6. Moalboal - oder "there is screaming everywhere"

Once again it was a matter of getting up early, finding people to hand over the room, driving to the “port”, and then of course waiting. The ferries here tend to be financed by tourists. Principle: Leave when there are enough people/tourists... otherwise you can of course pay more so that you can leave earlier.
Doesn't matter. We had decided long before this route to pay for a private taxi ride from Maya Port to Moalboal. Quite expensive. But the fastest way. It took us about 5.5 hours and we were pretty exhausted. 213 kilometers, every time really incomprehensible, no matter what means of transport.
We landed in the mangroves, in Eskapo Verde near Moalboal. Incredibly good accommodation, provided you have insect repellent with you. Mangroves. We are well equipped.
There was a lot on the list on the first day, first stop: sardine run. If you go into the sea here, about 15 meters from the beach, the wall falls into the depths. That's where the sardines live. A lot of you. And you can experience great snorkeling. Thousands of shimmering little fishes continually form new formations, tunnels, sparkling structures. You could watch for hours.
Unless a front of Asian tourists, lined up like a string of pearls, corners you. The only option is to dive down, really.
Then continue to the first beach, White Beach. Beautiful beach, here too the reef edge is not far from the beach, nice snorkeling, completely unexpected.
Sascha urgently had to go to the hairdresser, the next day. I laughed my ass off when the hairdresser started giving me a massage. It was probably unexpectedly good. Hairstyle sits again.
We were actually ten minutes late at the Kawasan waterfall. Closed at three. Mmmmm. Doesn't matter. Let's just go to the next beach. Lambug Beach. Much smaller, but also less crowded. Entry is a bit expensive, you always have to pay a few pesos for everything, environmental tax, parking, oh you also want to look...
The next day was actually a bit sobering for me (Uli). Finally we went diving. We asked how big the diving groups are... no more than four people per dive guide. Unfortunately the boat is still full. Four/five groups. At dive sites where four/five boats are already moored. It's so crowded that for the first time I feel like I'm part of a problem. Thousands of bubbles bubble up the actually great steep walls and take quite a lot of things with them. Many parts of the reef have been destroyed by too many careless fins. For all the beauty that can be glimpsed, it is sobering and frightening. The picture is completed by an incredibly uninterested dive guide and a diving center for which you are really just another number.
Despite everything, we'll try again the day after tomorrow, hoping that another diving center will do it differently.
In between, Cebu's highest waterfall is our destination. Mantayupan Falls. It takes about an hour by moped to reach it. Really great, a scary suspension bridge leads to a waterfall that drops a hundred meters into the depths. Nobody there. Very good.
In the afternoon it's time to soak up the sun on the small beach.
On the second day of diving we go to Pescador Island. There is also a wall dive here. As soon as you go into the water, your first encounter with a sea snake is cool. The wall is great, overall great dive, very great wall. There are also a lot of divers here. In the end (unfortunately, one almost has to say) a turtle appeared and ten divers hung around it. Creepy. Here too, guides who really don't give a damn, they don't even help you into your jacket on the second dive, there's really a bit of room for improvement. The second cloth place is also nice, Dolphin House. Here too, unexpected snails that have never been seen before, a large octupus, we find a frogfish. If you search for yourself, you will find an incredible amount. But the guide, really. At the end of the dive he simply disappeared, unbelievable. I really can't recommend diving here. A real shame.
But it's Christmas. Holy Evening. Relaxing on the beach is unexpectedly difficult. As another tourist walking by says: "there is screaming everywhere" - Cebuans are passionate karaoke singers. And so there's a bit of a twist in the air here too: 'My Heart will go on'. In the evening at the hotel the guests share a table and a wonderful meal, it is surprisingly nice. Even though we really didn't miss anything about Christmas.
And then we're sick again. And so our last two days are characterized by rest, blue pills for fever and cold symptoms and the beach. And a small crab in Sascha's motorcycle helmet after he had briefly lain on the ground by the sea - tingly feeling. Or crawly. The crab definitely moved along in the helmet until the movement in the helmet became too much for Sascha.
The weather isn't that good anymore anyway. It's high time to pack up the tents. Go home!