Diving in Malapascua

Nestled at the northernmost tip of Cebu in the Visayas region of the Philippines, Malapascua Island is rapidly gaining fame as one of the world's premier dive destinations. Its claim to fame? The mesmerizing thresher sharks that grace the clear waters, offering divers a unique, thrilling experience. But the allure of Malapascua extends beyond its sharks. The island is a gateway to an underwater paradise, where divers can explore vibrant coral reefs teeming with marine life. Located within the Coral Triangle, these reefs are home to a colorful array of species, including the elusive mandarin fish, making every dive a visual feast. Diving around Malapascua offers a variety of experiences, catering to different styles and preferences. Monad Shoal, a submerged island, is particularly famous for early morning thresher shark encounters. Meanwhile, Gato Island provides a different thrill with its tunnel swim-throughs and sightings of white-tip reef sharks. Dive sites like Kemod Shoal add to the diversity, presenting breathtaking underwater landscapes that range from coral formations to sloping reefs and small walls. With its warm waters, rich biodiversity, and unique dive sites, Malapascua is a must-visit for diving enthusiasts seeking adventure and wonder in the heart of the Philippines.

Courses and Events

Perfect Buoyancy

The SSI Perfect Buoyancy specialty is the best way to improve your buoyancy and get the most from every dive. Buoyancy is an essential dive skill, but any diver will tell you it takes time to perfect. The Perfect Buoyancy specialty will teach you advanced buoyancy skills and techniques, so you can master your buoyancy more quickly and enjoy more relaxed dive adventures. In this fascinating program, you will also learn new skills that protect the environment and work in every diving situation. Upon completion, you will earn the SSI Perfect Buoyancy Specialty certification. With better buoyancy skills, you will soon be able to hover with ease and take the underwater photographs you dream of!

11 February +291 More
EUR 129.33
PHP 8,999.00

Deep Diving

The SSI Deep Diving Specialty will teach you all you need to dive to depths between 18 and 40 meters, through a mixture of academic sessions and open water dives. You will learn to plan and safely complete your deep diving adventures and use computers and gas consumption calculations to get the most from your deep dives. Upon completion, you will earn your SSI Deep Diving Specialty certification and be able to explore beautiful deep dive sites wherever you choose. This SSI Specialty is also a prerequisite for some advanced training, making it the next logical step to take in your dive education.

11 February +16 More
EUR 171.73
PHP 11,950.00

Enriched Air Nitrox (40%)

As a Nitrox diver, you can increase your bottom times and safety margins, plus shorten your surface intervals - so you can spend more time diving and less time waiting! In this program, you will learn new skills and increase your diving knowledge whilst learning how to safely plan and dive with enriched air mixtures of up to 40% oxygen. Upon completion, you will earn an SSI Enriched Air Nitrox 32% or 40% certification.

11 February +16 More
EUR 171.73
PHP 11,950.00

Stress & Rescue

The SSI Diver Stress and Rescue specialty program teaches you the skills you need to protect yourself and other divers. You will learn how to identify stress, how to prevent accidents and be taught practical techniques to conduct rescues and provide emergency care. With a combination of pool and open water practice sessions, you will become well prepared and confident at handling emergency and rescue situations. Upon completion, you will earn the SSI Diver Stress and Rescue Specialty certification.

11 February +16 More
EUR 402.39
PHP 28,000.00

Stress & Rescue

The SSI Diver Stress and Rescue specialty program teaches you the skills you need to protect yourself and other divers. You will learn how to identify stress, how to prevent accidents and be taught practical techniques to conduct rescues and provide emergency care. With a combination of pool and open water practice sessions, you will become well prepared and confident at handling emergency and rescue situations. Upon completion, you will earn the SSI Diver Stress and Rescue Specialty certification.
On request

React Right - Course Combination (FA, CPR, AED, O2)

React Right is SSI’s emergency first response course and provides you with the training and knowledge you need to act as a first responder in a medical emergency. In this flexible dive program, you can choose which subjects you want to learn about, including primary assessment, first aid, CPR and primary stabilization techniques. You can also learn about oxygen administration in diving emergencies and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) basics. Using a combination of academic sessions and practical training scenarios, this program will give you the tools and confidence you need for emergency response. By the time you are certified, you will be able to act as an emergency first responder, provide first aid and CPR, administer oxygen and provide AED support in a medical emergency. Earn your SSI React Right specialty certification. Get started today!

