มาลาปัสกัว (Malapascua)

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Spain first laid claim to the 7,107 islands of the Philippines in 1511 and named them for King Philip II of Spain. England briefly occupied the islands from 1762-3, and the U.S. laid claim in 1898. Japan took over during WWII, and independence was finally granted in 1946. It has been a politically turbulent country ever since.

U.S. occupation left the legacy of the English tongue, Marlboro cigarettes and basketball. English is widely spoken throughout the country and signs, official documents etc are all in English, although the main language of Malapascua is Visayan (Cebuano).

). it is about 2km by 0.5km, and you can walk around it in 1-2 hours. It has a population of around 4000, most of whom live off tourism, fishing, boat building or coconuts.

The name Malapascua means 'Bad Christmas' in Cebuano. Legend has it that it was so named because the Spanish first landed here one stormy Christmas Day in the 1500's. There is some debate about the name because although 'mal' definitely means 'bad,' 'pasco' means Christmas in the local language of Cebuano but 'pascua' in Spanish means Easter. So perhaps it was a stormy Easter after all.

Malapascua was first 'discovered' by present-day foreigners over 30 years ago, when Swiss national, Freddy of Cocobana Resort bought land. Ten years later he opened the island's very first resort. Freddy is not a diver, but at the same time dive safaris were coming up from Cebu and making the first ever dives with thresher sharks. Malapascua quickly became known as a premier dive destination in the Philippines and divers starting visiting regularly.

Today, Malapascua remains a beautiful, sleepy island, as yet unspoiled by tourism, with white sandy beaches, lush green palm trees and surrounded by clear blue waters.

There are no cars on the island and most buildings are only one floor high. The locals are friendly and like to say hello and chat. They may even invite you to their homes for dinner, or at least to sit down, join them singing songs and playing guitar, and toast each other with a rum and coke.

The Philippines has received a lot of bad publicity over the years and some people think it is unsafe to visit. This image is based on only a few isolated events and does not reflect the whole country. Filipinos are mostly devout Catholics due to the Spanish influence and Muslims are a small minority, the extremists smaller still.

The Philippines is generally very safe and the only place to avoid is Mindanao in the far south - an isolated area far away from Malapascua. Cebu itself is populated by very Catholic, very friendly, Filipinos.

As with anywhere, keep your belongings and money in a secure place, although theft is not a big problem in Cebu. Tourists are not a target for the thieves in the way they are in most major tourist areas. Nevertheless, use hotel safes, and be careful when leaving money and cameras in your room. Do not leave anything outside your room at night.

• SIM cards are widely available in Malapascua for mobile phones. Globe is best for Malapascua.
• The Philippines uses USA style plugs - flat, vertical two pin plugs. Its voltage is different from the US - 220v at 60Hz. 24 hour electric has recently arrived in Malapascua and is now available in most resorts and island-wide.
• There is rarely toilet tissue or water in public toilets so take your own. Tampons are hard to find, so bring a sufficient supply. You may be able to buy them at some of the pharmacies in the bigger shopping malls in Cebu (Rose Pharmacy is best).
• A free 30 day tourist visa is standard on arrival in the Philippines for most nationalities.
• The currency of the Philippines is the peso.
• US$ cash is easiest to change on the island. However, it is best to get pesos in Cebu. You can change money at some banks (BDO and Metrobank),or money changers in the shopping malls (SM, Ayala or Robinson's). You can also withdraw cash through an ATM bank machine. There is one at the airport. If you are getting a taxi or transfer to Malapascua, just ask your driver to stop at an ATM machine. There are no ATMs in Malapascua. The nearest ATM is in Bogo, over an hour away.

จุดดำน้ำ (รายละเอียด)

Monad Shoal     26m+ / 20 mins

Monad Shoal is an underwater island on the edge of a 200m drop off, and if you're on this page, we're sure you already know that it is famous as the only place in the world where thresher sharks can be seen everyday! Most places will take you to a line where you sit and wait for 30 minutes with all the other divers from all the other shops. Our dive is not like that; it is a swimming dive. Close encounters are common, you generally won't run into many, if any, other divers. As you are swimming, you will see other marine life too, so in the rare instance you don't see a shark, you will still have had a great dive!

Gato Island    24m / 40 mins

Gato Island is one of our most famous dive sites. Gato is a marine reserve and sea snake sanctuary. It has at least five dive sites with a huge diversity of marine life. We are constantly seeing new creatures. At all sites you can see such things as banded sea snakes, cuttlefish (often while mating), seahorses, nudibranchs, frogfish, scorpion fish, porcupine fish, and smashing mantis shrimp. Away from the reef you can see schools of squid and big-mouthed mackerel attracted by the baitballs. There are many whitetip sharks in residence at Gato, as well as bamboo and cat sharks. The coral is in good condition and the rocky island has many interesting underwater rock formations, overhangs, and swim-throughs.

Gato: The Cave   10m / 40 mins

Or more accurately, "The Tunnel". Journey underneath Gato Island and come out the other side! This 30m tunnel houses all the usual cave dwellers: many types of crab big and small, lobsters and cardinal fish. You should also encounter some large puffer fish and perhaps bamboo and cat sharks.

Most exciting of all, the cave is home to whitetip sharks! You may see them hiding in a corner as you pass by inches from their face, or see their silhouette as they circle near the exit in the midst of a huge school of smaller fish. If you are careful and move slowly, they will swim straight by your face. The sight is simply breathtaking. Not for the faint of heart. For experienced divers only.

At the exit of the cave are some overhangs and swim throughs were even inexperienced divers who cannot swim through the cave can get up close to the baby whitetips sleeping under the rocks.

Lighthouse   10m / 5 mins

The mandarinfish is possibly the most beautiful fish in the world, certainly the most psychedelic. There are few places where they can be seen, but Malapascua is one of them. And - even better - on Thresher Diver's famous "Randy Mandy" dive you will see mating mandarinfish in their full glory!

Mandarin fish are quite rare and very skittish, but in Malapascua you are almost guaranteed a sighting at this time of day. You will usually see their unique mating dance, particularly around full moon. The male (who is larger) dances with the females one by one and takes his time choosing. When he finally decides on his mate, they spiral up towards the surface, shimmying together above the corals, explode in a puff of gametes, and dart off separately into the corals.

A unique experience, not to be missed. What a photography opportunity!

Dusk is a time most people rarely dive. However, it is one of the best times to observe marine life because of the increased feeding and mating activity. It is the time when all the action takes place on the reef! Daytime animals mix with night-time animals, and all hell breaks loose!

As day turns into night, and the mandarin fish return to their hiding places, the creatures of the night come out. You should catch some interesting nudibranchs and a variety of cephalopods - reef squid, bobtail squid, starry night octopus, blue-ringed octopus and cuttlefish. Your DM will take you to find some seahorses and you may also see scribbled and banded pipefish, juvenile sweetlips, banded sea snakes, huge crabs and sea stars, many varieties of shrimp and the occasional frogfish.

Many of our divers have told us this is the best night dive they have ever done.

Also near this sight is a small World War II wreck that is a great shallow dive during the day.

Calanggaman Island    40m+ / 90 mins

Calanggaman Island is the picture postcard desert island, actually chosen from over 7,000 islands to grace the cover of Jens Peters - the definitive Philippines Travel Guide. The island itself is just palm trees and a pile of white sand surrounded by crystal clear water and steep walls dropping off into the blue.

Vis is usually good and fish life is plentiful. Drop down the walls which are covered in hard corals and gorgonian fans and inhabited by many varieties of fish. Look for pelagics out in the blue including sharks, rays, tuna and barracuda, or unusual fish like clown triggers on the wall. You can also see many critters including nudibranchs, crabs and shrimp. As you come back along the top of the wall, look for fields of garden eels, and large patches of hammerhead nudis which always seem to be mating! You can often find the beautiful white mushroom coral pipefish, ornate ghost pipefish and candy crabs as well as the very special Denise Pygmy seahorse which is currently in residence.

Dolphins are often seen on the way there or back.

Often we will stop on the island for a beach barbecue during our surface interval and overnight stays can also be arranged.