Background: My boyfriend (BF) and I are budget-backpacking-scuba diving SEA for the next ~8 months. Our goal is to see as much healthy hard coral in the Coral Triangle as possible. We brought all our own gear (excluding weights & tanks of course), including full 3mm wetsuits, which we carry in 75L backpacks. The prices listed are for two people, unless otherwise noted. Apologies if the report is too long!
Days before Day 0: The last post I made was for Tubbataha (finished on 21 June) and we didn’t dive again until 29 June in Malapascua. However, we did hit two other locations (Port Barton and then Mactan) for snorkeling between both locations.
We did intend to dive Port Barton as well but the shop ended up cancelling on us (and giving a full refund of the deposit for booking) since the coast guard were not letting boats out due to the weather. Interesting story since we asked the coast guard who were confused and said that they were, in fact, letting boats out. So we snorkeled instead. Transit to/from Port Barton (to/from Puerto Princesa) was via shared van (500P per person, each way). We flew from PP to Mactan.
Mactan was only snorkeling and rest days for chores (visa extensions, laundry…).
Day 0: We took a Grab (~277P) to the Cebu North Bus Terminal (by the SM mall). We had a bit of a late start and were anxious about making it to Maya in time for the ferry, as it doesn’t depart after dark. We made it to CNBT shortly before 10:00 and bought tickets for the next bus (516P), which had, unfortunately, no aircon. It was a very uncomfortable ~5.5 hr ride to Maya and we arrived shortly before 15:30. The bus dropped us off right at the port which was convenient.
We paid the environmental fee (280P) and then began the hustling… I read online that the Maya ferry is notorious for forcing foreigners to pay more than the posted ticket price (200P per person) if they don’t reach the “minimum capacity” of 15 people to depart. In fact, even before we approached the ticket counter and while I was still paying the environmental fee at a separate counter, a lady approached us to inform us that they had not reached 15 people for the 15:30 boat but if we paid 300P each we could depart.
There were two other foreign tourists next to us as well, and while they initially agreed as well, after we explained that it was a common pressure tactic they held strong with us. After one of the other tourists asked why the boat was departing with only 9 people (without us) if they couldn’t depart without 15 people (why they needed the extra money), the lady said she could accept 250P. We simply said no and she immediately said ok and accepted the normal 200P. This entire interaction took maybe 5 mins of us refusing to pay the increased price.
The boat didn’t even end up leaving until 16:00 lol. We arrived at Malapascua shortly before 17:00. It was a nightmare getting to our accommodation (The Shark’s Tail) because Google Maps is not accurate at all on the island. Roads/paths didn’t or, alternatively, did exist that weren’t supposed to. We took a very convoluted path. Once we got past the people by the port who wanted to sell some sort of service, the locals directed us to our accommodation.
The accommodation: Although we booked with Evolution, we decided to stay at the Shark’s Tail (which I didn’t realize was also a dive resort before booking… lol) to save some money while still staying close to Evo. In hindsight, I would’ve just spent the extra money to stay at Evo.
The room itself was fine. The AC worked only about half the time and cycled between extremely hot or extremely cold. The shower had nonexistent water pressure and, while stated to be brackish water (norm on the island), was basically 100% saltwater. Before check-in we also had to sign a lengthy list agreeing to charges if various things in the room were broken/stained, which was reasonable, except that the prices they were demanding in this scenario were well over the value of the items (5-6x price of sheets, towels, etc.). The staff also were hard to find and if available, were often doing karaoke, which left us standing awkwardly as they ignored us to finish their songs before paying attention to us.
After we settled in, we attempted to find Evo to sign waivers and get briefed for our early dives the next day. Again, a nightmare. Ironically, we would find out later that the back exit of Evo essentially spits you right at the Shark’s Tail. It is simply unlabeled and disguised which is why we missed it. Once we got to Evo we were informed that the 2 tank dives for Kimud Shoal were completely full for the next morning, but we could join the 1 tank Kimud 1 tank Monad dive instead. This was fairly upsetting after a long travel day, since we didn’t want to dive Monad and I had specifically booked 2 tanks for Kimud and had an email chain with the general manager confirming this. It took maybe 30 mins of them calling around but it was fixed.