11 February +59 More
EUR 129.33
PHP 8,999.00

Enriched Air Nitrox (40%)

As a Nitrox diver, you can increase your bottom times and safety margins, plus shorten your surface intervals - so you can spend more time diving and less time waiting! In this program, you will learn new skills and increase your diving knowledge whilst learning how to safely plan and dive with enriched air mixtures of up to 40% oxygen. Upon completion, you will earn an SSI Enriched Air Nitrox 32% or 40% certification.

11 February +291 More
EUR 114.95
PHP 7,999.00

Advanced Open Water Diver

We are the #1 SSI Training Center in the Philippines for 2 years in a row! Malapascua has been rated the #2 dive location in the Philippines. If you cannot decide which specialty programs are the best choice for you, join the SSI Advanced Open Water program! With this program, you can try a variety of specialties before committing to full specialty programs. It is a great way to experience what advanced diver training is all about and how valuable it can be to your diving adventures. During the Advanced Open Water Program, you will try out 5 different specialties. You will complete one open water training dive per specialty after a comprehensive briefing with your SSI Instructor. With this trial program in specialty diving, you will have total freedom to explore. You can complete the full specialty programs any time in the future and credit your Advanced Open Water training towards them. The training consists of 2 days with 5 Advanced Open Water dives the cost is 15k and a Bonus Fun Dive for 1k extra. This also includes 2 free nights at our Guesthouse Villa Atlas in the dorm room with fan. Please contact us via WhatsApp +63 919 822 6330 or email atlasdiversinfo@gmail.com

11 February +347 More
EUR 0.23
PHP 16.00

Navigation

In this specialty program, you will gain the advanced skills and knowledge you need to safely and confidently navigate underwater. You will learn how to use a compass and natural navigation techniques, estimate distance, how to leave and return to a designated point, plus basic navigation patterns. You will also be taught how to combine navigation techniques to enhance your diving experience. All of which hones your underwater observation skills, improves your dive safety and helps you to get the most out of every dive. Upon completion, you will earn the SSI Navigation Specialty certification.

11 February +347 More
EUR 129.33
PHP 8,999.00

Dive Activity

Diving in Malapascua

Malapascua diving offers a lot of variety. Wall dives with caves, reef and muck diving will keep everyone happy. Some can be dived as drifts and there are a couple of wreck dives to explore too.

There are lots of dive centres on the island to choose from, all of which offer dive courses. The island is a very popular place to learn to dive and an open water course will take you around three days, though to dive with the threshers at Monad Shoal, you will need to complete a deep adventure dive or advanced course. There are several luxury dive resorts too which offer dive and stay packages at the more expensive end of the market. There are several liveaboards which operate in the area, most of which encompass the Visayas region at large.

Top Wildlife Sigthings in Malapascua

Of course, the most famous animal encounter in Malapascua has to be thresher sharks. These timid sharks can be seen on a very early (normally around 6am) dive in Monad Shoal. The threshers come up from the deep water at first light to be cleaned by wrasse on this cleaning station. It is one of the only places in the world where they can be seen almost everyday, all year round.

Though cowed by the threshers, the reef life here is also stunning. Super rare mandarin fish can be seen at “The Lighthouse” - they can even be seen mating. The male and female perform a cute dance, touching noses and circling around one another before shooting towards the surface. Other well camouflaged life include: ghost pipefish, frogfish, pygmy seahorse, blue ringed octopus, nudibranch, Spanish dancers, cuttlefish and ribbon eels.

There is other pelagic life for those who prefer larger animal encounters. Turtles are a common sight at most dive sites, as are white tip reef sharks, eagle rays, devil rays and moray eels. Hammerhead sharks can be seen (sometimes even in schools) from December to May, as can manta rays.

Wildlife Sightings are Based on User Generated Content

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 3

Alamy/imageBROKER

Thresher Shark
353 Sightings
J
40
F
18
M
13
A
57
M
53
J
30
J
18
A
17
S
19
O
17
N
37
D
34

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 200

Alamy-WaterFrame

Moray Eel
234 Sightings
J
25
F
10
M
24
A
20
M
6
J
6
J
6
A
27
S
22
O
19
N
40
D
29

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 300

Alamy/Reinhard Dirscherl

Octopus
133 Sightings
J
20
F
3
M
5
A
25
M
11
J
18
J
4
A
12
S
6
O
0
N
7
D
22

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 28

Udo Kefrig

Clownfish
1.4k Sightings
J
188
F
167
M
148
A
127
M
95
J
73
J
52
A
81
S
95
O
93
N
168
D
150

