Guide · Best time

The Moalboal diving season, month by month

The sea off Moalboal is warm all year, but the wind, the rain and the clarity of the water change with the monsoons. Here is what each part of the year brings and how to pick your days.

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Editorial team, moalboal-diving.comUpdated October 22, 20266 minutes to read16 sources

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Quick answer

01Best months: December to May, the dry season, by the provincial tourism office.¹
02Sea temperature: From 26.54 °C in February to 29.38 °C in June, as a regional average.²
03Wettest month: December, with 175 mm in our averages of NOAA records for Tagbilaran.³
04Driest month: April: 56 mm and 3 rainy days.³
05Best hour: Early morning, 7 to 9 AM, for visibility.⁴

A sea that stays warm

Temperature is the easy part of the Moalboal diving season. NOAA's Coral Reef Watch gives monthly average sea surface temperatures for its Eastern Philippines station between 26.54 °C in February and 29.38 °C in June.² That is a satellite average over a wide area, not a reading off Panagsama, but it shows how little the water changes through the year.

In the coolest months, January and February, the regional average sits at 26.63 °C and 26.54 °C.² A thin wetsuit or a long-sleeved rash guard keeps you comfortable on a long snorkel or a second dive. From April to October every monthly average is 28.11 °C or more, and a thin skin suit against sun and scrapes can be enough.²

Air temperatures are just as steady. At Tagbilaran on Bohol, the nearest NOAA station, our own averages of its records put the daily high from 30.8 °C in January to 33.2 °C in May, and nights stay between 23.2 °C and 24.7 °C all year.³ What really changes between the seasons is the rain and the wind.

The year

Moalboal's seasons in order

December to February

Amihan

The northeast monsoon and the cool dry season.⁵ ⁶
March to May

Hot and dry

The driest month at Tagbilaran is April.⁶ ³
Mid-May

Kagasangan Festival

A town pledge to protect the reef.⁷
June to August

Habagat

The southwest monsoon; the rainy season begins.⁵ ⁶
September to November

Monsoon turns

The transition back to the northeast monsoon.⁵

Dry months and wet months

PAGASA, the Philippine weather service, divides the year into a rainy season from June to November and a dry season from December to May, the dry part split into a cool dry season from December to February and a hot dry season from March to May.⁶ The Cebu Provincial Tourism Office calls December to May the dry season and ideal for diving and snorkeling at Moalboal.¹

The station figures fit that picture only in part. April is the driest month at Tagbilaran, with 56 mm and 3 days of 2.5 mm or more, while December is the wettest, with 175 mm.³ October and November bring the most rainy days, 10 and 11.³ Bohol lies across the water from Moalboal, so treat these figures as a guide to the region rather than to the town itself.

A rainy day is not always a lost day: showers can pass quickly, and the dive itself happens under water. What rain can do is cloud the water near the shore after a long downpour and make a boat crossing rough. The town asks visitors to check the weather and sea conditions before any island hopping.⁸ Ask your dive center which sites stay sheltered when the wind turns; a site on the far side of a point can be calm while the beach in front of your hotel is choppy.

Sea temperature

Average sea surface temperature by month

°C

Monthly mean sea surface temperature of NOAA Coral Reef Watch's Eastern Philippines regional station, a satellite average over the region rather than a reading at Moalboal.²

Month by month

Air, rain and daylight near Moalboal

Month	Daylight (h)	Darkness (h)	High / low	Wet days	PAGASA season
Jan	11.6	12.4	31 / 23 °C	6	Amihan, cool and dry
Feb	11.8	12.2	31 / 23 °C	6	Amihan, cool and dry
Mar	12.1	11.9	32 / 23 °C	6	Hot and dry
Apr	12.3	11.7	33 / 24 °C	3	Hot and dry
May	12.6	11.4	33 / 25 °C	6	Hot and dry
Jun	12.7	11.3	33 / 25 °C	8	Habagat, rainy
Jul	12.7	11.3	32 / 25 °C	9	Habagat, rainy
Aug	12.5	11.5	33 / 25 °C	6	Habagat, rainy
Sep	12.2	11.8	32 / 24 °C	7	Rainy, monsoon turning
Oct	11.9	12.1	32 / 24 °C	10	Rainy, monsoon turning
Nov	11.7	12.3	32 / 24 °C	11	Rainy, monsoon turning
Dec	11.5	12.5	32 / 24 °C	9	Amihan, cool and dry

NOAA records for Tagbilaran on Bohol, 1991 to 2020 (April: 1971 to 2020): mid-month daylight, the average high and low, and how many days bring at least 2.5 mm of rain.³ Season according to PAGASA.¹

Three seasons

Which part of the year suits you

Amihan

Cool and dry

December to February

Sea: 26.54 to 27.43 °C
Rain at Tagbilaran: 82 to 175 mm
Season: Dry

Plan this season

The driest weeks

Hot and dry

March to May

Sea: 26.99 to 28.98 °C
Driest month: April, 56 mm
Season: Dry

Plan this season

Habagat, then the turn

Rainy half

June to November

Sea: 28.45 to 29.38 °C
Rainy days: Up to 11 a month
Season: Rainy

Plan this season

Decision helper

When should you go?

