Lowest hereSardines and turtles
Snorkel day from Cebu
- At Pescador
- 2 hours
- Gear
- Snorkeling
- Price
- from $89
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How much does diving cost in Moalboal?
A day of scuba from Cebu, a snorkel trip to Pescador or a full course: the from-prices of real listings, what each includes and the small extras that come on top.
Check availabilityfrom $144 · cancel for free
Editorial team, moalboal-diving.comUpdated October 22, 20266 minutes to read11 sources
The numbers first
- 01Scuba day from Cebu
- From $126 to $160 on four listings.
- 02Snorkel day
- From $89 for sardines, turtles and Pescador.
- 03Open Water course
- From $421 on Mactan, over 2 to 3 days.
- 04Not included
- On this site's tour: meals, insurance and tips.
- 05Sanctuary fees
- In 2013 Moalboal's four sanctuaries ran a user-fee system.1
What a dive day from Cebu costs
The Moalboal dive days on GetYourGuide include hotel pickup on Cebu, and their price covers the drive as well as the water. Four listings put a number on it. The scuba dive with a turtle snorkel starts from $126, the Panagsama scuba day from $134, this site's private dive day from $144 and the two-dive Pescador day from $160.
Those are from-prices: the lowest figure GetYourGuide shows for a date and a group size, before any option you add. The final price depends on the day, on how many of you book together and on the pickup point. Treat them as the floor of a range rather than a quote, and check the calendar for your own date.
Compare what you get for the money, not just the figure. This site's tour gives you 3 hours at Moalboal inside an 8-hour day, while the two-dive listing spends 3 hours diving and names its two sites. A higher price that spells out the dives can be the better deal than a lower one that leaves them open.
Where the money goes
The costs of a dive day, in order
-
Booking
The tour price
From $144 on this site's tour.
-
On the way
Breakfast stop
Optional, at an extra fee.
-
At Moalboal
Fees and gear
Entrance fees and equipment are included on this tour.
-
On site
Camera rental
A GoPro can be rented for an extra fee.
-
Going home
Tips
Not included in the price.
What the price includes, and what it leaves out
This site's tour spells out its inclusions. It is a private tour with hotel pickup and drop-off across Cebu, entrance fees for the scuba diving, Pescador snorkeling, a diving instructor and the diving equipment. Meals, insurance and tips are not included, and a GoPro can be rented on site for an extra fee.
The breakfast stop on the way is optional and costs extra on this tour, and the same is true on the two-dive Pescador day, which adds an optional lunch for a fee as well. Bring some local cash for those stops, for a drink after the dives and for tips for the crew and the guides.
The day trips on this page carry a pickup label, but the details differ: some name pickup only from Cebu City, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, others from eleven places across the island. If you stay outside the city, check that your hotel is on the list before you compare scuba diving prices in Moalboal.
Your day
Hours from pickup to drop-off
hours
Side by side
What each trip costs and gives
| Trip | What you do | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| This site's dive day | Scuba and Pescador snorkel | 8 hours | from $144 |
| Scuba and turtle snorkel | Scuba and a turtle snorkel | 11 hours | from $126 |
| Pescador scuba day | Two dives | Not stated | from $160 |
| Pescador snorkel day | Snorkeling | Not stated | from $101 |
| Sardines and turtles | Snorkeling | 7 to 10 hours | from $89 |
| Open Water course | A PADI course on Mactan | 2 days | from $421 |
All prices are from-prices per person as GetYourGuide lists them, not exact quotes; your date and group change them.
Three budgets
A low, a middle and a learning budget
Lowest here
Scuba on a budgetScuba and turtle snorkel
Day trip from Cebu
- Open to
- New and licensed divers
- Hours
- 11
- Price
- from $126
A card for lifeOpen Water course
On Mactan Island
- Course length
- 2 to 3 days
- Youngest age
- 10
- Price
- from $421
Decision helper
Where should your budget go?
Begin with what the day should give you
A snorkel day
Sardines and turtles from $89.
An introductory dive
One Moalboal listing guides beginners from age 10.
The Open Water course
From $421, 2 to 3 days on Mactan.
This site's dive day
Instructor, equipment and entrance fees are in the price.
The sardines from the beach
A few meters off Panagsama, early in the morning.2
Moalboal has four locally-declared and managed marine sanctuaries which implement a user-fee system that generates income for the local communities and the municipality.
Snorkel days cost less
If you do not need a tank, the day gets cheaper. A sardines and turtles snorkeling tour with 2 hours at Pescador Island starts from $89, and a joiners tour that adds the Kawasan canyons starts from $91. The snorkel-only Pescador day with life vests for everyone starts from $101.
Joiners tours share the boat and the van with other travelers. The canyoneering combination needs at least 4 people to run, and the operator offers other options if the minimum is not met. Private and small-group days cost more per head but leave the timing to you.
Snorkeling also costs less in hidden ways. You need no medical form, no dive computer and no surface interval before your flight, and the sardines are a few meters from the shore at Panagsama.2 You can mix the two: one scuba day for the walls of Pescador, and an early-morning snorkel from the beach on another.
Checklist
Money for the day
01
Ask before booking
- Are sanctuary and boat fees in the price?
- How many dives, and where?
- Is my hotel on the pickup list?
