Everyone comes for the thresher sharks. We get it. But if threshers are all you dive in Malapascua, you’re missing about 90% of what makes this place extraordinary.
Malapascua sits at the tip of Cebu island, surrounded by deep channels where currents carry nutrients from the open Pacific. That geography creates an unusual concentration of marine life in a very small area. Within a 30-minute boat ride, you can dive walls, coral gardens, muck sites, cleaning stations, and one of the most photogenic shipwrecks in the Philippines.
Here’s the full rundown.
KIMUD SHOAL
The main event since 2022, when the thresher sharks relocated here from nearby Monad Shoal. Kimud offers shallower encounters, closer approaches, and sharks that stick around longer into the day. The sightings have been the best in our 20+ year history. This is the dive you came for, and it delivers.
MONAD SHOAL
The original thresher shark site, and still a solid dive even without the daily shark parades. A submerged island topping out at about 12 metres. Still home to manta rays, devil rays, and the occasional hammerhead if you’re patient. The shallow top has decent coral and plenty of reef fish. These days it’s a good second dive after the shark dive at Kimud.
GATO ISLAND
A small island about 45 minutes north, and probably our favourite site after Kimud. Gato is a marine sanctuary with a swim-through cave that runs the full width of the island. Inside: whitetip reef sharks sleeping on the sand, banded sea kraits everywhere (they’re venomous but docile), and light shafts that photographers go mad for. Outside: walls covered in soft coral, nudibranchs in absurd colours, and the occasional turtle cruising past.
We’ve been diving Gato since we opened in 2004, and it never gets old. The sea snake population alone is worth the boat ride.
KALANGGAMAN ISLAND
The postcard island. A long sandbar surrounded by shallow coral gardens, about an hour’s boat ride. Not a deep dive, but the hard coral here is some of the healthiest in the Visayas. Great for newer divers, snorkellers, and anyone who wants to combine diving with lying on a perfect beach afterward.
DONA MARILYN WRECK
A passenger ferry that sank in Typhoon Unsang in 1988. She lies on her side at 18 to 32 metres, and she’s dramatic. Huge structure, soft coral growth everywhere, and big schools of fish circling the hull. The wreck is about an hour by boat, so it’s usually a full-day trip combined with another site. Recommended for Advanced Open Water divers.
LIGHTHOUSE & HOUSE REEF
The site right off our doorstep, and it’s quietly one of the best muck diving spots in Malapascua. Seahorses (we have multiple species including pygmies), frogfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, blue-ringed octopus, and the famous mandarin fish at sunset. This is where our guides earn their reputation; finding a pygmy seahorse on a gorgonian fan takes a trained eye and a lot of patience.
DEEP SLOPE
For the deeper explorers. Drops to 40 metres plus and is known for hammerhead sightings (rare but real). We’ve had some extraordinary encounters here over the years, including a school of over 100 hammerheads that our divers still talk about. Best suited to experienced divers comfortable with depth and current.
CHOCOLATE ISLAND & NORTH POINT
Lovely shallow reef dives with excellent macro life. Chocolate Island has a gentle slope covered in hard and soft corals, with nudibranchs, pipefish, and the occasional reef octopus. Both are excellent for photography and for divers doing their Open Water or Advanced courses.
The point is: you could easily spend a week here and never repeat a dive. Most people come for three days and rebook for five. We’ve seen it hundreds of times. Malapascua does that to people. Check out our multi-dive packages at thresher-shark-divers.com.