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 12

iStock/cinoby

Lionfish
858 Sightings
J
123
F
84
M
90
A
81
M
51
J
24
J
26
A
48
S
73
O
34
N
111
D
113

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 3000

SSI-Peter-Schinck

Nudibranch
654 Sightings
J
109
F
63
M
79
A
87
M
40
J
4
J
9
A
32
S
40
O
33
N
73
D
85
Alamy-WaterFrame

Common Seahorse
562 Sightings
J
94
F
74
M
45
A
84
M
58
J
22
J
14
A
30
S
21
O
21
N
45
D
54

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 130

AdobeStock-JirinaVFR

Pufferfish
455 Sightings
J
41
F
63
M
46
A
35
M
27
J
15
J
13
A
41
S
55
O
24
N
49
D
46

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 130

Shutterstock_Krzysztof Odziomek

Butterfly Fish
384 Sightings
J
50
F
67
M
23
A
34
M
12
J
13
J
15
A
30
S
40
O
41
N
40
D
19

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 90

Shutterstock-Rich Carey

Angelfish
381 Sightings
J
54
F
64
M
7
A
28
M
9
J
21
J
19
A
35
S
42
O
37
N
30
D
35
Show More

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 7000

iStock-Michael Zeigler

Crab
345 Sightings
J
36
F
35
M
36
A
37
M
37
J
13
J
7
A
18
S
20
O
12
N
36
D
58

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 3400

Shutterstock-Shane Gross

Shrimp
324 Sightings
J
49
F
27
M
30
A
40
M
24
J
10
J
1
A
17
S
23
O
11
N
46
D
46

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 130

iStock-Christian von Mach

Pipefish
268 Sightings
J
39
F
50
M
37
A
40
M
11
J
15
J
0
A
3
S
10
O
4
N
34
D
25

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 100

iStock-burnsboxco

Parrotfish
217 Sightings
J
33
F
26
M
8
A
20
M
5
J
4
J
15
A
26
S
33
O
15
N
12
D
20

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 25

AdobeStock_Vladimir Wrangel

Boxfish
151 Sightings
J
9
F
15
M
14
A
2
M
6
J
4
J
3
A
19
S
24
O
19
N
18
D
18

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 8

Alamy-Reinhard Dirscherl

Bannerfish
141 Sightings
J
9
F
14
M
1
A
5
M
10
J
11
J
5
A
21
S
16
O
23
N
20
D
6

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 120

SSI-Peter-Schinck

Cuttlefish
133 Sightings
J
6
F
15
M
1
A
22
M
2
J
12
J
6
A
13
S
7
O
0
N
27
D
22

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 40

iStock-wrangel

Triggerfish
118 Sightings
J
9
F
4
M
19
A
4
M
7
J
5
J
10
A
14
S
29
O
9
N
2
D
6

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 50

istock-atese

Frogfish
114 Sightings
J
12
F
11
M
8
A
10
M
3
J
10
J
6
A
4
S
22
O
6
N
12
D
10

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 85

iStock-mirecca

Surgeonfish
86 Sightings
J
4
F
19
M
1
A
2
M
2
J
3
J
3
A
13
S
18
O
14
N
1
D
6

The image shown is a representative illustration and does not depict every individual animal in this category.

Total number of species: 250

iStock-Miguel-Angelo-Silva.

Scorpionfish
83 Sightings
J
10
F
6
M
7
A
13
M
4
J
0
J
5
A
7
S
18
O
5
N
7
D
1

The best Months to dive in Malapascua

Diving in Malapascua is good all year round, though there are different seasons to contend with. The driest time of the year is from February to May and this is also the best season for diving too. This is the season with the most tourists too so bear in mind that the island will be busier and some prices may be higher. This is the best season to see hammerhead sharks too.

Between June and November is generally known as a wet season, with more rainfall. There are occasionally typhoons in September and October but storms are usually short lived. The visibility is between 15m and 30m all year round except November-January. Plankton blooms reduce the visibility in the cooler water but this does increase the chance of seeing manta rays!

Dive Centers

Atlas Divers Philippines, Inc.

