The sardine shoal
A silver mass around you.
Lakshmi Sawitri — CC BY 2.0 · Jhe098 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lakshmi Sawitri — CC BY 2.0 · Jhe098 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ken Suarez kensuarez — CC0 · Martin Michlmayr — CC BY-SA 4.0
One of the strangest marine sights in the world: a vast shoal of millions of sardines living a few metres off Panagsama Beach in Moalboal, moving as a single shining silver mass that twists, reshapes and opens around you as you snorkel at the surface. You need no boat and no dive: the reef drops suddenly near the shore into a deep wall, and the shoal lives above that wall all year round. You walk in from the beach with a mask, swim for a few minutes, and you are above the shoal. Sea turtles often pass through the reef at the same spot. A short way off the coast is little Pescador Island, a marine sanctuary since 1990, with a coral wall dropping to about forty metres and an open-topped cave that draws divers. Daily boats leave Panagsama for snorkelling and diving there. Come early in the morning before the tour boats, when the water is calmer and the shoal clearer. Do not chase or touch the turtles, and use reef-safe sunscreen.
A silver mass around you.
On the reef near shore.
A coral wall and a cave.
Panagsama Beach, Moalboal, south-west Cebu; about three hours by road from Cebu City
No: a mask and a few minutes' surface swim from Panagsama Beach are enough, as the shoal lives near shore all year. A life vest helps weaker swimmers.