Sometime soon I'll post a trip report about the almost 2 weeks I spent on Malapascua in April. I stayed there that long because I decided that I had no reason to go elsewhere in the Visayas. Malapascua had everything I wanted.
I did a few days of recreational diving, then did an advanced trimix course, then did a few more days of both recreational and technical diving.
Here it is in a nutshell:
Big animals: thresher sharks almost guaranteed at Monad Shoal, whitetip reef sharks almost guaranteed at Gato Island, possible big rays
Macro: pygmy seahorses, other seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish, other pipefish, frogfish, dragonets, of course a couple dozen species of nudibranchs plus lots more
Wrecks: the Doña Marilyn, a ferry sunk in a typhoon in 1988, a great dive for both recreational and technical divers; the Mogami Maru, a WWII Japanese sub chaser sunk in an air raid in 1944 - 50 m deep so tech only but a great dive for those qualified (and there's yet another wreck which I didn't dive)
Between the big fishes, the little critters, and the wrecks I just didn't see any reason to waste a day in transit traveling to somewhere else instead of spending that day diving from Malapascua.
Matt Reed taught my trimix course and showed me around the wrecks, and Evolution dive center took care of my recreational diving needs. I was happy with their services and recommend them.
