Tjack
Contributor
- Messages
- 998
- Reaction score
- 191
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
After a great week at Alona Beach, we headed off to Malapascua Island. Malapascua gets lots of rave reviews and some not so hot, sort of a love it or hate it thing. They are famous for the Thresher Shark dives at Monad Shoal and this is the only place in the world where you can reliably see Threshers on SCUBA.
From Tagbilaran, Bohol we caught the Oceanjet Ferry to Cebu city, which took 1 hour and 45 minutes and cost approximately $12. There we had no trouble finding a cab to Maya at the north end of Cebu island for P2500 or US$60. Most dive shops on Malapascua will arrange transport from Cebu city to Maya for $100. The three of us and all of our luggage was a tight squeeze for the 4 and a half hour ride to Maya. Once at Maya we were ‘greeted’ by boatmen eager to take us to the island. For P1500 or $35 a ‘private’ boat can be hired. As well a smaller boat is required to ferry you out to the big banca at low tide and this ran P150 or $4. We had arrived at Maya around 4:30 pm so the public ferry, which runs P80 per person had already left.
The 30 minute scenic crossing was a hoot, swigging Tanduay rum from the bottle on this run down banca we felt like real pirates of old. As the boat reached the harbor at Malapascua town we hired another small banca to ferry us directly to Bounty Beach, where Hippocampus hotel is located. Arriving at the beach a small boy of maybe 60 pounds offers to help carry our bags, well he takes my 50lb dive gear bag throws it onto his shoulder and off he goes, wow. For such a herculean feat he received a huge tip.
Hippocampus is one of the original beach hotels at Malapascua, and we were surprised to find that they had no record of our reservation made the day before by Seaquest. After some discussion with the desk girl, who was having a bad day, we met the owner who was most helpful. With some negotiation we got their 2 best rooms overlooking the beach for $60 each. A bit of a splurge but lots of hotels were full for Fiesta. These rooms had a mini bar and king size bed with mosquito netting, private balconies overlooking the beach, very nice.
Having heard a lot about Evolution diving on Scubaboard and Tripadvisor we headed down to their shop to see what was up for the following days dives. We were greeted by Sheila from Vermont, who was most enthusiastic and helpful. They run their dive operation out of the Craic House bar, so we had a San Miguel while doing our paperwork. After some discussion we get our OW diver Neil signed up for Monad the next morning at 4:30am. OW divers can do Monad as long as they stay on the rope line. Nitrox was available for $5 a tank so Mike and I analyzed tanks for the morning dives as well.
Arriving at 4:30 am, we grabbed a quick cup of Nescafe, and off we go into the Sunrise. Pulling in to Monad there were at least 4 dive boats there already. Geared up we headed down the mooring line to the top of the shoal at 80’. There was a current sweeping the reef so we start swimming for it, headed for the main observation point, which is delineated by a rope strung across the bottom. As we head for the lineup of other divers sitting on the bottom holding the rope, we get our first sighting! Off in the distance we can make out the silhouette of a Thresher! Its long tail and slinky swimming motion make it easy to identify as a Thresher Shark.
Mike, our newly certified AOW diver, is low on air before we hit the lineup so Alex one of the two DMs with our group escorts him to the surface, Mike saw his Thresher and even got a couple shots off with his camera so mission accomplished, but he was a little disconcerted at how quickly he drained his tank.
The rest of our group continues the dive, along the rope line, where a wall of bubbles and silt are obscuring the already limited 60’ visibility. Enough of this mess, we head out over one of the points that make up the edge of this underwater plateau. In comes another Thresher, slowly cruising up to us as if to take a look at these strange creatures making all the bubbles. Nice one on one, eye to eye encounter, the Thresher is truly a beautiful animal, so graceful with its sweeping tail undulating behind it as if trying to catch up with it’s body. Me and Richbro from the UK are totally psyched, fist pumping, oh yea. Over the course of the dive we had at least 6 sightings, possibly the same shark but I would guess there were at least three individual Threshers.
