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Malapascua Island is a small Island off the northern tip of Cebu in the Philippines and is renowned for the only place in the world where you can scuba dive with Thresher Sharks. The Thresher Shark is a type of mackerel shark and can grow up to 5-6 meters in length and has an exceedingly long upper tail which can be as long as the shark itself! The long tail is used to thrash and kill its prey. They normally live in deep water and are nocturnal so are often not seen by divers. In Malapascua however they come in very early in the morning to Monad Shoal for their morning clean by the wrasse fish and this is where you have a chance to see them. If you choose to dive to see these magnificent creatures then expect very early rises!!
Having spent 5 months already in Asia, the Philippines was our last stop before heading to North America for the next leg of our journey. We were a little disappointed that we hadn’t given ourselves enough time (only 8 days) for these beautiful islands but I guess it gives us an excuse to come back!
Due to our arrival time and the logistics of getting to Malapascua Island we spent the night in Cebu City. There was nothing here that really inspired us to spend any longer; we only had 8 days and we didn’t want to waste them in a city. Wondering around Cebu City’s streets with its heavy traffic and armed guards on front doors of banks and shops definitely told us one night was enough. The taxi driver who brought us to our hotel was a funny guy. He made full use of the time spent in the city’s traffic jams selling himself as to why he thinks he is the best candidate for taking us to the port of Maya. His price of PHP3500 versus PHP180 on the bus, there was really no competition, we didn’t care how slow the bus was!
Getting to Malapascua Island
Getting Malapascua Island is quite simple but does take a few hours so will require setting aside a day for travel.
Our hotel organised a taxi for us to the Northern Bus Station around 8 in the morning. The journey would take a few hours and we wanted to make sure we got to the port of Maya before the boats stopped running. We seemed to get mixed reports on what time the last boat is across to Malapascua so the earlier you get there the more you guarantee getting a boat and the less likely you are to get ripped off by the touts. I did read there are touts that will tell you that the boat has stopped running and they can organise a private transfer for you at three times the cost, I don’t think so!
There are three buses, Rough Rider (red bus), Ceres Tour Bus and Ceres Liner. The Ceres Tour Bus is the most comfortable and air-conditioned. The Ceres Liner is non-air-conditioned but you can pull the windows up! The Red Rough Rider, well that apparently lives up to its name! We got ourselves onto the next available Ceres bus for PHP150 which happened to be the Ceres Liner.
It was more than an hour before our bus finally pulled out, they don’t leave until they are full! (I could have had an extra hour in bed ;-)) The trip took over 5 hours with the winding roads and stopping every so often to pick up/drop off passengers, but it was very pleasant, comfortable and the scenery of the coastline and tropical vegetation was lovely. Luck had it when we finally reached Maya port a boat was docked and already half full so we grabbed our tickets (PHP80 pp) from the makeshift ticket hut (the original had been destroyed in Typhoon Yolanda). We clambered down the rocks and across the plank and onto the boat taking care not to end up in the drink! The very pleasant boat trip only took 30 minutes and we were there in no time at all.
Arriving Malapascua
Only 4 months before, back in November, Malapascua as other parts of the Philippines had been hit hard by Typhoon Yolanda. Malapascua was practically flattened and you could see evidence of the destruction on our approach to the island’s drop off point. For the next three days we were staying at Evolution Divers Resort, about a 10 minute walk from the dock and little north of Bounty Beach. In an e-mail conversation with the resort, they advised us to take a motorbike taxi but with our big packs we decided it was best we walked. We headed off in the general direction and as we walked through the villages you could see the destruction the Typhoon had caused, it looked like a building site. Construction was going on to rebuild homes, palm trees had either been ripped out, snapped in half or half the fronds were missing. We did get a bit lost and by the time we found the resort we were exhausted and thirsty, walking on sand with big packs was a work out and a half, maybe we should have taken the motorbikes!
We had booked one of the cheaper fan rooms with cold water which also happened in our opinion to be one of the best rooms as it was facing the beach! The more expensive air-con rooms were right down the back away from the beach. Even though the palm trees looked a little on the pathetic side, the beach was stunning and the water blue and crystal clear, I loved it already. Our first dive with the sharks was in the morning so we enjoyed the rest of the day walking the sandy path to Bounty Beach and checking out the bars and restaurants along the way. Although there was some good choices, we chose to have dinner at our own resort that night.
