Saavedra Marine Sanctuary

Saavedra Marine Sanctuary is one of several barangay-managed marine protected areas along the Moalboal coast, a no-take zone that has helped keep local reefs and fish populations intact as neighboring Panagsama and Tongo grew into the town’s main dive strip. It’s best known for sea turtles that graze the seagrass beds close to shore, and for the sardine run — a dense, shifting school of fish that moves along this stretch of coast and has become one of the more reliable snorkel-and-look encounters in the Philippines. Moalboal itself shifted from a fishing town to a dive-tourism economy over recent decades, and sanctuaries like this one are part of why the underwater side of that shift still has something to show for it.

• Swim alongside sea turtles, most reliably seen grazing the seagrass near the sanctuary’s edge.
• Watch the sardine run — its exact location shifts day to day, so ask locally before assuming it’s directly offshore.
• Follow sanctuary rules on contact and fin placement; this is a working no-take zone, not open water.

Explore More in Moalboal

• Dumanjug Heritage District
• Toledo Boardwalk
• Cambanog Falls