Reaching our Threshold in Malapascua! (pun definitely intended)

Guidebooks may be useful but for some accurate advice but I have always found it better to speak to a traveler who has recently come from the area. So when we were given the advice to call ahead and book somewhere in El Nido, Palawan, we didn’t want to waste time. We were due to fly out the following day and arrive in El Nido a few days later but after phoning the handful of hotels recommended to us, we had not bettered our situation. Some searching online came up with a large list of just about every accommodation option in El Nido and a frustrating full day spent calling each one was in vain as none had any rooms. We were faced with a tough decision, cancel our flights and reroute, or risk arriving with no where to go. Chinese New Year really seems to bring in the hordes of tourists to the Philippines and since El Nido is a place we required accommodation for over a week, we knew our chances weren’t good and regrettably had to cancel our flights.

With Cebu City’s grime and chaos getting to us we needed not to linger and decided to head out to a peaceful place to rethink our plans. 4 ½ hours on a bus and an hour long bangka ride brought us to Malapascua Island which had been recommended to us by some friends we met in Sri Lanka.

Malapasuca is a tiny little island on the northern tip of Cebu made up of a few fishing villages blended in with some resorts. Only a few square kilometers in size, there are no cars or noisy tricycles to disrupt the tranquil atmosphere, although like everywhere in the Philippines, there is karaoke and plenty of roosters. It’s amazing a place so laid back can exist so close to the industrial island of Cebu. A powder white beach stretches in front of the resorts but its not the sand that draws the tourists here, its the diving.

Not long after arriving we found an average place to stay almost immediately and decided to head down to the dive shop and organize a trip to see Malapascua’s most famous residents, the thresher sharks. Extremely rare, Thresher sharks are not often seen by divers as they spend most of their time in the deep ocean hunting and it’s thought that they only come up to be cleaned by cleaner wrasse (small fish). Monad Shoal off the coast of Malapascua, is a rare plate because they are seen quite frequently and to witness such a rare animal was definitely something I did not want to pass by. Monad Shoal being an advanced dive site meant Lianna would have to sit this one out, but not one to hold me back, she let me go on the condition that I wasn’t going to get obsessed if I was unlucky, like with the tigers in India.

Speaking to another diver in Bohol, who spent days diving without seeing the shark I tried not to build my hopes too high but couldn’t hide my excitement the night prior to our dive. The following morning I was up early and my spirits were still high even though most of the other divers were trying for their second and third times. The sun began to rise when everyone was ready to descend and at 25 meters depth we were signaled to sit on the bottom awaiting the arrival of the shark. A line of divers sat waiting beside me while my head was filled with thoughts of amazement that so many people were as willing as I to wake up at 430am to see this damn shark. Monad shoal doesn’t offer divers much to look at while waiting and once I became bored with the open blue, I found a tiny moray eel staring back at me which occupied my attention for awhile. After 20 minutes our dive master signaled it was time to move to another view point and we left the line of divers behind as we swam in the opposite direction. Not long after, we realized why we hadn’t seen anything for 20 minutes, the shark was behind us! It’s silhouette was unmistakably that of a thresher and about 15 seconds elapsed as he swam a few circles in front of us before disappearing again into the open ocean. We didn’t see it for the remainder of the dive until our safety stop at 12 meters when a second larger thresher shark passed by underneath us which was an eerie way to end the dive. Craving more, I wish I had more time with this incredible animal but felt grateful after hearing some of the other divers saw nothing. I was able to get a great video from one of the divers using nitrox and thus was able to spend much longer with the shark. I did not get his name so I can’t give credit where its due but I will load it when we find faster Internet so check back!

We had planned to keep our accommodations for the following night but were thrown out due to another reservation and spent the morning searching for a room. We found a very basic option for cheap with the only drawback being their was no toilet seat. Not wanting to look anymore we settled.

That night I was scheduled for a night dive to witness the mating display of mandarin fish. A sharp contrast to seeing a huge thresher that morning, the tiny mandarins held my attention for only a few minutes as the visibility was poor and other divers with large cameras began pushing and shoving to get pictures of the little guys. Despite the poor visibility, we did see some giant sea horses, a stone fish, and some seriously alien critters further on in our dive. It was then the fun ended for me as my poor rental torch was barely functional and when I looked back realized I became separated from the group. Anxiety levels having risen I frantically searched around for my other divers to no avail in the murky waters. It was just then one of the divers with a seriously powerful floodlight came into view and I made sure not to lose sight with him for the rest of the dive. The whole thing probably only lasted 5-10 minutes but is not a feeling I hope to recreate.

Having been awoken by the roosters, we again spent the morning searching out accommodation, hopefully this time with a toilet seat. We spent over an hour aimlessly wondering around looking for Wobbly Boots which had been recommended. It wasn’t until a friendly local offered to show us the path that we passed by roughly 3 times. With rooms ranging from 400-1000 pesos and a swimming pool to boot, Wobbly boots is good value and we really wished we found it on the first night. The rest of the day was spent lying in the sun before a delicious dinner at Angelinas, the best restaurant on the island for sure, and the best pizza we have had yet in Asia.

A Mammoth overland journey ahead of us, Malapascua didn’t exactly leave us feeling relaxed (our own fault for not prebooking) but is a great little island to visit for those who don’t dive and a one of a kind place for those who do. The locals were some of the most friendly and kind we have met in the Philippines so far and the island itself is a very low key destination which will probably not last long. On the day we were leaving, monad shoal was off limits to all divers as the Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had a private date with the Threshers.