We arrived in Moalboal exhausted from a long journey, and irritated by having been scammed at Manila Airport, barely making our flight to Cebu. From Cebu City to Moalboal is less than 90km, but it can take up to four hours, a chugging stop-start drive through the choking traffic of a string of cities sprawling all down the island’s east coast, then a rattling ride over the mountains on uneven, switchbacking roads. We paid PHP 2,500 for a hire car rather than take the much cheaper local bus, but we were glad about it with two tired, travel-sick children.

Once we arrived at Moalboal though, we finally began to relax. It’s a small coastal town which is rapidly developing as a tourist destination, with diving and snorkeling as the main attraction. While much of it is still rough and ready, there are plenty of restaurants and bars, and we secured large, comfortable accommodation for four of us near the beach for the equivalent of USD 60 per night.

Having come to scuba diving late in life, I was keen to get a couple of dives in, as was my older son, Noah (age 13). My wife has completed a PADI course but decided in the process she didn’t really enjoy diving, and our younger boy at 9 we felt was not yet ready, so they went snorkeling instead. With the plethora of dive shops available, it can be hard to pick one, so we arranged it through our accommodation. A word of warning though – we discovered after booking that our instructor was not PADI certified, so our dives do not count towards qualifying to dive independently.

I knew something was up when our briefing session was – well, brief, and they didn’t check whether we had mastered basic skills like clearing the regulator. None of this should be taken to mean I felt unsafe; they were hugely experienced divers, and their approach was to “babysit” us one to one. The purpose of the sessions was not to teach us how to dive, but to get us into the water as quickly as possible so that we could enjoy the wildlife, and if that’s your objective, then a “discovery dive” of this kind is easy and enjoyable. (Although it should be noted that the snorkeling half of the family saw lots of wildlife too.)

Noah suiting up to dive

And the sealife of Moalboal is stunning. On our first dive we swam with a vast shoal of sardines, swirling around us and glittering in the sun. On the second we saw sea turtles, one unforgettably sitting on a coral shelf gazing out as though meditating, and totally unconcerned by us floating around next to it. The water is clear, the reefs clean and healthy, teeming with life. We have to hope that neither climate change nor the inevitable growth of Moalboal’s tourist industry change that.

We were diving from the main beach at Panagsama, where most of the dive shops and bars are clustered. However it’s mostly rock with little sand. If you want a more traditional beach experience you have to travel 7km up the coast to White Beach. The usual transport around Moalboal is motorbikes with elaborate tuk-tuk style sidecars, and there were no shortage of offers to take us there and back, even on Christmas Day. We paid PHP 500 after haggling, but the beach was a little crowded for my tastes, and we only went once.

Panagsama Beach offers great diving and snorkeling, but is mostly rocky

We also visited Kawasan Falls. There are numerous offers of trips to this beauty spot, but unless you want to go canyoneering, the cheapest way is again to haggle with a sidecar driver. (I watched canyoneers plunging 20 meters into a pool, and if that’s your bag it’s probably great fun, but it’s certainly not suitable for kids.) On arriving at the falls someone jumped onto our sidecar and introduced himself as “our guide for the day”. He took a lot of convincing that he wasn’t going to be our guide and we didn’t need one.

The walk up to Kawasan falls is a scenic one

Instead, just pay the small entrance fee and follow the path along the beautiful river valley until you reach the falls. Here you should obey Killeen’s First Rule of Waterfalls, derived from my extensive experience: Always Start at the Top. The first pool you come to at Kawasan is crowded, and ringed by people trying to sell you things, rent you a locker or a table, or charge you for taking photographs. Life jackets are not obligatory, but if you cross without one to the deeper half of the pool where the falls and the cave are, expecting furious tooting on whistles to summon you back. (This is not entirely without reason: we watched what appeared to be a coconut come flying over the falls and hurtle into the water below. If you were knocked out by debris coming down the river you could be in very serious trouble.)

The lowest pool at Kawasan falls

It took some time before we realized that we could venture further up the hill, where there were quieter pools, and lots of spots from which my intrepid kids could hurl themselves into the water. I made one such jump, and had forgotten to take off my locker key, which disappeared at the bottom of the pool. Fortunately a kindly local retrieved it for me.

We spent a very enjoyable week at Moalboal, but one local tourist attraction we didn’t visit was the whale sharks at Oslob. In my next post, I’ll explain why.

Photos: Andrew Killeen, Karen Killeen

Ready to swim with the predators of the deep? On July 28 and 29, SinoScuba will once again be holding their annual Shark Weekend at the city’s very own Blue Zoo Beijing aquarium! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to interact with six different species of sharks in a safe and fun environment.

The three-hour-long program will start off with a behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium. Learn about the toothy underwater hunters and how they fit into the oceanic ecosystem. After that, take the plunge and go for a swim with your newly-made friends. Note that divers must be at least 10 years old.

The When and Where:
There will be four sessions: Two on July 28 at 10am and 1.30pm, and two on July 29 at 10am and 1.30pm. Participants must register in advance and there’s a maximum of four divers per session. The program costs RMB 650 per diver (RMB 600 for students with ID) and RMB 90 per non-diver. Remember to bring your own swimsuit, towel, and shower supplies. Other supplies and equipment will be provided by SinoScuba.

Worker’s Stadium South Gate, Jingguang Qiao, Chaoyang District (6591 3397) 朝阳区工人体育场南门

For more information, see the event listing here or contact SinoScuba at steven@sinoscuba.com or 186 1113 3629.

Photo: Jeff Kubina via Flickr

Here’s an opportunity that adventure seekers 10 and up are not going to want to miss: a guided underwater tour of Beijing’s Blue Zoo aquarium complete with the opportunity to pet a shark. Yes, I said pet a shark.

Long-term Beijing resident Steven Schwankert, a veteran diver with more than two decades of diving experience and the proprietor of local diving operation SinoScuba, is hosting a weekend of close encounters with 6 species of sharks (as well as other other underwater denizens) on July 30-31 at Beijing’s own Blue Zoo.

Schwankert and one of his students do a safety check before taking a dive into the main tank at the Blue Zoo

In his second annual "Shark Weekend", Schwankert will be taking four groups of four into the tank at the Blue Zoo for what he describes as "an interactive educational program designed to offer safe encounters with sharks in a controlled environment." No diving experience is necessary (though experienced divers are welcome as well).

All programs include all required scuba equipment rental, admission to the Blue Zoo, a 40-minute guided dive in the Blue Zoo’s main tank, a tour of the aquarium’s non-public areas and a SinoScuba t-shirt. The program will set you back RMB 650 (600 for ages 12 and under).

Some of you may be wondering about Schwankert’s sanity and whether petting sharks is something a wise parent would subject their offspring to — but no worries there as Schwankert is practically on a first-name basis with the sharks at the Blue Zoo and has been taking students on guided tours of the tank for years. And with 20 years of diving in just about every corner of the globe, he’s a stickler for safety.

Given that the program is open to a maximum of 16 participants, you’ll want to act fast if you’re interested. For details, email steven@sinoscuba.com or call 1350 116 3629 … and tell him you heard about it on beijingkids!

For more information on SinoScuba’s Shark Week(end), see the event listing here.

Last week at the diving competition, 13-year-old Tom Daley finished seventh in Beijing’s diving World Cup. This means he’ll become the youngest-ever diver to represent the UK at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Check out The Guardian’s video of Tom in action.