Malapascua Island, Cebu, the Philippines - Photos by Thierry Lanoy

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Malapascua diving offers not only daily thresher shark sightings, but also white tip sharks, mantas and, seasonally, even hammerheads can be seen. There are also a number of wrecks to explore and you can be pretty sure to spot the elusive mandarin fish.

Other delights include countless nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses, cuttlefish, beautiful unspoiled coral gardens and generally a huge diversity of marine life.

The thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus) belongs to the mackerel shark family. The threshers can grow up to a length of 5-6 meters. They stand out by their long scythe-like tail from which it derives it name. Thresher sharks normally live in deep water and are nocturnal (night creatures), so are not often seen by divers. Although they are seen spotted in other locations around the world, there seems to be no better place than Malapascua, where they can be seen on such a regular basis. They have very small, sharp teeth and big eyes to be able to see in the dark. The thresher shark eats squid and schooling fish such as herring and mackerel and it is thought that they use their tails to "corral" the fish into denser schools. The tail may also be used to stun the fish. They will sometimes "breach" and can jump completely out of the water.

Thresher sharks are found at a dive site called Monad Shoal. Sadly, like most other shark species, the number of thresher sharks in the world is declining due to overfishing for their fins and meat. Monad Shoal has recently been declared a marine park to help protect these creatures.

Monad Shoal near Malapascua is a sunken island whose sides drop off to 230m. The thresher sharks live and hunt in this deep water for most of the day, but in the early morning, before it gets too light, they come up to the Shoal, attracted by its cleaning stations. Here they have a symbiotic relationship with the small fish called cleaning wrasse which eat dead skin and bacteria from the shark's body, its gills, and even inside its mouth. Recent reports from other divers say that they sometimes appear in the afternoon as well. They tend to be a shy species and will usually appear during the first and last dives of the day.

Sharks are not the only ones to benefit from the cleaning stations. The wrasse also attract other pelagics. Devil rays are seen year round and manta rays from July to November. Occasionally, other species of shark will be seen such as hammerheads and white tips. January-March is especially good for hammerheads.The shoal is home to a huge diversity of species: it is a great dive by itself - batfish, flute mouths, barracuda, tuna, mantis shrimp, pipefish, scorpion fish, free-swimming lionfish, moorish idols, schooling banner fish, unicorn fish, squid, octopus and various moray eels. You will often see these fish being cleaned as well and because they stay so still and are so preoccupied it is a great chance to observe them close up.

Another excellent dive site is Gato Island, this location houses at least five dive sites with a huge diversity of marine life. Marine life included whitetip sharks, banded sea snakes, cuttlefish (often while mating), nudibranchs, moray eels, scorpion fish, squid, big-mouthed mackerel, frogfish, pipefish, banded boxer shrimp, hermit crabs, mantis shrimp, and pygmy seahorses. There is a cave that goes underneath the island and at a site called the Lighthouse where Thierry saw a seahorse. See photo >>

Although the visibility could have been better, the diving was quite good at Malapascua Island. Apart from the threshers, other pelagics, and sometimes mantas, there is excellent material for micro photography to be had. Unfortunately, dynamite fishing at Monad Shoal is still going on so if you want to see the impressive Thresher Sharks, you better visit sooner than later.

As long as you research the dive locations, the Phillipines are good value for money when it comes to diving. If you decide to visit the Philippines, it is advisable to talk to dive shops, visit forums to talk to other divers to really make sure you are not going to an area that has been destroyed by dynamite fishing already.



Sea Explorers

Thresher Shark Divers

Malapascua Island Beach and Diving Resort
Bubble 07 Divers




Manila, the capital, can be reached by a large number of international airlines. Within the Philippines it is quite easy and affordable to get to the different islands on Philippines Airlines. Asian Spirit has good deals on flights and packages in the Philippines. Don't forget to check out Cebu Pacific Air as well. Superferry is an excellent site if you wish to travel from island to island by ferry.

Cebu
Mactan International Airport is about 15 km. from Cebu City. It has direct regular international flights from Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. From Europe you can go with Cathay Pacific (via Hong kong), Singapore Airline (via Singapore), Malaysian Airlines (via Kuala Lumpur), direct to Cebu. Other flights can be access via Manila. From the airport you can take a taxi to the city which will take about 20 minutes without traffic jams.




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Thierry Lannoy is a PADI instructor. He spent the last seven years in Cabo Pulmo, Baja California Sur, Mexico. He recently came back from an amazing journey through the Philippines. You can contact him by email at thymex01@yahoo.com.mx to enquire about diving in the Baja California, the Philippines or his stunning photography.

Thierry just started a new position as a dive coordinator and underwater photographer with Oceana.org in their European department. He is currently on his first Oceana expedition in the Mediterranean sea. Their mission is to observe the state of the Mediterranean Sea in general, and research the impacts caused by the fishing industries in France, Italy and Sardinia. The latest news reported him as very busy and having a great time as well. Stay tuned for more!