Diving Malapascua : playing hide and seek with the thresher shark

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Going to the Philippines without indulging myself with some relaxing time on a paradise island? No, of course, that was not possible! But instead of going to overcrowded Bocaray, I decided to end my island hopping tour in the Visayas by Malapascua, the tiny island on the northeast tip of Cebu Island. 

Only 2km long by 1 km wide, the island of Malapascua is well-preserved. It has suffered terribly from the typhoon Yolanda in 2013 but its inhabitants have rebuilt everything in only a couple of months. Since then, guesthouses and dive centres keep popping out on a regular basis but we are still far from mass tourism. So what if I tell you Malapascua is the number 1 place in the world to meet the thresher shark… will you follow me diving Malapascua?

Diving Malapascua best dive sites

scarlet shrimps scuba diving in Malapascua Philippines

Diving in Malapascua is world-famous for the thresher sharks, but the diversity of marine fauna of dive spots all around the island is equally stunning. This is why Malapascua made it to my list of the best diving in Asia-Pacific. Malapascua is also a popular place to see the cute couples of Mandarin fish during sunset dives, even if, unfortunately, I didn’t see them.

Here are the 5 best dive sites of Malapascua:

  • Monad Shoal – max depth 30 m: the must-see dive site for thresher sharks. See below for more details about this early morning deep dive.
  • Lighthouse – max depth 12 m: sunset dive to see Mandarin fish.
  • Lapus Lapus – max depth 23 m: some strong current potentials, but it is the best spot to see the blue-ring octopus
  • Bantigue – max depth 12 m: one of the best Malapascua dive sites for night diving with the flamboyant cuttlefish
  • Deep Slope – max depth 28 m: the dive site for macro critters lovers, with gorgeous nudibranchs and pygmy seahorses to look for.

Diving in Monad Shoal at dawn while hoping for the best

banca boat thresher shark Malapascua Philippines

4 am. This is the time you will need to set your alarm clock to take a chance to dive with the thresher sharks at Monad Shoal. At dawn, the thresher sharks – which are usually swimming and hunting in much deeper waters – are ascending to recreational diving depths to go to their favourite cleaning station. The underwater plateau of Monad Shoal is at 12m deep and then drops to the observation spot at 30 m deep. There, you need to stay behind a rope installed to try to restrain divers from bothering the sharks (please, don’t be that stupid diver who does not respect the rules).

Theoretically, the sharks are always there. Yet, they are very shy animals and, like most pelagic fish, they are not huge fans of our bubbles. Thus, my very first tip for enjoying Monad Shoal is to be the first underwater as much as possible. Arrive in advance, before the big groups (they are slower to move, make sure to book with a dive centre that only takes small groups of divers).

On my first visit to Monad Shoal, my guide, my buddy and I were actually sea-sick because of the conditions that day (yes, even experienced divers can be sea-sick sometimes). Even if we were still a bit sleepy, it was actually kind of perfect to speed up as we all knew we would feel much better on the surface of the water. With 10 minutes ahead of everyone, we saw 6 thresher sharks! I don’t think it was the case of the other divers.

The thresher sharks are so elegant when swimming. Their long gracious tail behaves like a vigorous whip. They actually use it to knock out fish before eating it, but it is also a really good propulsion device for them. The melancholic look in their eyes makes them even more beautiful because it makes them mysterious. There was not a single moment when I regretted my early wake-up time!

Beside the number of divers, sometimes visibility is going to be against you. This is what happened on my second dive in Monad Shoal. With very low visibility, about 5 m, we couldn’t see any shark at all! I think they were still there but we just couldn’t see them. So let’s say you have a good 80% chance to see the thresher shark when diving in Monad Shoal but be sure to allow enough time in Malapascua to dive there maybe 2 to 3 times.

The reason I wanted to dive there a second time was to take advantage of the learning I experienced on the first dive one for my pictures and videos. I didn’t have enough time on the 1st dive to find the right settings. I unfortunately discovered too late what shooting a video with fixed unlimited focus meant.

One day I will come back to Malapascua with more experience in video and will travel between March and May when the visibility is the best. Another thing I learnt is that peak season does not mean the best conditions.

How to spend a fantastic week on the tiny island of Malapascua?

Sunset Malapascua Philippines

I really took a chance when I decided to spend the last 10 days of my trip on an island of only 2km². Lucky me, Malapascua is an authentic island with a vast underwater playground. Before my trip, it had been arranged that I would meet up with the friends I made during my divemaster training in Thailand. This is the main reason why I spent the last 10 days of my trip in Malapascua.

During your stay, do not miss the opportunity to go around Malapascua Island. Just a few minutes walking away from the touristic activity of Bounty Beach, you will discover that the island is full of hidden gems including deserted beaches and fishermen villages guarded by a white lighthouse. Do not miss the opportunity to go around during your stay. Just take any path!


Beyond the famous dive spot of Monad Shoal, staying in Malapascua also gives the opportunity to go on amazing day trips in the Northern Visayas. Thanks to French Kiss Malapascua day trips, I could visit the islands of Gato, Kalanggaman and Carnaza while logging more exciting dives in the Philippines. So between the dives near the island, the scuba diving day trips, the exploration of the island, I wish I had 2 or 3 more days to try a few more times to dive in Monad Shoal.

Kalanggaman Day Trip

Imagine a far far away paradise atoll… Imagine a strip of white sand separating the sea from the sky… Imagine an underwater breathtakingly deep wall with thousands of fish… Open your eyes, this paradise is just between the shores the island of Cebu and the island of Leyte in the Philippines. It is 1h30 boat ride away from Malapascua and it will blow your mind…


Gato Island Day Trip

About 1 hour of boat ride from Malapascua, the tiny rocky island has a secret that only scuba divers can reveal: an underwater tunnel of 40m crossing the island from one side to the other and ending in a huge cavern which is a usual meeting point with white tip sharks. Life on the reef all around the island has many more surprises.