At the end of this 48 minute dive, we see a Devil Ray come cruising in over the same point where we had the close encounter with the Thresher, cool, nice bonus. Checking my air I’m running low so I notify Jonah the DM and we start heading up a nearby mooring line. By the time we hit our safety stop, we are really low on air, and Jonah offers me his Octo, out of pride I refuse, good thing as it turns out because he was just as low on air as myself. Feeling the bottom of my tank I short the safety stop by a minute and hit the surface. Wow, what an exciting dive!
Our second dive of the day is back to Monad for Mantas which were reputedly sighted there the previous day. This time there is a group doing there Trimix Tech deep training dive. We put Mike on a 15 liter nitrox tank and off we go. Mike did way better on air consumption this time without the long swim and all the excitement of the Threshers. No Mantas so a bit of a dud, I was glad to se my first Sea moth though. What a strange little critter, moving in circles so I can’t get a head on shot of it. It seemed to me that this dive was planned so the Techies could do their deep dive and we were along for the ride, somewhat irksome. One of the Evolution boats was in dry dock so this might have had something to do with it.
Dive three was planned for House Reef where the local DMs love to go mucking. As I like to be the first in I gear up and hit the water. One of the DMs tells me to head directly for the bottom as there is some current. Well the river was running, ripping current, I hit the bottom and dig my hand into the sand to wait for the rest of the divers. After 3 minutes waiting I hear dinging and see DM Sheila giving the thumbs up ascend signal, the dive has been aborted!
Off we go to Deep Slope, another nearby site, with patchy coral, and lots of critters. Sheila finds us Pygmy Sea Horses, which are a treat as well I saw 2 Octopus and many small soft corals. Multiple Nudis and the biggest Mantis Shrimp I’ve ever seen. Mike was struggling with the current, trying to keep up with the Sheila who was moving quickly in her enthusiasm to find lots of cool critters. There was a green cast to the water here and the vis might have been 50’
Our final dive of the day was a sunset dive to see mating Mandarin fish, one of the signature dives at Malapascua. For me this was a bit of a bore, as you have to wait for the Mandarin fish to do their thing. In the low light with no torches allowed it is hard to make out the resplendent colors which make Mandarin fish so notable. The night dive, which followed, was good with lots of strange creatures lurking in the abundant finger corals here at the Lighthouse.
The following day we were scheduled to dive the Dona Marilyn wreck and Gato island, Gato Island is a must dive off of Malapacua but alas when we arrived at Evolution in the morning this trip had been canceled due to other divers dropping out, what a bummer. In lieu of this we went to Deep Rock, a small sea mount with abundant soft corals in every color. There was a Nudibranch circus going on down there. Here visibility was around 50’ with a water temp of 83f.
The final dive of the day was at House Reef. My first real Muck dive? Can you call it a muck dive if there is a sand bottom? Poking around on the grassy bottom with sporadic coral heads we found Hairy Frogfish, giant Melibe Nudibranch and lots of other cool critters. We encountered a White Devil Scorpion fish and a highlight for me was a tiny Orange-black Dragonet which I would have never found if not pointed out by Sheila.
Evolution dive shop gets lots of exposure on the internet due to their web savvy. Most of the staff and divers at Evolution sit around the Craic Hose bar banging away on their laptops. I have noticed before that outfits who get all the good press on line are often manipulating the web. Tripadvisor #1 has more to do with promoting client reviews than actual quality of service in my humble opinion.
The last strike against Evolution came when I went to settle my bill and they gave me 40.5 to 1 on US dollars. Everywhere else in Philippines was giving 42 to 1. My bill for 6 dives and a few meals was $225, seems high. I do not recommend Evolution dive shop, ratty boats, aggressive dive profiles, and a too cool for school vibe with their regulars. For Tech they are probably OK but for us lowly recreational divers, especially novices, not so hot. From what I saw both Exotic and Seaquest would be good choices next time. Exotic actually took their divers in the big boat parade for Fiesta.
The diving off Malapascua is highly varied and best suited for experienced divers. My two novice travel companions came away slightly shaken and definitely preferred the diving at Alona. For me the Threshers are worth the trip and I would have loved to dive the Dona Marilyn. The visibillity was less then what we found at both Alona and Mactan and the water temps were slightly cooler here at 83f. Malapascua has some unique dives but for beautiful reefs and walls go elsewhere. The sparse reef here does provide for some amazing Macro, a nice change of pace from the lush walls elsewhere.