Malapascua Island, Barrio Proper, 6013 Daanbantayan, Cebu - PHL

Divergems Diving Center

Malapascua Island, 6013 Daanbantayan, Cebu - PHL

DIVE NATION, DIVE NATION MALAPASCUA

Malapascua Island, Brgy Logon, 6013 Daan Bantayan, Cebu - PHL

MTD Dive Shop

Malapascua Island, Logon, 6013 Daanbantayan, Cebu - PHL

French Kiss Divers Malapascua, French Kiss Divers Philippines

Malapascua Island, Legend, Bounty Beach,, 6013 Daanbantayan, Cebu - PHL

Little Mermaid Dive Resort

Malapascua Island, 6013 Cebu, Cebu - PHL

Malapascua Kairos Diver

Sitio Barrio, 6013 Daanbantayan, Cebu, Cebu - PHL

Kokay’s Maldito Dive Resort, Kokay’s Diving Shop

Malapascua Island, Barrio North, 6013 Daanbantayan, Cebu - PHL

MONTENOVA DIVE RESORT

Logon, 6013 Daanbantayan, Cebu - PHL

Dive Sites

Atlas Divers-Philippines Inc., 6013 Daanbantayan

Pasil Reef (★4.5)

Pasil Reef is a nice sandy area suitable for muck diving. Also it is great site for night diving. Max depth is around 16M. The average depth is 5-8M.
Atlas Divers-Philippines Inc., 6013 Daanbantayan

Bool Reef (★3.9)

Nice coral and sea grass reef and a good spot for night diving. This site is for beginners and a good training location for open water students and advanced.
Atlas Divers-Philippines Inc., 6013 Daanbantayan

Secret Wall (★4.1)

This is an advanced dive site that goes down to 28M. This wall dive has an average depth of 12M to 14M. This is a good dive muck divers and macro photography.
Atlas Divers-Philippines Inc., 6013 Daanbantayan

Mangrove (★4.4)

Mangrove is a great dive site for open water training with an average depth of 8-10m and a maximum depth of 14m. There is a nice sandy area and a patch reef.
DIVERGEMS HOSTEL AND DIVE CENTER, 6013 Daanbantayan

Lapus-Lapus (★4.1)

The shallow part of the famous Lapus-lapus islet off the coast, of the tip of the north of malapascua island. It has the shallowest depth at 4-5m crawling down to the deeper side to 18-20m it is perfect for beginner and advanced divers looking to observe the marine life interaction in the reef.
Mares

Dakit Dakit Pinnacle (★4.4)

Dakit Dakit Pinnacle is about 5M deep at the top and then stands up to 12-14M and has the diameter of the top is 20M. Covered with nice hard and soft corals including table corals and big rocks with nice growth.
Mares

Dakit Dakit (★4.2)

Small rocks are coming out of the water and make a stunning atmosphere especially during sunset. Strong currents can be found at this dive site, but during other times of the day it is a perfect dive site for check-up dives, open water and advanced divers.
Mares

Blue Coral Malapascua (★4.1)

Beginner dive site, ideal for training courses, located close to the marine sanctuary. Sandy bottom with seagrass beds adjacent. Usually calm and still waters, light current only if present.
Mares

Malapascua (★4.5)

A beautiful house reef dive full of fish.
Mares

Exotic Dive Resort house reef (★4.5)

Exotic’s protected area where the fish are plentiful, this Reef is not to be missed. Starting at 5 meters and gently sloping to 13, it’s a great place to work out the kinks after some time out of the water. Amongst the scattered coral and patches of sea grass, a wide variety of fish and macro life can be found.
Mares, Janez Kranjc

Bakhaw (★4.1)

10-15 minutes off from the port of Malapascua to the back of the island in the north east side, with its flat sandy, grassy bottom it is perfect for the open water divers practicing their buoyancy and expert divers looking for extremely small macro critters.
Aqualung

Lighthouse Reef (★4.1)

A favorite night dive site in Malapascua found on the northern part of the island. The dive usually starts at dusk to enable divers to watch the Mandarin fish.
Mares, Janez Kranjc

Japanese Shipwreck (★4.4)

Ideal Open Water Training Dive number one site, whereby your very first dive is also a wreck dive! Five to 12 meters depth range on a sandy bottom.
Mares, Janez Kranjc

Bantigue (★4.2)

A lovely sandy bottom patches and soft coral reefs with a healthy reef fishes colonies with a depth from shore outwards to 10-13 meters perfect for the open water sessions and Try Scuba / Try Mermaiding / Try Freediving sessions with minimal boat traffic to interfere the practice sessions.
Mares

Lapus I (★4.0)

Lapus Shallow Dive site is an ideal dive training site. It is a sandy slope with some rock formations. Most of the time there is a light current except for slack hight tide.