02
Carry on the day
- Local cash for breakfast, lunch and tips
- Your own travel and dive insurance
- Your own mask, if you have one
Price check
Your group's dive day
Choose a trip and the number of people
People
Total from$287
from, per person $144
Check availabilityfree cancellationSums multiply a trip's starting GetYourGuide price per diver by your group size and convert it with today's European Central Bank rate; your exact total appears when you book.
Video
How Much Does It Cost To Become a SCUBA Diver
The clip loads from YouTube only once you tap play.
Courses and first dives
Learning costs more than a fun dive, but it buys a card you keep. On Cebu, a PADI Open Water Diver course on Mactan Island starts from $421, takes 2 to 3 days and accepts students from age 10. The course ends with four open water dives with your instructor, usually over two days.3
A single try dive is the cheap way to find out whether you like it. On Mactan a beach scuba experience of about 45 minutes starts from $46, with full equipment, and a small environmental protection fee per person is paid in cash on the day. It is not in Moalboal, but it lets you test the feeling before you spend a full day on the west coast.
At Moalboal itself, one scuba day accepts beginners on a guided introductory dive from age 10, and it starts from $160. A PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience does not certify you, so the money pays for the experience only.4
Fees for the sanctuaries and the guides
Part of what you pay at Moalboal goes back into the reef. The town set up its municipal waters user's fees by ordinance in 2006, and a 2013 reef report found its four locally declared marine sanctuaries running a user-fee system that brings income to local communities and the municipality.51 The Tañon Strait seascape around them has its own approved fund and fees system.6
Snorkeling guides are regulated too. A 2024 ordinance governs the town's snorkeling guides, sets uniform rates for them and lays down penalties for breaking the rules.7 If you hire a guide at the beach rather than through a tour, ask to see the rate and agree on it before you set off.
Whether these fees are part of a tour price depends on the listing. This site's tour names entrance fees for the scuba diving among its inclusions. For any other trip, ask before you book whether sanctuary and boat fees are in the price, and carry enough cash for them in case they are not.
The costs worth paying
Insurance is the line that is easiest to skip. This site's tour does not include it. Check the other listings too, and read your travel policy for scuba cover before the trip, and add a dive policy if it has none. Decompression sickness can follow a dive when the pressure drops too quickly and nitrogen forms bubbles in the tissues and blood, and treatment is the kind of bill a policy is for.8
Fitness is part of the budget too. PADI asks every student diver to fill in a medical questionnaire, and if a condition applies a doctor must sign that you are fit to dive.9 A consultation at home is cheaper and calmer than one abroad. And if you wake up with a blocked nose, Divers Alert Network's advice is not to dive with a cold at all.10
Finally, keep a little money for the people who look after you in the water. Tips are not part of this site's tour price, and the boat crew, the guide and the instructor carry much of your day. A good guide finds the turtle you would have missed and keeps you clear of the boats, which is worth more than any rental upgrade.
How to spend less on the water
The biggest saving is distance. A day trip from Cebu City spends 2.5 hours on the road out and 3 hours back on this site's tour, and 3.5 hours out on the snorkel-only Pescador day. A night or more in Moalboal turns those hours into time in the water, and the sardines are a few meters off the beach at Panagsama.2
Book with free cancellation and pay later where a listing offers it. The sea off Moalboal can change overnight, and every trip in that comparison returns your money for a cancellation made a full day ahead; none of them asks for payment when you reserve. That way a stormy forecast costs you nothing but a change of plan.
Bring your own mask and a long-sleeved swim shirt. A mask that fits is worth more than any upgrade, and a shirt spares you the sunscreen bill while protecting the reef, as the town asks.11 Leave the GoPro rental for the day you are sure of the visibility: early morning, by the town's own tip.2
Plan your dive
A private dive day at Moalboal
Hotel pickup across Cebu, an instructor, the gear and Pescador snorkeling.
You ask,we answer.
How much is a scuba day from Cebu?
From $126. Listings start from $126 to $160 per person.
What does this site's tour include?
Instructor, gear, pickup. Also entrance fees for the scuba diving and Pescador snorkeling; meals, insurance and tips are extra.
Is snorkeling cheaper?
Yes. A sardines and turtles snorkel day starts from $89.
How much is an Open Water course?
From $421 on Mactan. It takes 2 to 3 days, from age 10.
Are there sanctuary fees?
Yes, user fees. A 2013 reef report found Moalboal's four marine sanctuaries running a user-fee system.1
Can I cancel?
Up to 24 hours before. On each Moalboal trip in this guide, a cancellation 24 hours before the day costs you nothing.
Do snorkeling guides charge set rates?
Yes. A town ordinance sets uniform rates for snorkeling guides.7
Sources
The sources for this guide
- 1Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation (CCEF)Saving Philippine Reefs: Coral Reef Monitoring Expedition to Moalboal and Badian, Cebu, 2013 Final Report (PDF)↩
- 2Municipality of MoalboalWhat to do - Municipality of Moalboal↩
- 3↩
- 4↩
- 5Municipality of MoalboalWhat to do↩
- 6Tañon Strait Protected Seascape - Protected Area Management Office (DENR)TSPS Timeline↩
- 7Municipality of MoalboalWhat to do↩
- 8Divers Alert NetworkDecompression Illness↩
- 9↩
- 10Divers Alert NetworkSinus Barotrauma↩
- 11Municipality of MoalboalWhat to do↩