Photos here http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/5712
See part 3 for the Malapascua Lawihan festival and more diving action at Mactan
From Tagbilaran, Bohol we caught the Oceanjet Ferry to Cebu city, which took 1 hour and 45 minutes and cost approximately $12. There we had no trouble finding a cab to Maya at the north end of Cebu island for P2500 or US$60. Most dive shops on Malapascua will arrange transport from Cebu city to Maya for $100. The three of us and all of our luggage was a tight squeeze for the 4 and a half hour ride to Maya. Once at Maya we were ‘greeted’ by boatmen eager to take us to the island. For P1500 or $35 a ‘private’ boat can be hired. As well a smaller boat is required to ferry you out to the big banca at low tide and this ran P150 or $4. We had arrived at Maya around 4:30 pm so the public ferry, which runs P80 per person had already left.
The 30 minute scenic crossing was a hoot, swigging Tanduay rum from the bottle on this run down banca we felt like real pirates of old. As the boat reached the harbor at Malapascua town we hired another small banca to ferry us directly to Bounty Beach, where Hippocampus hotel is located. Arriving at the beach a small boy of maybe 60 pounds offers to help carry our bags, well he takes my 50lb dive gear bag throws it onto his shoulder and off he goes, wow. For such a herculean feat he received a huge tip.
Hippocampus is one of the original beach hotels at Malapascua, and we were surprised to find that they had no record of our reservation made the day before by Seaquest. After some discussion with the desk girl, who was having a bad day, we met the owner who was most helpful. With some negotiation we got their 2 best rooms overlooking the beach for $60 each. A bit of a splurge but lots of hotels were full for Fiesta. These rooms had a mini bar and king size bed with mosquito netting, private balconies overlooking the beach, very nice.
Having heard a lot about Evolution diving on Scubaboard and Tripadvisor we headed down to their shop to see what was up for the following days dives. We were greeted by Sheila from Vermont, who was most enthusiastic and helpful. They run their dive operation out of the Craic House bar, so we had a San Miguel while doing our paperwork. After some discussion we get our OW diver Neil signed up for Monad the next morning at 4:30am. OW divers can do Monad as long as they stay on the rope line. Nitrox was available for $5 a tank so Mike and I analyzed tanks for the morning dives as well.
Arriving at 4:30 am, we grabbed a quick cup of Nescafe, and off we go into the Sunrise. Pulling in to Monad there were at least 4 dive boats there already. Geared up we headed down the mooring line to the top of the shoal at 80’. There was a current sweeping the reef so we start swimming for it, headed for the main observation point, which is delineated by a rope strung across the bottom. As we head for the lineup of other divers sitting on the bottom holding the rope, we get our first sighting! Off in the distance we can make out the silhouette of a Thresher! Its long tail and slinky swimming motion make it easy to identify as a Thresher Shark.
Mike, our newly certified AOW diver, is low on air before we hit the lineup so Alex one of the two DMs with our group escorts him to the surface, Mike saw his Thresher and even got a couple shots off with his camera so mission accomplished, but he was a little disconcerted at how quickly he drained his tank.
The rest of our group continues the dive, along the rope line, where a wall of bubbles and silt are obscuring the already limited 60’ visibility. Enough of this mess, we head out over one of the points that make up the edge of this underwater plateau. In comes another Thresher, slowly cruising up to us as if to take a look at these strange creatures making all the bubbles. Nice one on one, eye to eye encounter, the Thresher is truly a beautiful animal, so graceful with its sweeping tail undulating behind it as if trying to catch up with it’s body. Me and Richbro from the UK are totally psyched, fist pumping, oh yea. Over the course of the dive we had at least 6 sightings, possibly the same shark but I would guess there were at least three individual Threshers.
At the end of this 48 minute dive, we see a Devil Ray come cruising in over the same point where we had the close encounter with the Thresher, cool, nice bonus. Checking my air I’m running low so I notify Jonah the DM and we start heading up a nearby mooring line. By the time we hit our safety stop, we are really low on air, and Jonah offers me his Octo, out of pride I refuse, good thing as it turns out because he was just as low on air as myself. Feeling the bottom of my tank I short the safety stop by a minute and hit the surface. Wow, what an exciting dive!