As a note, going into our dives, our plan was to do 2 tank Kimud dives over two days (4 dives total). This changed.
The dive operation: It felt well run except for the scheduling slip-up. We had the same dive guide (Albert) for all of our dives. His English was difficult to understand at times, but he seemed capable.
Before we left on the boat for each site, we received a briefing from Albert at the shop. Evo even has a lengthy portion in their briefing about not touching corals or harassing sharks and that the environment is prioritized over photo/video, which was nice.
The first boats of the day (Kimud or Kimud/Monad) leave at 4:45. The second round of boats leaves around 11:30. Then there is another opportunity for a night dive around 17:30.
Evo gave us assigned crates to put our gear in and assembled it for us on the boat. During the surface interval for the morning dives, we received overnight oats with bananas. For the afternoon dives, it was lunch (during the SI). All gear was transported on/off the boats for us and the DMs changed our tanks for us as well. We always hit 1 hr SIs.
Tank fills were always at 3000 PSI. I don’t really have much to say about the dive op except that it was pretty well run. There were rinse tanks at the shop for people to use as well. These seemed to be filled with real freshwater (as opposed to the “brackish” water at Shark’s Tail).
Day 1: Extremely early wakeup call, but luckily after figuring out the shortcut to Evo, the walk was less than 5 mins.
We were two boats heading out to Kimud this morning, leaving just after 4:45. Our boat only had 6 divers on it, whereas the other was a group of 10+. BF and I had our own DM who stayed with us for all dives the entire day. For Kimud, we ended up being the first in the water (shortly before 6:00) both for our boat, and for the dive site in general. This was really nice, and a reason for why we picked Evo, since the other boats didn’t show up until 15-30 mins after us.
Dive 1: Kimud Shoal
Max depth 66ft, 57 mins, min water temp 84F.
We only saw one thresher shark this dive, after about 15 mins of swimming around. Luckily we had a lot of 1-on-1 time with it, since other divers hadn’t dropped in yet.
Dive 2: Kimud Shoal
Max depth 53ft, 57 mins, min water temp 83F.
We saw two thresher sharks on this dive within the first 10 mins. By this time, there were many other divers in the water so it was annoying.
We drove back to the shop (50-60 mins, back 10:00-10:30ish) and ate lunch at their restaurant. We saw that the following dives for the day were scheduled for Gato Island and for the mandarin mating, so we decided to do all of them.
It was another ~50mins ride to Gato Island. We were together with the large group of 10+ people on the other boat.
Dive 3: Gato Island (Tunnel/Cavern)
Max depth 77ft, 58 mins, min water temp 84F.
The swim-through was very fun! We were worried it would be silted out since we went behind the group, but they did a (relatively) good job. Unfortunately we found no sleeping sharks.
Lunch during the SI. It was pretty good.
Dive 4: Gato Island (East Side)
Max depth 62ft, 57 mins, min water temp 84F.
We saw two different cuttlefish and a sleeping catshark.
We barely made it back in time for the 17:30 mandarin dive and were transferred directly onto a smaller boat from our big bangka. Once the other two guests on the dive arrived from the shore, we geared up and got in the water immediately. Luckily the mandarin dive was in the Evo house reef.
Dive 5: Evo House Reef (Mandarin dragonets)
Max depth 28ft, 63 mins, min water temp 83F.
We didn’t see other divers until about 30 mins in, when it got EXTREMELY crowded. Luckily we had prime spots but had to dig into the sand to avoid being physically pushed out of the way by rude divers with their huge camera setups. We didn’t see any mandarins mate until ~50 mins into the dive, but when we did it was exciting! Mandarins are a personal favorite of BF so it was a nice experience.
Unfortunately during this dive I began to experience wet breathing through my regs. Once we got to shore, I was exhausted after a very packed 48 hrs (travel day, early wakeup/lack of sleep, 5 dive day) and then the regulator problem and ended up cancelling the thresher dives for the next morning.
Day 2: We slept in until 9:30 and then headed over to Evo again because Matt (one of the owners) said he would take a look at them. The problem ended up being one of the mouthpieces was torn so we replaced it. I felt really embarrassed for cancelling the dives for such a slight issue.
And that ended our Malapascua adventure.
