Lunes, Marso 14, 2016

Pescador Island

Pescador Island and Panagsama Beach: The Diving Paradises of Moalboal

Pescador Island and Panagsama Beach
The Coral Triangle is a 5.7 million square kilometer, roughly triangular area of tropical marine waters that encompass the Solomon Islands, Papa New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and our very own Philippines. With 500 species of reef-building corals and innumerable species of marine organisms that call these corals home, the Coral Triangle is dubbed the Amazon of the sea. Its rich resources are more than enough to sustain the 120 million people.
Being part of the rich Coral Triangle is what makes the Philippines an excellent, world-class diving destination. And in Cebu, beautiful dive spots are all over the region. Two of these sites are the internationally renowned Pescador Island and the equally famous Panagsama Beach (sometimes dubbed Basdiot). Both destinations are in the lively town of Moalboal in southern Cebu.
This was our first dive out of Kontiki Resort in Maribago, Lapu Lapu, Mactan. Being PADI Open Water divers, we wanted to explore other spectacular sites around the country. Moalboal, we realized, was an ideal location to start our underwater adventures for the year since the entire coast is practically sprinkled with dive sites of different characteristics.
Together with a few adventure-blooded friends, we arrived at the Moalboal town center at around 7:30 AM after a 3-hour bus ride. We ate a heavy breakfast and bought these tasty grilled steaks for our lunch. These seem to be a recipe for a great dive. However, a steady drizzle in the locality and ominous gray clouds that loom over the horizon got us worried.

We got into a large tricycle that took us to Panagsama Beach at the western side of town. It is advisable that you tell the driver what time you want to be picked up; tricycles come at irregular intervals in Panagsama Beach.

Less than half an hour later, we arrived at Nelson’s Scuba Dive School. Yes, we know what you’re thinking. The façade may not look much, but Nelson’s is one of the premier and respected diving outfitters in Moalboal. It is a landmark in the Cebu’s local diving scene.
Pescador Island and Panagsama Beach
That is Nelson Abenido, the proprietor of the outfit and a scuba diving instructor. He is no stranger to the underwater world.
Pescador Island and Panagsama Beach
Nelson’s Scuba Dive School has a complete array of high-quality scuba rental gear. They also have their own air tank refilling facility.
Pescador Island and Panagsama Beach

Pescador Island

After donning our wet suits and preparing our scuba equipment, we proceeded to the staging point at the beach. A few foreigner tourists joined us in this dive.
With everyone accounted for, we headed to Pescador Island, which is located a few kilometers off the coast of Moalboal. We were hoping the skies would clear up, but the day continued to be gray and drizzly. We had to endure a relatively rough ride.
Pescador Island
After 30 minutes, we arrived at the famed island. Pescador is named so because of the many fishermen who visit the island to harvest its bounty. In Spanish, Pescador means “fishermen.” The rich diversity of marine life that surrounds Pescador has made the island a very popular site for recreational divers worldwide.
Pescador Island
After our boatmen found a nice spot to tie the boat to a floating buoy (dropping an anchor is prohibited because it damages the reef), we put on our dive gear. Walking towards the edge of the boat was quite a challenge for everyone as the vessel kept pitching and rolling on the waves. Helpful and accommodating PADI divemasters had to lend a hand to steady the divers.

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