The final stop on my Philippines diving trip in May 2025 was Malapascua, a small island off the northern tip of Cebu. This little island may only be a couple of kilometres long, but it’s packed with world-class diving and has earned a reputation as one of the Philippines’ premier dive destinations.
Malapascua is best known for its early morning thresher shark encounters. These sleek, beautiful sharks visit the cleaning stations almost every day, and for most divers, seeing a thresher glide in from the blue is the main reason to come here.. Over the past few years, more tiger sharks have started appearing at Monad Shoal, which has led many thresher sharks to move to a nearby site, Kimud Shoal. So today, sightings of threshers are more reliable at Kimud, while Monad is better known for occasional tiger shark encounters.
But there’s far more to Malapascua than just sharks. The island is surrounded by vibrant coral gardens, shallow plateaus and reefs full of life. The macro diving here is excellent too, with all sorts of critters hiding among the sand and coral, including frogfish, pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs and mantis shrimp.
Offshore you’ll find some of the region’s best dive sites, like Gato Island, famous for its dramatic swim-through, whitetip reef sharks and healthy soft corals. Kimud Shoal itself is also worth visiting for manta rays and the chance of hammerhead sightings in season. Wreck divers have plenty to enjoy too, with the Dona Marilyn and Mogami Maru wrecks, as well as jeepneys and artificial reefs closer to shore.
Whether it’s the iconic thresher sharks, the amazing macro life or the mix of reefs, wrecks and swim-throughs, Malapascua offers a little bit of everything. For me, it was the perfect place to wrap up three incredible weeks of diving around the Philippines.
Ferry from Bohol to Cebu
We travelled to Malapascua from Bohol, starting with the high-speed Supercat ferry from Tagbilaran City Tourist Port to Cebu Pier. We decided to pay a little extra for business class, which meant sitting upstairs in a quieter area. It was a nice little treat and worth it for the more relaxed vibe.
When you arrive at the port Tagbilaran City Tourist Port, you have to pay a small terminal fee to enter, even if you’ve already bought your ticket. This seems to be the norm in the bigger ports, so have a few pesos ready. The waiting area has shops and stalls selling snacks, fruit and local food if you fancy something before the journey. Facilities are fine while you wait. The ferry itself takes about two hours to reach Cebu.
I’d booked Blue Corals Beach Resort through Booking.com, and after booking they got in touch to offer a private transfer from Cebu Pier all the way to Maya New Roro Port, where you catch the boats to Malapascua Island. That drive takes around three hours and twenty minutes. We went with their suggestion as it was great knowing it was all arranged and what we’d be paying.
The hotel also offered a private boat transfer to the island, but we chose the standard passenger boat instead. The drive north was fine. A little hairy at times, as is often the case in the Philippines, so it’s worth trying to grab a nap. We stopped halfway for a toilet and snack break before continuing on to Maya.
When you arrive at Maya, you pop into a small office to pay an environmental fee. There’s a toilet if you need it. Outside, you speak to the booth to get in line for the next boat. It can feel a little confusing at first, but the staff do keep track of everyone. Once your boat is ready, you pay for your ticket, add your name to the log and board. We waited about thirty minutes before setting off. The crossing to Malapascua didn’t take long at all.
When we arrived on Malapascua, the crew unloaded our luggage and we walked about five minutes along the sandy beach to the hotel. A tip: let the hotel know in advance if you’d like porters to help with your bags… trying to drag a heavy suitcase through soft sand in the afternoon heat isn’t much fun.
Blue Corals Beach Resort itself is a simple, local place, perfectly located right on the beach. The reception team were friendly and checked us in before walking us to our room. The hotel has a mix of rooms. Some in little garden bungalows and others in the main building. We chose a room in the main building, which was spacious, a bit dated, but absolutely fine. he balcony overlooked the quieter bay, and the view was stunning… a brilliant spot to just take it all in.. We also had air conditioning, which was very welcome after a hot day.
We weren’t there for luxury, but as a base for diving it was perfect.
We booked our diving with Mabuhay Thresher Dive Centre well in advance as part of my carefully planned Philippines trip. Malapascua was the final stop and I was really looking forward to diving with thresher sharks and exploring Gato Island as one of the highlights.
After arriving on the island and checking in next door at Blue Corals, we went over to the Mabuhay “shop” to confirm everything. It turned out to just be a small desk in a restaurant with some gear on a rail, which was a surprise. That said, Christine at the desk was friendly, professional and helpful right from the start. We filled out our forms and booked a day of three dives at Gato Island with a planned meeting time of 6:45am. Later that evening we got a WhatsApp asking us to meet earlier at 6am, which was fine so we called it an early night.
We arrived at 5:50am, keen to get going, and waited. No one showed up until about 6:40am when the dive master arrived and explained that the boat captain was hungover and had called in sick. Not ideal. We ended up waiting nearly an hour before being ferried to join another shop’s boat. Even then it took a few circles before we were allowed to board. Once on the boat, now about an hour and a half late, the crew were polite but it was clear we weren’t really part of their group which made it feel a bit awkward.
The diving itself was excellent though. Gato Island was everything I’d hoped for, with amazing swim-throughs, soft corals and plenty of life. Our dive master was professional and knew the sites well. Unfortunately, the boat was only scheduled for two dives rather than the three we’d booked, which was disappointing as there was still so much to see. Christine and the dive master apologised when we got back and we decided to go ahead with the thresher shark dive the next morning.
The next morning we arrived at 6:15am and, again, no one was around until the dive master arrived at 6:30. Once more, we were ferried to another shop’s larger boat. I understand the need to share boats when group sizes are small, as it makes sense financially, but it did leave us feeling like an afterthought. The other group were served breakfast and lunch on board, while we were given a banana and a packed lunch.
The dives felt a little rushed too. One dive ended even though I still had 85 bar left in my tank and my buddy had 100 bar. That said, seeing the thresher sharks was absolutely worth it. Watching them glide in from the blue and circle the cleaning station was unforgettable. It would have been great to spend more time there rather than moving on to Monad Shoal, where tiger shark sightings are rare and there isn’t much else to see, but that’s just the standard trip format.
Overall the staff at Mabuhay were friendly and the diving itself was still really good, but the organisation and lack of personal touch left something to be desired. If you just want to tick off the thresher sharks and aren’t too fussed about the details, Mabuhay is fine. If you’re after something more polished and tailored, I’d recommend shopping around or asking for a customised plan.
I’ve chosen not to include a link to Mabuhay Thresher Dive Centre as my experience didn’t reflect the level of service I’d want to recommend to others.
It’s also worth mentioning a little about the island itself. Personally, I found Malapascua quite scruffy with plastics and rubbish scattered around. The sense of eco-friendliness seemed non-existent which was disappointing. And the flies… really annoying at times.
One positive discovery though was a brilliant restaurant and dive centre we spotted a little further along the beach. We really wished we’d booked our dives with them instead. The team there were much more knowledgeable, genuinely enthusiastic about the sites and clearly cared about what they were doing. We also enjoyed a few beers and some great evening food at their beach bar and restaurant. That was Malapascua Beach & Dive Resort… I’d definitely recommend checking them out if you visit.
After a few unforgettable days diving, we headed back the next day. We took the boat back to the mainland and then a private transfer to Cebu City where we spent one night before our flight via Manila to Kuala Lumpur.
Here are a few shots from our dives around Malapascua. From the graceful thresher sharks gliding in from the blue to the colourful reefs and eerie swim-throughs at Gato Island, the underwater scenery here is full of surprises. It’s not the easiest place to photograph with the early starts and occasional crowds, but these pictures capture just a little of what makes diving here so special.
