Moalboal: Bustling Bars And Barbecued Bananas

The prop plane bounces through the storm and touches down safely in Cebu City where we spend a night at an airport hotel doing our best to dry out both the backpacks and those items which got wet in the onslaught. We did of course give the bags every practical protection, but rain as heavy as that is going to find a way in somewhere somehow, and it has. The damage isn’t too bad but judging by the uneven soaking it looks like the baggage handlers stood Michaela’s backpack in a puddle at some point. Thanks for that guys, nice touch.

Having snaffled a car and driver at the airport next morning, the journey across Cebu Island will, we’re told, take three hours. True to Philippines form it takes four. In the last half hour yet more torrential storms make us fear the worst, but by the time we hit our destination of Moalboal it’s made its way up country and only the puddles tell of its recent passage. 

As an amusing little fact, Moalboal is pronounced (kind of) Mwaalbwaal, and is said by some to have derived its name from the sound of water bubbling from the hot springs nearby. It doesn’t matter whether that’s true or not, it’s funny and we’ll take it as gospel. What definitely is true is that Moalboal is instantly appealing. Touted as a destination for PADI divers, there’s no missing that fact once you’re here, everything in this little village centres around diving trips. 

But what a great little village it is, especially the section right on the shoreline known as Panagsama. Rustic ramshackle travellers’ territory, hostel land as well as PADI land, loads of places to eat today’s fresh catch and multiple rickety wooden jetty bars in which to sip cheap cocktails and watch the sunsets. Everything is about the visitor market so call it touristy if you like (and of course it is in a way) but it’s got that laid back nowhere-near-five-star backyard feel which reminds us of Cirali in Turkey or the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Tuk tuks everywhere, diving and snorkelling gear everywhere, cocktails cheaper than beer. The sunsets come free.

Girls in tiny skirts hand out happy hour vouchers, laughter peals from bars and by 8pm the live bands are playing and the PADI fraternity are diving into cocktails instead of the ocean. Looking around, it’s a fair bet that we are just a little bit above the average age of visitors here. Maybe just forty years or so.

Michaela suffers an equipment malfunction so unfortunately she has no record to show you of her fantastic snorkelling through gigantic sardine shoals which twist and turn like murmurations before her very eyes. She comes back excited and animated, thrilled by an hour or so only a short distance offshore. Why only Michaela? Man, despite multiple attempts, I just haven’t managed to master the breathing techniques needed for snorkelling, which sounds really stupid but when you consider that I’ve never really grasped how to drink through a straw without getting in a mess, it puts it in perspective.

Out at Kawasan Falls a few miles from Moalboal, the water is an unreal shade of blue, from the falls themselves, through the pool at the foot of the falls and along the river to the sea. It’s a fun hour or so swimming into the strong current and being carried – life jacket mandatory – across the blue pool. And then, just down from the falls, we stumble upon the barbecued banana.

Sometimes in life you come across a food which is so much better than the component parts would suggest that it should be. Put two stumpy bananas on a wooden skewer, cook it over coals, brush it with margarine (yep, really cheap tacky stuff) and then roll it in sugar. The melted margarine and the sugar combine to give a toffee flavour, the banana tastes of barbecue smoke and has softened through heating. Honestly, it is so much better than it sounds! 

Still the dry season continues to confound and the rain remains stubborn. With considerable good fortune we catch the only decent spell of sunshine and blue sky on our one and only visit to White Beach, otherwise the weather has been as unreliable as a bus timetable in the UK. Each time we think it’s going to improve, down comes the rain; the sun casts only occasional and brief shadows and then darts back behind cloud; our views of the next island and its Kanlaon volcano have become a vague outline in the several shades of grey. Every time the rain comes, it properly means business, too. Sure knows how to rain here. Even the locals are starting to comment….”the sun is late this year”….”this rain should be gone by now”… “maybe tomorrow…..”

James the tuk tuk man asks us….”when is your dry season in England?”. We have no idea how to answer that question. Where would we start?

Here’s the thing though. You know, sometimes persistent rain can spoil your opinion of a place, but somehow the great feel of Moalboal has risen above all that and its character has proved to be the absolute winner. Any negative impact is just not happening here, we really like Moalboal despite the weather we’ve had, though there’s no doubt we would love to see it at its best too. Such is its vibe that each time the heavens open, the streets quickly empty and the bars fill up and everyone stays chilled. As in…who cares?

We’re based a short tuk-tuk ride from Panagsama, out on the coast half way to White Beach. Each evening as we climb out of our ride and walk towards the centre the ambience of Moalboal/Panagsama makes us smile, it’s just the kind of place that makes you feel relaxed and ready for your evening. Lively yet chilled, fun yet calm, driven yet rustic. 

You don’t need to be a PADI to dive into Moalboal.

Here’s two more reasons to love it. One, the Smooth Cafe has what is not only the first draught beer of this whole trip, but is also a beer brewed locally on Cebu island. Tick. Two, there’s a rustic little place down the dead end of the seafront, well away from the centre, with a charcoal grill where they cook fresh fish. When we ask what’s on tonight’s menu, she says she doesn’t know until her husband comes home and she sees what he’s caught. No catch, no menu. Now THAT is our kind of place.

The fish which we share is fantastic, but the bad boy prawns….oh my God I don’t even have any words…are there any words to describe food so good that it makes you swoon?

Little bit sad to leave Moalboal. Could easily chill here for another week. 

James the tuk tuk man asks, “why are you leaving? I can tell you love it here”.

That’s the second time he’s asked a question we can’t answer.