Malapascua - Diving with Thresher Sharks
Malapascua is a small tropical island in the Visayas sea in the Philippines. About fifteen years ago word spread from local fishermen, that thresher sharks were often seen jumping out of the water at Monad Shoal in the morning. It didn’t take much more than that for pioneer divers to find their way there and get in to see the amazing sharks, something not possible anywhere else in the world!
The reason why thresher sharks are usually never sighted by divers, is that most of the time they are simply too deep, hundreds of meter below the depth dived by most recreational divers, so even though divers and sharks may share the same bodies of water, they wouldn’t meet. However, like most other fish thresher sharks need to get periodically cleaned of parasites, and it is this that brings them to Monad Shoal, where there’s large colonies of cleaner fish.
Malapascua would likely have remained unknown outside of a very small group of pioneer divers, if it hadn’t been for some German photographers and writers connected with leading German scuba magazines, who came along later and told the story. After this, divers inevitably started coming to Malapascua, resulting in a few dive operators opening shops and resorts. The word further spread, when the late Steve Irwin (Yes, the Australian croc-man) came along and did a wildlife documentary on the thresher sharks at monad shoal. That perhaps was what really opened people’s eyes to the beauty of the shy, silvery and bigeyed sharks.
Today Malapascua Island is still a minor tourism destination in the Philippines, and the majority of the people who go there are divers. Besides the thresher sharks, the island actually offers excellent world-class diving, expecially for muck divers or people interested in manta rays, as they can be seen year round. If interested you may find more specific information about the diving at www.gotomalapascua.com where there's descriptions of the individual dive sites. It is speculated that the ratio of tourists who go there will change in the immediate future, and that the island will become the next Boracay of the Philippines. Malapascua is a real bounty island, offering beautiful white beaches, lush palmtrees, amazingly blue water and friendly locals. With exciting activities, excellent diving, good bars and restaurant it does indeed seem like it’s a possibility.
There’s currenty about half a dozen dive shops, mostly small outfits, about as many restaurants offering local and foreign food, and a dozen or so places to stay.
About the Author
Resident of Malapascua, diving instructor and webmaster of www.gotomalapascua.com - the only independent guide to Malapascua Island.
