We bussed down the length of Cebu Island to get to Moalboal.
Moalboal is one of those places that makes you feel like you're venturing into the great unknown. You see no foreigners during the approach and the main strip is just a limestone track. That all changes once you pass as many dive shops as there are locals.
There's a reason why divers and snorkelers flock here - tens of thousands of sardines hang in massive schools just twenty metres off shore. Before I went in Nix asked me if they would make shapes like an arrow pointing out an incoming shark, they may not have been that creative but they were pretty immense.
Quite skittish, they'd move like one giant organism and whilst snorkeling above them was fun, diving in amongst them was quite special watching any disturbance send them into a lava lamp like swirl of glinting silver.
The other noteworthy event of Moalboal was saving a pup from possible death after finding her stuck in a hole devoid of energy following repeated attempts to get herself out. We brought her to our bungalow, gave her some water and removed a couple of ticks before marching her around trying to find her home. We had success and are hopeful that she's now OK.
Each evening was spent waiting for nonexistent sunsets, trying to spy the odd turt head and watching a thousand sparrows come home to roost on moustache boat.
Our next stop was Apo Island - one of the world's best diving sites.
Nix was a diving/snorkeling widow again as I fluffed around for hours in the water leaving no ledge unperved and constantly cursing 'sh*t I wish we had an underwater camera, why does f*cking everyone have a GOPRO'. Nix wasn't too sympathetic to my material wants.
Nix was a diving/snorkeling widow again as I fluffed around for hours in the water leaving no ledge unperved and constantly cursing 'sh*t I wish we had an underwater camera, why does f*cking everyone have a GOPRO'. Nix wasn't too sympathetic to my material wants.
The dive highlight was a night dive from shore where I spotted a school of baby cuttlefish, a smallscale scorpionfish hiding itself away in the sand, a painted cray, a velvety black Spanish Dancer, heaps of prawns and cleaner shrimps and got to muck around with fluorescent plankton and some strange jelly like vibrator thing that would light up when umm, given a bit of encouragement. A seriously good dive.
The accumulation of seeing things that I hadn't seen before or never knew existed is what made diving Apo so enjoyable.
What made snorkeling Apo so enjoyable was the 100% guarantee that just 5-10 metres off shore you could swim with sometimes more than ten huge green sea turtles. Swimming with that many turtles was one of those times that you just knew nature was taking the p*ss.
After Apo and still not done with the diving caper we dropped in to Dauin for a night before leaving the Negros region. Over the last month I've become obsessed with wanting to see a frogfish under the water and apparently Dauin was a good bet.
Among a heap of strange creatures living in the sand and enough ghost pipefish to last me a lifetime, I spotted my frogfish. He may have only been half the size of your pinky's fingernail but I've at least seen one now. The quest to see an adult has commenced.
It now might be time for me to spend a bit of time out of the water and with my wife. However given I'm now shrivelled up like an old man's ball sack Nix may be happier with her life as a lady of leisure.
*Please note that no turtles were harmed in the writing of this post