Our second dive of the day is back to Monad for Mantas which were reputedly sighted there the previous day. This time there is a group doing there Trimix Tech deep training dive. We put Mike on a 15 liter nitrox tank and off we go. Mike did way better on air consumption this time without the long swim and all the excitement of the Threshers. No Mantas so a bit of a dud, I was glad to se my first Sea moth though. What a strange little critter, moving in circles so I can’t get a head on shot of it. It seemed to me that this dive was planned so the Techies could do their deep dive and we were along for the ride, somewhat irksome. One of the Evolution boats was in dry dock so this might have had something to do with it.
Dive three was planned for House Reef where the local DMs love to go mucking. As I like to be the first in I gear up and hit the water. One of the DMs tells me to head directly for the bottom as there is some current. Well the river was running, ripping current, I hit the bottom and dig my hand into the sand to wait for the rest of the divers. After 3 minutes waiting I hear dinging and see DM Sheila giving the thumbs up ascend signal, the dive has been aborted!
Off we go to Deep Slope, another nearby site, with patchy coral, and lots of critters. Sheila finds us Pygmy Sea Horses, which are a treat as well I saw 2 Octopus and many small soft corals. Multiple Nudis and the biggest Mantis Shrimp I’ve ever seen. Mike was struggling with the current, trying to keep up with the Sheila who was moving quickly in her enthusiasm to find lots of cool critters. There was a green cast to the water here and the vis might have been 50’
Our final dive of the day was a sunset dive to see mating Mandarin fish, one of the signature dives at Malapascua. For me this was a bit of a bore, as you have to wait for the Mandarin fish to do their thing. In the low light with no torches allowed it is hard to make out the resplendent colors which make Mandarin fish so notable. The night dive, which followed, was good with lots of strange creatures lurking in the abundant finger corals here at the Lighthouse.
The following day we were scheduled to dive the Dona Marilyn wreck and Gato island, Gato Island is a must dive off of Malapacua but alas when we arrived at Evolution in the morning this trip had been canceled due to other divers dropping out, what a bummer. In lieu of this we went to Deep Rock, a small sea mount with abundant soft corals in every color. There was a Nudibranch circus going on down there. Here visibility was around 50’ with a water temp of 83f.
The final dive of the day was at House Reef. My first real Muck dive? Can you call it a muck dive if there is a sand bottom? Poking around on the grassy bottom with sporadic coral heads we found Hairy Frogfish, giant Melibe Nudibranch and lots of other cool critters. We encountered a White Devil Scorpion fish and a highlight for me was a tiny Orange-black Dragonet which I would have never found if not pointed out by Sheila.
Evolution dive shop gets lots of exposure on the internet due to their web savvy. Most of the staff and divers at Evolution sit around the Craic Hose bar banging away on their laptops. I have noticed before that outfits who get all the good press on line are often manipulating the web. Tripadvisor #1 has more to do with promoting client reviews than actual quality of service in my humble opinion.
The last strike against Evolution came when I went to settle my bill and they gave me 40.5 to 1 on US dollars. Everywhere else in Philippines was giving 42 to 1. My bill for 6 dives and a few meals was $225, seems high. I do not recommend Evolution dive shop, ratty boats, aggressive dive profiles, and a too cool for school vibe with their regulars. For Tech they are probably OK but for us lowly recreational divers, especially novices, not so hot. From what I saw both Exotic and Seaquest would be good choices next time. Exotic actually took their divers in the big boat parade for Fiesta.
The diving off Malapascua is highly varied and best suited for experienced divers. My two novice travel companions came away slightly shaken and definitely preferred the diving at Alona. For me the Threshers are worth the trip and I would have loved to dive the Dona Marilyn. The visibillity was less then what we found at both Alona and Mactan and the water temps were slightly cooler here at 83f. Malapascua has some unique dives but for beautiful reefs and walls go elsewhere. The sparse reef here does provide for some amazing Macro, a nice change of pace from the lush walls elsewhere.
Photos here http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/5712
See part 3 for the Malapascua Lawihan festival and more diving action at Mactan