Diving with the sharks and Gato Island
Day 1
To see the Thresher Sharks meant a 4:30am rise – ouch! It did mean we were back for breakfast and we had the rest of the day to relax on the beach or sleep in a hammock. Life’s tough 🙂 Our first morning dive we were in the water before 6am, the visibility wasn’t brilliant, only 8 meters and apart from the sharks there wasn’t much else to see. We spent a good 45 minutes under the water but no sharks came, we were quite disappointed. However we did get to see a spotted ray which was nice. Let’s hope tomorrow when we come back they make an appearance.
*** Photos are a donation from our dive buddies who had an underwater camera.
We did enjoy the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and going for walks which was very pleasant.
Day 2
We were back in the water again this morning before 6am, the visibility was better and we saw SHARKS! around 4 of them and they came quite close to us so we were very happy! I’m glad we did get to see them as this was our last chance as tomorrow we were leaving.
There wasn’t going to be much relaxing today as we had booked ourselves onto a double dive at Gato Island with lunch included, so we were back in the water by 11am. Both dives were very good, there is not much in the way of coral here its mainly rocks, a cave and swim-throughs. On our dives we saw giant nudibranchs which we had never seen before, a few white tip reef sharks with at least 4 baby ones asleep under a rock ledge. And one very large white tip that had a surprise of his life when he came barrelling through a swim through only to find us blocking his way the other side! He did a very quick U Turn and shot back through. Diving through the cave was also very cool, overall very enjoyable days diving.
We decided that evening to try somewhere else to eat with a couple of our dive buddies which completed our Malapascua experience just nicely.
Given how much time we had left in the Philippines we didn’t want to waste another day travelling to Cebu city by public transport which meant we would have to spend another night in the city as we wouldn’t make the last ferry. So we decided to splash out some cash and take a private transfer with a combination of private boat transfer with Evolutions dive boat and a private taxi driver straight to the ferry terminal where we could get across to Bohol, our next stop and the focus of our next post…
Quick Facts Guide
Malapascua is a small island that is half hour boat ride off the north tip of Cebu.
Money: There are no ATM’s so take enough CASH! or you can use a credit card with a fee.
WiFi: It’s poor due to its location so put down the technology sit back and relax and enjoy the stunning beaches and diving.
Getting there: A Ceres Bus Tour or Liner from the North Bus station labelled MAYA in Cebu. Costs between PHP150-200 and takes 4 to 6 hours to Maya port. Its then a half hour boat ride for PHP80. Both bus and boat will only leave when full.
Diving: Most people come here to see the Thresher Sharks as this is the only place you can see them. Gato Island is also worth a couple of dives. There are also other dive sites which are detailed on Evolution’s website.
Dive Operator: We dived with Evolution Divers based on recommendations through Trip Advisor, they were very good, their equipment in good condition and their staff professional. The costs of our dives was PHP1400 (AU$41) per dive which is a deal they offered us, normally its PHP1600.
Accommodation: We stayed at the dive centre’s accommodation in a basic fan bungalow. The cost was PHP1600 (about AU$47). The resort is just a bit north of the main drag and Bounty Beach which makes it nice and QUIET!
Restaurants/Bars: The dive resort has its own bar and restaurant called the Craic House which served up some good tasty food. There are plenty of restaurants and bars to choose from but it is by no means a party island so is very appealing in that way.
Best Time of Year to go: December to April is high season. We were there in early March and the weather was perfect around 28C and the sea temperature 25C
And if you don’t dive? It’s quite a trek to get here so most people that come are here for the diving. However the beaches are lovely and the island very laid back so a great place for a relaxing beach holiday and there are plenty of snorkelling opportunities off the beach . There are other beautiful Islands you can visit on day trips – Lamanok , Carnassa, Kalanggaman and Higatangan which sadly we didn’t have time for so it gives us an excuse to come back!
Date Visited: March 2014
If you have enjoyed the photos and would like to see more! then the complete gallery can be viewed in the Trip Photos