Final thoughts: I thought Evo was a nice operation and next time we will just stay there directly. The thresher sharks were just as lovely as expected and I will plan for more than 2 days next time to maximize seeing them in case of accidents/unplanned events. I also learned my lesson about packing the schedule full.
Days before Day 0: The last post I made was for Tubbataha (finished on 21 June) and we didn’t dive again until 29 June in Malapascua. However, we did hit two other locations (Port Barton and then Mactan) for snorkeling between both locations.
We did intend to dive Port Barton as well but the shop ended up cancelling on us (and giving a full refund of the deposit for booking) since the coast guard were not letting boats out due to the weather. Interesting story since we asked the coast guard who were confused and said that they were, in fact, letting boats out. So we snorkeled instead. Transit to/from Port Barton (to/from Puerto Princesa) was via shared van (500P per person, each way). We flew from PP to Mactan.
Mactan was only snorkeling and rest days for chores (visa extensions, laundry…).
Day 0: We took a Grab (~277P) to the Cebu North Bus Terminal (by the SM mall). We had a bit of a late start and were anxious about making it to Maya in time for the ferry, as it doesn’t depart after dark. We made it to CNBT shortly before 10:00 and bought tickets for the next bus (516P), which had, unfortunately, no aircon. It was a very uncomfortable ~5.5 hr ride to Maya and we arrived shortly before 15:30. The bus dropped us off right at the port which was convenient.
We paid the environmental fee (280P) and then began the hustling… I read online that the Maya ferry is notorious for forcing foreigners to pay more than the posted ticket price (200P per person) if they don’t reach the “minimum capacity” of 15 people to depart. In fact, even before we approached the ticket counter and while I was still paying the environmental fee at a separate counter, a lady approached us to inform us that they had not reached 15 people for the 15:30 boat but if we paid 300P each we could depart.
There were two other foreign tourists next to us as well, and while they initially agreed as well, after we explained that it was a common pressure tactic they held strong with us. After one of the other tourists asked why the boat was departing with only 9 people (without us) if they couldn’t depart without 15 people (why they needed the extra money), the lady said she could accept 250P. We simply said no and she immediately said ok and accepted the normal 200P. This entire interaction took maybe 5 mins of us refusing to pay the increased price.
The boat didn’t even end up leaving until 16:00 lol. We arrived at Malapascua shortly before 17:00. It was a nightmare getting to our accommodation (The Shark’s Tail) because Google Maps is not accurate at all on the island. Roads/paths didn’t or, alternatively, did exist that weren’t supposed to. We took a very convoluted path. Once we got past the people by the port who wanted to sell some sort of service, the locals directed us to our accommodation.
The accommodation: Although we booked with Evolution, we decided to stay at the Shark’s Tail (which I didn’t realize was also a dive resort before booking… lol) to save some money while still staying close to Evo. In hindsight, I would’ve just spent the extra money to stay at Evo.
The room itself was fine. The AC worked only about half the time and cycled between extremely hot or extremely cold. The shower had nonexistent water pressure and, while stated to be brackish water (norm on the island), was basically 100% saltwater. Before check-in we also had to sign a lengthy list agreeing to charges if various things in the room were broken/stained, which was reasonable, except that the prices they were demanding in this scenario were well over the value of the items (5-6x price of sheets, towels, etc.). The staff also were hard to find and if available, were often doing karaoke, which left us standing awkwardly as they ignored us to finish their songs before paying attention to us.
After we settled in, we attempted to find Evo to sign waivers and get briefed for our early dives the next day. Again, a nightmare. Ironically, we would find out later that the back exit of Evo essentially spits you right at the Shark’s Tail. It is simply unlabeled and disguised which is why we missed it. Once we got to Evo we were informed that the 2 tank dives for Kimud Shoal were completely full for the next morning, but we could join the 1 tank Kimud 1 tank Monad dive instead. This was fairly upsetting after a long travel day, since we didn’t want to dive Monad and I had specifically booked 2 tanks for Kimud and had an email chain with the general manager confirming this. It took maybe 30 mins of them calling around but it was fixed.
As a note, going into our dives, our plan was to do 2 tank Kimud dives over two days (4 dives total). This changed.
The dive operation: It felt well run except for the scheduling slip-up. We had the same dive guide (Albert) for all of our dives. His English was difficult to understand at times, but he seemed capable.
