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Location: Malapascua (Philippines)
Please choose the information you would like to see...
Here you can see what other divers thought, the top dive sites, what fish to see, and what wrecks are here.
You can also access an overview of the location, including interactive maps, climate data, and photos.
We also have detailed listings of dive centres, resorts, travel agents and helpfull websites.
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Top Dive Sites (make sure you dive these!)
1 Monad Shoal and Gato Island With 6 votes(s).
2 Monad Shoal With 3 votes(s).
3 Gato Island With 3 votes(s).
4 Dona Marilyn Wreck With 2 votes(s).
5 Exotic House Reef With 1 votes(s).

Marine Sightings:

Based on data from your reviews for Malapascua. we know the following about the marine life you can expect to see.
If you have been to Malapascua please add a review (see left). Your experience of what you saw will help to extend these results!

Reef Fish Sightings: Pelagic Fish Sightings: Quality of Coral:

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Beauforts Crocodilefish No data No data No data You may see this You may see this No data No data No data No data You may see this
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Blue Ringed Octopus No data No data No data You may see this You may see this No data No data No data No data You may see this No data You may see this
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Bottlenose Dolphin No data No data No data You may see this No data No data No data No data No data You may see this
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Clown Anemonefish You should see this You should see this No data You should see this You should see this No data No data You should see this No data You should see this You should see this You may see this
Emperor Angelfish You may see this No data No data You may see this You may see this No data No data You should see this
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Giant Octopus No data No data No data You may see this No data No data No data No data No data You may see this
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Great Barracuda No data No data No data You may see this You may see this No data No data You may see this No data You may see this You may see this
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Great Hammerhead No data No data No data You may see this
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Green Sea Turtle You may see this No data No data You may see this
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Grey Reef Shark You may see this
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Manta Ray No data No data No data You may see this You may see this No data No data No data No data You may see this
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Marbled Ray No data No data No data You may see this No data No data No data No data No data You may see this
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Potato Grouper No data No data No data You may see this No data No data No data No data No data You may see this
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Scorpion Fish You should see this No data No data You should see this You may see this No data No data You should see this No data You should see this You should see this You may see this
Spotted Eagle Ray You may see this No data No data You may see this No data No data No data No data No data You may see this
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Trumpetfish You may see this No data No data You should see this You may see this No data No data You should see this No data You should see this
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Whitetip Reef Shark You may see this You should see this No data You may see this No data No data No data No data No data You may see this No data You may see this

Reviews:

Here are the last 10 reviews for Malapascua. Show all of them.

