Bohol (Tagbilaran)/ Dumaguete/ Malapascua Trip Report

[clgsamson]

Exotic? bring ear plugs....

 

[purple]

awesome pics pakman!

I've just been to malapascua last week...i was also a bit dissapointed with Gato, not a good site anymore. As we went down on our 2nd dive we saw a young shark but got spooked. Fortunately i was able to see the threshers though no picture coz i forgot my camera case at the resort. :shakehead NO mantas since we left already before noon (usual dive sched for mantas is 1-130pm) and mandarin fishes (dusk dive)!

im definitely be diving again in malapascua...yeah, next DOR!

@diver69

So far, i've checked out the Blue water and Cocobana, they're alright. Except for Blue coral (the resort that sits on top of the rocks, really bad service and room) ggrrr! We booked with the divelink diveshop, DM's are pretty helpful. However, the divelink is at the back of the island, little far from the resorts. As for TSD, according to our DM their earliest dive schedule is 7am, quite late for thresher sharks.

 

[pakman]

Purple, excellent idea. Malapascua DOR! I'm in!

I can't believe they let them build Blue Water on that cliff! It is such an eyesore! Really ruins the beachscape. 7am earliest dive at Thresher?? are you sure?

 

[purple]

Yes, according to our DM, because TSD diveshops opens at 7am. Though, the dm told me that its ok with the bangkeros and dms of TSD to have an early dive, just give them a longer lunch break time. Because they only have 30 minutes break. Well, it was coming from a DM of another diveshop...better ask what is really their schedule for Monad Shoal.

 

[pakman]

interesting. I thought I saw a TSD bangka on Monad Shoal. I don't think they were there when we first got there (around 6am) but maybe I saw them after our dive.

 

[ishbaby]

I dove with TSD, and we left at 6:30am for the threshers, I was thinking we would leave like 5:30 like what Exotic does. . still lucky to get a glimpse of the threshers. . . the manta dives are after lunch, around 1pm, but no luck on them mantas though . . . next time I think I like to dive with Exotic. Like you guys, I want to go back to Malapascua again, check out the mandarins and hopefully take a picture, and have a longer look on the threshers. . . hopefully see a manta!!

oops edit that, i wasn't reading hehe.

 

[pakman]

I wonder if TSD does their dives later to avoid the rush hour. It can get pretty crowded on Monad Shoal as everyone rushes to get there 6-6:30am... From the few dives I had there, it seemed we had better luck on having the threshers come in closer when there were few us (i.e. the other boatload (10 divers) left and our group of non nitrox divers hit their NDL's leaving just 3 of us there).

 

[ishbaby]

we were the only ones at monad shoal at around 7am, good thing nobody else were there, and lucky enough we saw the sharks. During our dusk/night dive, we actually merged with another dive group, thinking that it was our DM banging his tank for the mandarins lol.

 

[jbb]

I wonder if TSD does their dives later to avoid the rush hour. It can get pretty crowded on Monad Shoal as everyone rushes to get there 6-6:30am... From the few dives I had there, it seemed we had better luck on having the threshers come in closer when there were few us (i.e. the other boatload (10 divers) left and our group of non nitrox divers hit their NDL's leaving just 3 of us there).

I've been there many times with TSD and unless you get there first Monad can be pretty crowded and it will spook the Treshers to have so many divers around. Too early and you won't have any light to see them by. I have seen the shark later too and even mantas in the morning on my last trip. You just need to be lucky really and it helps to be on Nitrox for the extra bottom time. I'll be there again the first week in December. I've got some nice photos of a thresher coming at me from the blue background - as I recall there were only three of us as it took a loop around us.