Malapascua

My first trip to the Philippines had me starting in Malapascua, a beautiful island with dive resorts scattered along the edges of Bounty Beach on the south side. It took a few hours to get to from Cebu, and with the Thresher Shark dive boats leaving the shore at 5am every day there was no time to lose.

The Thresher Shark's cleaning station is the Monad Shoal dive site, and it was well organised and got better each dive I did. The first and second day dives there the sharks didn't get close, but third and fourth days the sharks were closer even when more divers were in the area.

Returning to the beach felt like we were well through the day already, but it was only 7:30am and breakfast time. Mid-morning sees the day trips depart to places like Gato Island, Kalanggaman Island, and if you're lucky to Capitancillo Island or the Dona Marilyn Wreck, all of which are 60 to 90 minutes boat ride away. The variety of dive sites around the Malapascua area is fantastic and totally worth doing as many dives as possible.