Start from what matters most to you

I want the safest bet I want the warmest water I want the driest month I want to avoid storms I want the clearest water

December to May

The dry season, ideal for diving by the tourism office.¹

June

The regional average peaks at 29.38 °C.²

April

56 mm at Tagbilaran.³

Outside the rainy half

19 to 20 cyclones enter the area each year.⁹

Any morning, 7 to 9 AM

The town's tip for visibility.⁴

December to May: Dry season, ideal for diving, snorkeling, beach activities, and sightseeing.

Cebu Provincial Tourism Office (Province of Cebu)Source 1

Amihan and habagat: the two monsoons

Two winds shape the year. PAGASA names December to February the season of the northeast monsoon, locally amihan, and June to August that of the southwest monsoon, habagat, with September to November the transition from one to the other.⁵ March to May falls between them, the hot summer months.⁵

Moalboal faces west, onto the Tañon Strait, with Negros Island across the water.¹⁰ That orientation decides how each monsoon feels at the dive sites. The northeast wind of amihan crosses Cebu before it reaches the west coast, while the habagat blows in from the southwest across the open strait; PAGASA's end-of-season notice for 2026 described the habagat as the rainy season over the western sections of Luzon and the Visayas.¹¹

The dates move a little each year. PAGASA declared the end of the habagat on 5 October 2026, and in 2024 it declared the onset of the amihan on 19 November, with northeasterly winds bringing cold, dry air.¹¹ ¹² Follow PAGASA's announcements in the weeks before your trip rather than a fixed calendar.

Checklist

Packing by season

All year

Reef-safe sunscreen and a hat
A long-sleeved rash guard
An early alarm for the 7 AM swim⁴

Rainy half

A spare day for the boat
A light rain jacket for the ride
PAGASA's latest bulletins

Price check

A day in your chosen month

Choose a trip and the number of people

This site's dive dayScubafrom $144 Pescador scuba dayTwo divesfrom $160 Pescador snorkel daySnorkelfrom $101 Sardines and turtlesSnorkelfrom $89

People 2

Total from$287

from, per person $144

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Typhoons and the closed island

Tropical cyclones are the real risk to a dive trip. Every year 19 to 20 of them enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility, and about half make landfall.⁹ Not every storm touches Cebu, but a passing typhoon can stop boats for days and stir up the water long after the wind has dropped.

Storms can also close a site. After Super Typhoon Odette the municipal council closed Pescador Island for three months in 2022, and no diving, snorkeling or island hopping was allowed around it so the reef could recover.¹³ ¹⁴ If a storm has just passed, ask your dive center which sites are open before you travel.

Book with that in mind. Each listing on this site lets you cancel at no charge until 24 hours ahead and pay later, which makes it easy to move a day when a storm warning appears. Keep a spare day in your plan, especially from June to November.

The sardines and the turtles through the year

You may wonder whether there is a sardine run year round at Moalboal. The town's tourism page sends you to Panagsama Beach to swim with millions of sardines without naming a season, and its tip is about the hour, not the month: go between 7 and 9 AM, when visibility is best.⁴ Listings say sightings are common but cannot be guaranteed, since the fish are wild.

The turtles keep the same rhythm. The municipality says they are often found near the sardines or a short boat ride away, and that the best time to look is morning or early afternoon.¹⁵ In any season, an early swim gives you the calmest water and the clearest view.

One date is worth planning around. Moalboal's Kagasangan Festival is held every mid-May, with street dancing in costumes that mimic marine life, a community pledge to protect the coral reefs from destructive fishing.⁷ It falls in the last weeks of the dry season, which the tourism office runs to May.¹

Choosing your days

If you can choose freely, aim for the dry months, December to May.¹ The cool dry months bring the amihan and slightly cooler water, the hot dry months the warmest air and, at Tagbilaran, the driest month of the year, April.⁶ ³

If your trip falls in the rainy half of the year, do not cancel it. The water is at its warmest, with the regional average at 29.38 °C in June, and calm mornings still come between the showers.² Build in spare days, dive early and keep the afternoons for whatever the weather allows. Day trips from Cebu change the timing in every season. This site's tour drives 2.5 hours before its 3 hours at Moalboal, and its listing states no start time, so ask whether you would reach the water within the early-morning window the town recommends.⁴ If clear water is your priority, sleep in Moalboal for at least one night, and use the day trip for the boat to Pescador.

Wherever you are in the year, plan your diving at the start of the trip, not the end. Divers Alert Network recommends at least 12 hours before flying after a single dive and 18 hours after several dives or days of diving.¹⁶ Leave the last morning for a snorkel with the sardines, which needs no waiting time at all.

Plan your dive