Moalboal, officially the Municipality of Moalboal ( ceb, Lungsod sa Moalboal; tgl, Bayan ng Moalboal), is a 4th class

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 36,930 people. Extending as a peninsula on the south-western tip of Cebu, Moalboal is bordered to the west by the

Tañon Strait The Tañon Strait ( fil, Kipot ng Tañon) is a body of water, separating the islands of Negros and Cebu in the Visayas, Philippines. The strait, which is about long, connects the Visayan Sea in the north to the Bohol Sea in the south. Its widt ...

Negros Island Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...

can be seen from the western shoreline. Moalboal is located from

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Acc ...

. Moalboal is bordered to the north by the town of Alcantara, to the west is the

, to the east is the town of Argao, and to the south is the town of Badian.

Pescador Island Pescador Island is an island located in the Tañon Strait, a few kilometres from the western coast of the island of Cebu in the Philippines. It is part of the municipality of Moalboal. The island derives its name from the Philippines' Spanish ...

, a popular tourist attraction, is part of the municipality.

Geography

Barangays

Moalboal comprises 15 barangays:

Climate

Demographics

Though the majority of the people in Moalboal are Cebuanos, a few members of cultural minorities have found their way there.

Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...

s who are similar to Muslim nomads, are often seen in the streets, especially during the holiday season, as some of them make their living by begging. There is no evidence though that the ''badjaos'' have taken up permanent residence in the town. Due to the tourism boom that the town has experienced in the 2000s and 2010s, a small contingent of expatriates have also started to settle in Moalboal. Europeans and

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...

are the most prominent expatriates in the town, but recently, expatriates from East Asian countries have also started to settle in the area.

Economy

Moalboal is a peninsula and therefore it is almost entirely surrounded by water. The majority of the people who live in the flat lands engage in fishing as their main mode of livelihood. Those who live in the mountain regions, like Agbalanga and Bala, live through farming. The common mode of transportation is by bicycles with side cars, known locally as ''pedicabs'' or, depending on the distance, tricycles with side cars, called trisikads.

Tourism

Since the 1970s, Moalboal has developed a tourism industry based on recreational diving and beaches. Panagsama Beach (''Basdiot'') is where most resorts and restaurants are established, while further north on the peninsula, in Saavedra, is White Beach (''Basdako''), a beach. This beach used to be mostly frequented by locals, but has since developed an international tourist trade. In Moalboal, most tourists stay at either Panagsama Beach (''Basdiot'') or White Beach (''Basdako''), both located away from the main bus stop in Moalboal. Pescadores Seaview Suites (1)

Recreational diving is the main tourist activity in Moalboal, and reefs along the west coast of the Copton peninsula are home to a great variety of marine life. Pescador Island, about off the coast, is the most popular dive spot with an underwater cave known as "the Cathedral". Indeed a breath-taking view of the underwater world as some of the country’s best diving sites in Moalboal as the terrain of the reef follows the entire coast line, making the place ideal for scuba-diving, snorkeling and freediving, with a shallow drop-off close to shore dropping down to more than . The area is also known to be a sanctuary for

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

s, as well as vast schools of

sardine "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the It ...

s. Whale shark, dolphins and threshers are also seen out of the blue. Moalboal has been featured by several Filipino TV show hosts, such as Kuya Kim Atienza of

Matanglawin ''Matanglawin'', literally ''"Hawk's Eye"'' and usually contracted as ''Mata'', is the official student publication of the Ateneo de Manila University in the Filipino language. The student paper dedicates itself to discussing socio-political iss ...

, Drew Arellano of Biyahe ni Drew,

Slater Young Jan Slater Lee Young (born December 19, 1983) is a Filipino Entrepreneur, multi-billionaire, actor, engineer, model and television personality from Cebu. Young is best known for winning '' Pinoy Big Brother: Unlimited'' in 2012. Early life You ...

, and Kryz Uy. Pol-kun, self-made renowned local Anime artists of Cebu which is one of the supporters for Moalboal too. Moalboal also serves as a base for other activities, such as

canyoneering Canyoning (canyoneering in the United States, kloofing in South Africa) is a type of mountaineering that involves travelling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other Outdoor activity, outdoor activities such as walking, s ...

in Badian and the Kawasan Falls, away from Moalboal.

Fiesta

The annual feast of Moalboal is held on the 15 and 16 of May. Moalboal is known also for its "''Kagasangan'' Festival" (coral) in which they perform tribal dances and music. It is held in honor of St. John of Nepomuk, the town's patron saint.

Gallery

Moalboal Cebu 5.JPG, Moalboal Municipal Hall White Beach Moalboal.JPG, White Beach Underwater Moalboal 2.jpg, Coral reef Moalboal church.jpg, Moalboal Church

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Sunstar News Travel Guide
{{Authority control Municipalities of Cebu