Visited Comments
August 2008 Great place to go for a break, very laid back. Night dive at Lighthouse Reef to see mandarin fish, crabs and seahorses. Early morning dives to see thresher sharks, incredible!
Date posted: 22-Aug-2009 17:33 by: jrh86
April 2009 Loved Exotic Beach Resort! Very catering to where we wanted to dive. Awesome boats, superb weather. Saw 2 manta rays and a Thresher Shark that came within armslength on our 1st dive at Monad Shoal!!! Saw 4 Hammerheads at Kemod Shoal. Cuttlefish, nudibranchs, frogfish, harlequin ghost pipefish, don't miss the House Reef either. Wish we had stayed longer.
Date posted: 17-May-2009 23:06 by: shontellee13
January 2008 Had 4 early morning dives on Monad Shoal to spot threshers- saw them on 3 of them. Also black tipped reef sharks on Kemod Shoal, and guaranteed white tips on Gato island. Not a lot of reef fish due to on going dynamite fishing but macro life was abundant and really varied- nudibranches, frogfish, crabs, shrimps etc etc. Night diving was also great, and dusk dive at Lighthouse Reef to see mating mandarin fish is a must. House Reef also worth a visit day or night, it's an artificial reef that's a haven for fish. Dona Marilyn wreck also worth a trip with loads of soft coral growth and sea life Exotic resort was great, so friendly, helpful and professional. Has a reputation for filling up with Koreans, but our 2 week trip had mainly Europeans and was quiet, before the run up to Chinese New Year. Other resorts and restaurants on the island with varying menus and prices. A walk around the villages is a must to see their way of life
Date posted: 18-Feb-2008 20:44 by: Ellie & Andy
November 2007 10 dives and didnt see any thresher sharks or mantas which was the reason for making the journey to Malapascua. overall the staff were good, but some of the dive sites are badly effected by dynamite fishing which is carried out...this is quite unnerving when first happens when your underwater!
Date posted: 09-Nov-2007 12:03 by: saf7670
May 2007 Ahhh Malapascua. We stayed at Exotic and it was a great choice. Very relaxed, but a very professionally run operation. Although Monad far from the most attractive dive site, the chance of seeing Thresher Sharks makes it a must do. We had Mantas there 3 days running and then on the last day we were lucky enough to have a close encounter with a Thresher. I think the sharks are always there, but the vis is not always great, so some times you literally just can't see them. Great place.
Date posted: 26-Jun-2007 00:43 by: simonspear
January 2001 A haven for Threshers, definitely THE place to go to see these beautiful pelagics. Moad Shoal is the best site to see them and also a chance to see manta. We didn't see any but did get to see eagle rays. Dona Marilyn is a great wreck to dive on aswell with plenty of frogfish hiding around the area. Not much to do on the island except for relaxing and diving. But very friendly people and beautiful area.
Date posted: 23-May-2007 03:56 by: soloblazer
December 2005 Nice Diving - Not much else - Malapascua is an absolute must if you're a shark fan! you'll definately get the opportunity to tick the Thresher off your 'must see' list
Date posted: 22-May-2006 11:19 by: Tony
January 2006 I would like to recommend VICR, a Philippine dive guide working with Thresher shark Divers. Just ask him what you want to see before diving and he will find it !
Date posted: 07-Feb-2006 14:26 by: Anne
April 2002 Malapascua gives you access to diverse sites. Monad Shoal is a heavily dynamited site in the past, and is now reduced to rubble with young coral growth and algae which is home to many many cleaner wrasses. The cleaners attract the pelagics to come up from the deep: whitetip and blacktip sharks, and most popularly, the majestic thresher sharks. Monad Shoal is a 95% guaranteed Thresher Shark dive. The divers lie in wait at the edge at 24m before the reefs drop off to the deep. The threshers come up from the deep and have a look around and swim nearer to be cleaned. They're very beautiful animals, very graceful and majestic, the most beautiful shark, in my opinion. Where the Shoal drops off are many deep ledges, from 24-30m. They look like they're shark and manta resting places. We've never explored them because we didn't want to lose bottom time and minimize thresher shark interaction. Would want to explore it someday. Off the reef and into the blue are schooling hammerheads, supposedly. Again, I have yet to try looking for them. I have had surface manta sightings near this area too. Gato Island is another nearby site, also my favorite. It's a very small isle, and hollow in the middle, you can swim through it underwater. It used to be a coral snake sanctuary with bamboo sharks inside it, but when we got there, there were none of those. Still it's a rich island. The 'cave' has many lobsters in little ledges. You enter the 'cave' from one side of the island at about 3m at a wide opening. It slopes downward gradually, and at 5m it curves to the right. There are openings outward off to the side on the right, as you follow this turn. Then at a short distance, it opens up to a cavern on your left side, and it's already the other side of the isle. In this area, there is a 'basement cave' where a blacktip family lives: from nana blacktip to adult blacktips to teen-age to baby blacktips. Just outside and off to the left is another similar shark shark home. As you step out into full sun, the light is dappled by all the schooling big-mouth mackerel above you, and golden anthias nearer you. The coral life is healthy in this area. You see seahorses (fast becoming a rare find in the philippines because they get harvested for the chinese and korean medicine market), some of them seem to be life partners. You see many cuttlefish pairs also, seemingly partners, at least for that period. The cuttlefish are friendly and quite curious. We dove Gato twice in a 3-day dive. Gato seems like a place you can go back to again and again and again and will always give you something to enjoy.
Date posted: 06-Sep-2005 08:02 by: Pinky
February 2003 Malapascua is a great place to relax and dive. I've been there twice and would go back anytime... People are nice, beaches are great and beer is cheap! Excellent food despite the distance...
Date posted: 02-Jul-2005 17:13 by: Ian


Wreck Dives: