be playing with them, or they could be feeding at them, we just did not know as we could see if a fish or two were already lost from the pack. They were small fishes, the sardines, about half a foot, but they move quick.

In a fishing village like Panagsama, it is a miracle to see the great school of sardines still thrive in their area. Fellow Seaknights diver Armarie Borden described her experience with the sardines as “breath-taking.” It was her second time there. “The ocean never fails to amaze me. In each of my visits, its creatures big and small definitely steal my heart away. Diving with the sardines is surely a breath-taking experience,” she shared. Another Seaknights diver, Andrew Esma, said his experience with the sardines was “life changing.” “We may disregard the lowly sardines when they are in the can, but seeing them in the wild makes you say, the world is just amazing,” he said.

And that world is just two and half hours away from Cebu City. When you’re in Moalboal, never miss the sardines. (FREEMAN)