Before we left on the boat for each site, we received a briefing from Albert at the shop. Evo even has a lengthy portion in their briefing about not touching corals or harassing sharks and that the environment is prioritized over photo/video, which was nice.
The first boats of the day (Kimud or Kimud/Monad) leave at 4:45. The second round of boats leaves around 11:30. Then there is another opportunity for a night dive around 17:30.
Evo gave us assigned crates to put our gear in and assembled it for us on the boat. During the surface interval for the morning dives, we received overnight oats with bananas. For the afternoon dives, it was lunch (during the SI). All gear was transported on/off the boats for us and the DMs changed our tanks for us as well. We always hit 1 hr SIs.
Tank fills were always at 3000 PSI. I don’t really have much to say about the dive op except that it was pretty well run. There were rinse tanks at the shop for people to use as well. These seemed to be filled with real freshwater (as opposed to the “brackish” water at Shark’s Tail).
Day 1: Extremely early wakeup call, but luckily after figuring out the shortcut to Evo, the walk was less than 5 mins.
We were two boats heading out to Kimud this morning, leaving just after 4:45. Our boat only had 6 divers on it, whereas the other was a group of 10+. BF and I had our own DM who stayed with us for all dives the entire day. For Kimud, we ended up being the first in the water (shortly before 6:00) both for our boat, and for the dive site in general. This was really nice, and a reason for why we picked Evo, since the other boats didn’t show up until 15-30 mins after us.
Dive 1: Kimud Shoal
Max depth 66ft, 57 mins, min water temp 84F.
We only saw one thresher shark this dive, after about 15 mins of swimming around. Luckily we had a lot of 1-on-1 time with it, since other divers hadn’t dropped in yet.
Dive 2: Kimud Shoal
Max depth 53ft, 57 mins, min water temp 83F.
We saw two thresher sharks on this dive within the first 10 mins. By this time, there were many other divers in the water so it was annoying.
We drove back to the shop (50-60 mins, back 10:00-10:30ish) and ate lunch at their restaurant. We saw that the following dives for the day were scheduled for Gato Island and for the mandarin mating, so we decided to do all of them.
It was another ~50mins ride to Gato Island. We were together with the large group of 10+ people on the other boat.
Dive 3: Gato Island (Tunnel/Cavern)
Max depth 77ft, 58 mins, min water temp 84F.
The swim-through was very fun! We were worried it would be silted out since we went behind the group, but they did a (relatively) good job. Unfortunately we found no sleeping sharks.
Lunch during the SI. It was pretty good.
Dive 4: Gato Island (East Side)
Max depth 62ft, 57 mins, min water temp 84F.
We saw two different cuttlefish and a sleeping catshark.
We barely made it back in time for the 17:30 mandarin dive and were transferred directly onto a smaller boat from our big bangka. Once the other two guests on the dive arrived from the shore, we geared up and got in the water immediately. Luckily the mandarin dive was in the Evo house reef.
Dive 5: Evo House Reef (Mandarin dragonets)
Max depth 28ft, 63 mins, min water temp 83F.
We didn’t see other divers until about 30 mins in, when it got EXTREMELY crowded. Luckily we had prime spots but had to dig into the sand to avoid being physically pushed out of the way by rude divers with their huge camera setups. We didn’t see any mandarins mate until ~50 mins into the dive, but when we did it was exciting! Mandarins are a personal favorite of BF so it was a nice experience.
Unfortunately during this dive I began to experience wet breathing through my regs. Once we got to shore, I was exhausted after a very packed 48 hrs (travel day, early wakeup/lack of sleep, 5 dive day) and then the regulator problem and ended up cancelling the thresher dives for the next morning.
Day 2: We slept in until 9:30 and then headed over to Evo again because Matt (one of the owners) said he would take a look at them. The problem ended up being one of the mouthpieces was torn so we replaced it. I felt really embarrassed for cancelling the dives for such a slight issue.
And that ended our Malapascua adventure.
Final thoughts: I thought Evo was a nice operation and next time we will just stay there directly. The thresher sharks were just as lovely as expected and I will plan for more than 2 days next time to maximize seeing them in case of accidents/unplanned events. I also learned my lesson about packing the schedule full.
