Sustainable Diving: Protecting Malapascua’s Marine Ecosystem

Sustainable diving keeps the reef alive long enough for the next generation of divers to see it. At Thresher Shark Divers we run beach cleanups, build Biorock reef structures with school groups, and teach low-impact dive techniques on every course. Below is the practical version: what we do, what students can do, and why it matters for Malapascua specifically.

Why this matters here specifically

Malapascua’s economy is the reef. The threshers, the macro life on Gato, the muck sites, the wrecks – that’s what divers come for. If those go, so does the island.

Conservation here isn’t an abstract concern. It’s a business risk. The reefs around Malapascua have already taken hits from typhoons (Haiyan 2013, Odette 2021, Kalmaegi 2025) and from years of fishing pressure before tourism gave the local economy an alternative. The recovery isn’t guaranteed.

What divers actually do that hurts

Three things, in order of damage:

1. Bad buoyancy. Crashing into coral, kicking up silt that smothers polyps, holding onto reef to steady yourself. The single biggest cause of diver-related reef damage worldwide.
2. Touching things. Sharks, turtles, octopus, the reef itself. Even a gentle touch removes protective mucus from fish and stresses animals into hiding.
3. Sunscreen. Most chemical sunscreens contain compounds that bleach coral. Reef-safe brands are widely available, and we sell them at TSD. Long sleeves work even better.

What we do at TSD

Since 2004, our work has fallen into five buckets:

• Beach and reef cleanups. Regular clean-up dives, the largest pulled in 50 volunteers from 9 countries. Plastic, ghost nets, dropped fishing gear.
• Biorock artificial reefs. We’ve built Biorock structures with visiting school groups. These are mineral accretion frames that grow coral faster than natural recruitment in damaged areas.
• Low-impact training on every course. Buoyancy is taught from confined water onwards. We don’t pass students who can’t control their depth.
• Local economy alignment. TSD employs a full local team, sources locally, and works with the local sanctuary committees. The shop succeeds when the community succeeds.
• Sell reef-safe sunscreen in our Malapascua shop.

What students can do

You don’t need a conservation specialty to dive sustainably. The basics:

• Sort out your buoyancy. Take Peak Performance Buoyancy as one of your AOW electives if you’re newly certified. It’s the most useful 2 dives you’ll spend.
• Don’t touch anything. Not the reef, not the sharks, not the turtles, not the macro stuff your guide is pointing at.
• Use reef-safe sunscreen, or wear a rashguard.
• Carry a mesh bag. If you see plastic on the dive, pick it up.
• Tip the local crew. They’re the reason your gear arrived on the boat and your tank was full.

For divers who want to go deeper into the topic, the PADI AWARE Shark Conservation specialty is available at TSD.

Don’t take our word for it

We’re a Green Fins-certified centre – one of the top in the world – and a PADI 5-Star CDC. We’ve held PADI “Outstanding Contribution to Dive Industry” awards in 2008 and 2009. Our instructor team has been here, on average, 12-14 years. The staff who’ll brief you on Day 1 of your course are the same ones who’ll show you the threshers on Day 3 – and they care more about the reef than any policy document we could write.