Carnaza Day Trip

We headed first in the morning to the island of Carnaza where we spent a couple of hours exploring it before lunch. It has many natural wonders such as pristine creeks and colourful caves. It is also a historical place as it used to be an American air force base during the Pacific Battle of WWII. On the heights of Carnaza, you can go to the landing strip and enjoy a breath-taking view of Leyte and Gato islands.

After lunch, we went wreck diving on the Doña Marylin. The story of the Doña Marilyn is not a happy ending and most of all the company which owned it was responsible the year before of another accident on the overcrowded Doña Paz. In 1988, with more than 400 passengers on board, during the typhoon Unsang, on its way to Tacloban, the ferry sank on its side at 30m below the surface. Only 147 persons survived.

How to go to Malapascua?

Not less than 4 hours of driving on average are necessary to reach the port of Maya in the North of Cebu where you are able to take the boat to the island of Malapascua. From Cebu City, you need to go to the North bus terminal to take either a Ceres Liner bus or a minivan in the direction of Maya. Depending on the number of stops the bus will actually make (it can stop anytime to take people on or to let people off) the journey can take 4 to 6 hours.

What is really important to know is that you absolutely need to be in Maya Pier before 4 pm, time for the last boat to leave for Malapascua for a reasonable price. After that time, you will either need to spend the night in Maya, which is not really the best option or to pay for a private transfer of up to 3,000 PHP (about £44 / 50€) instead of the normal 80 PHP (about £1.20 / 1.50€).

The best solution is actually to take a minivan, which I took on my return to Cebu City. Much faster, about 3h30, and only 180 PHP (about £2.60 / 3€) instead of 160PHP for the bus.

Once on the boat (remember the price is 80 PHP, maybe a maximum of 100PHP if you are travelling with scuba diving gear, but not 300, 500 or even 1,000 PHP as I heard sometimes), this is only a 15/20 minute ride to reach Malapascua. The total time will actually depend on the tide and the waves. If the tide is low, you will need to board a small flatboat (20 PHP) to go on or off the boat, which, if there are some waves, can take some time to transfer people and luggage safely.

Where to stay on Malapascua Island?

Malapascua guesthouse

While I stayed first for a couple of nights at my friends’ house, then I moved to the quiet Aabana guesthouse at the very end of Bounty Beach. I wanted to treat myself to a few relaxing nights before going back to Europe.

In a large garden, bordering the beach, the guesthouse is made of several large bungalows which have each a couple of rooms. My bedroom was large, comfortable, clean and with all the modern comfort I could wish including Wifi. I had access to a large terrace I was sharing with my “neighbour” which was perfect for a few dive debrief beers at the end of the day.

In the morning, breakfast is served at the central bungalow where the welcoming owners live. I would rebook the same place next time I’m in Malapascua.

Do you want to learn more about travelling and scuba diving in the Philippines? Have a look at the following articles:

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Photo credits: huge thank you to my friend André for the amazing pictures he took of the thresher sharks in Malapascua in May 2012


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Playing hide seek with the thresher shark in malapascua Philippines
Playing hide seek with the thresher shark in malapascua Philippines

Posted by Florine

  1. Awesome pictures! That shark is so cool. I love diving around the world, just got back from an amazing trip to Chuuk! I would love to dive Malapascua one day. Check out my blog if you’d like. 😉 Cheers from Guam!

    Reply

    1. Thank you for your super nice comment. I am definitely going to check your blog as both love the same things 🙂

      Reply

  2. Love thresher sharks! They are so adorable. Great review of Malapascua!

    Reply

    1. I agree, we should use more pictures of thresher sharks when speaking about sharks generally, people would be less afraid I guess

      Reply

  3. Wow your pictures are fantastic! We recently did the same dive but our photos are no way as good as this! You got so close. We had a few stormy days so visibility was pretty poor but we could still see enough to admire how amazing they are. And they’re not at all dangerous! I was sceptical about diving with them but when you see them you realise they’re graceful and not interested in us. Did you take these pics with a Go Pro?

    Reply

    1. Hi Alicia, thank you very much, but as explained I experienced the same than you… if you play the video you will actually see the conditions I had. The pictures of the shark itself were taken by a friend who was there during the month of May, one of the best to get good visibility. All my pictures and videos are taken with my Canon S110.

      Reply

  4. That’s the difficulty with diving, it’s all about getting the right time of year & currents & visibility but it’s hard to get it perfect every time if you’re travelling around! Love the blog by the way, it makes me miss travelling so much! Some great content 🙂

    Reply

  5. Yes it is complicated… that’s why I’m working on a database based on my world dive map to help scuba travelers to know when to go where based on the type of adventure they would like to do. Your kind comment is a great source of motivation for me, thank you so much!

    Reply

  6. Visibility is a legit challenge. I was there in March and had a similar experience. We saw darkness with little activity for most of the dive, and then suddenly the thresher zoomed past us so quickly. I’ve also never had a dive with so few fish (or swimming, since we were on our knees on the ocean floor). With that said, it was so cool seeing thresher sharks!
    If interested, here’s my post about our experience and about thresher sharks below. I’ve also curated some of the best videos that I’ve seen at this link as well:
    http://visit50.com/thresher-sharks-in-the-philippines/

    Reply

    1. Thank you for your comment and the link, very interesting post!

      Reply

  7. Wow, thresher sharks, I can’t wait until I see one.

    I like how detailed you get when it comes to the “how to get there” parts. Useful information.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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