Diving in Philippines (Cebu)
 

I'm flying into Cebu on December 26th for 6 nights and I'm having a hard time deciding where to go. I've narrowed it down to Malapascua or Moalboal. I like Moalboal since there's other things to do besides diving, but I read that Malapascua diving is better (more wrecks). Can anybody offer any advice on their take of either place? Or perhaps there's somewhere else I've overlooked all together? Thanks!

Goto oslob and swim with the whale sharks.
I went last year - amazing experience.

If you're looking for the best wreck diving in the Philippines, you'll find it at Coron. But that's a flight away from Cebu.

Malapascua is (justifiably) famous for its thresher sharks, not its wrecks.

Depends on if diving is the only reason for the trip, or just part of the trip. Malapascua is tiny and can get a bit of island fever. If you're going only for diving, it's excellent. Moalboal I didn't dive, but I know it is much easier to get to, and has more options for evenings and celebrating the New Year. It's good, but without the sardine run I'm not sure if the diving is as good as Malapascua. If you're going only for diving, I'd check a place like scuba board for other reports too. There are some other options in the CEB area as well, like Siquijor, Dumaguete, etc. if you're open to those.

I am going to the Manila for two weeks, during which I'll have two free weekends, and was considering taking a weekend to go diving. Would it be worth heading out to one of these sites if I only have basically a day and a half (I could leave Friday evening and would have to be back probably Sunday night, or Monday morning if there's a really early morning flight)? Or should I save the diving for sometime when I could devote a whole week to it?

I was time constrained such that I only did a day of diving in Coron myself, but it certainly was worth it to me. You can fly nonstop from MNL-USU. I used Rocksteady as my dive operator, and would recommend them to you. If you like Japanese wrecks from World War II, the diving is good, although the wrecks don't have their cargo intact like they do, for example, at Truk.

The inconvenience and time required to transfer via ground and boat from CEB to Malapascua after a MNL-CEB flight and vice versa, on the other hand, would seemingly make it an unattractive option for only a weekend trip with one day available for diving.

Or you could head to Anilao or Subic and not have to deal with flying, if just there for a short time. Anilao is pretty well known, and a few hours drive from Manila. You could get there Friday night, dive all day Sat and Sun morning and be back in Manila that evening. Subic is also close, but I haven't heard much about the diving there. I don't think it's as good.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm a divemaster, but I don't love wreck diving. That said, I haven't done all that much that was interesting, so maybe this is my chance to start! I'll look into Coron and Anilao for a start.