Pronounced Mal-a-pask-wa, this tiny dot of an island off the northern tip of Cebu is famous for being the only place in the world where you are pretty much guaranteed a Thresher Shark sighting. As the white sand beaches and perfect blue water didn’t look too shabby either, we thought this would be a good place to start our exploration of The Philippines.
As well as being a bloody long way away, The Philippines are huge, roads are slow and distances are deceiving. Reaching Malapascua involves a 3 to 5 hour road journey from Cebu City (or Airport) to the Northern tip of Cebu island, followed by a 5 mile boat journey. The first part can be done by bus (5 hours minimum), and that had been our original plan, but Debbie nagged enough to get Steve to concede to a taxi – it was Good Friday so the buses might not be running, she’d had a stinking cold for a week and was feeling grotty, and for the first leg of our journey she just wanted to get there with the minimum effort. And after splurging almost 2 grand on business class upgrades, surely we weren’t going to penny pinch over 50 quid (probably a delta of less than £40 actually) were we?!
Debbie booked from the UK, using the transfer company that 12Go recommend but all done via Facebook messenger – she was not confident that this was going to work. Our taxi was booked for 0800 but there was no sign of it, nor were the taxi office answering WhatsApp or Facebook messages so, while Debbie was stood outside our apartment sweltering in the 30 agree heat and 80% humidity, Steve was busily working out Plan B. Eventually we got through to the taxi company, there had been an issue with our driver and another was on the way. By 0830 a fancy Toyota Hiace minibus arrived, obviously an upgrade from the cheapo car booked, and we were on our way. A bumpy and nauseating (empty stomachs, jet lagged and after perhaps a few too many beers the previous night) 3 hour drive took us to New Maya Port where we duly paid our PHP 140 (about £2) each environmental fee and PHP 200 (just over £2.50) each ferry ticket and were instructed to wait under an awning for the next boat.
The bangka was an interesting construction with no keel and just outriggers for stability – luckily the sea was flat calm as we aren’t sure we’d want to tackle bumpy water in one – and boarding the vessel was even more interesting, basically climbing a plank at a 30 degree angle which would be challenging anyway but even more so with rucksacks and trolley bags. Once about 20 people plus luggage were onboard we set off for a smooth 30 minute crossing to the island, arrived onto the beach and then had to get ourselves and the bags off down the same plank. Luckily there were porters waiting to carry our bags the 800m or so to our hotel for a couple of quid.
Our hotel Buena Vida Resort & Spa had been booked back in October as we expected that Easter might be busy in these parts. We were right! A lovely little boutique place, not on the beach but only a couple of minutes walk from it, with a decent size room and great terrace with sofas and a hammock, and excellent value for £50/night. The hotel had no facilities as such, but breakfast (included) was available at their beachfront sister hotel Ocean Vida, as were sunbeds, drinks and a restaurant. As it turned out, we spent most of our time and money at Ocean Vida as it had a great location, fabulous happy hour cocktails, reasonable food and bean bags. Whilst our terrace was lovely, the heat and humidity were too high to sit out on it for long, and an air-conditioned room usually won. On our first night, after dinner on the beach, we returned to collect our room key and were greeted with ‘goodnight cake’, a little parcel each of deliciousness which was repeated every night of our stay – lovely.
Debbie was still really struggling with a dreadful cold that she’d had for over a week and there was no way that she’d be fit for diving in the first few days. Steve knew that she was poorly when she slept for most of our first day in Malapascua – she’d normally be on a sun lounger at first light – so he went off in search of diving options after doing some Google research on the best dive operators on the island. We had meant to book in advance but reckoned that as there were loads of dive centres there was no need. Wrong!!! The first 8 or so that Steve tried were fully booked for the duration of our 5 day stay. Shit – there’s only one reason we came to Malapascua and that was to dive. Eventually Steve found someone who could take him diving the following day, and possibly the day after, but that left 3 more days when Debbie was more likely to want to dive and no availability. Steve booked for himself for the following day, at a Japanese-run place that only had tiny wetsuits but promised to get him a bigger one by tomorrow.
An 0430 alarm woke us both so that Steve could be at the dive centre for 0530 – ungodly. But it was a nice walk along the beach as the sun rose. On arriving at Johan Divers it was good to find that kit had been sorted, including an XXXL wetsuit, and there was time for a coffee while we waited for the other divers to arrive. It turned out that these were a group of five Filipinos, possibly a dive club from Manila, but everyone was friendly enough. The briefing by the Japanese divemaster involved a lot of hand waving but boiled down to the usual “follow me and tell me when you get down to 100 bar and 50 bar of air remaining”. Then we hopped on a tender to be ferried out to the bangka we would be diving from.
The site for all three dives was Kimod Shoal, where the thresher sharks made their home, and it was very busy with a dozen dive boats moored up to the reef and each other. Underwater was just as busy and the sharks are fairly timid, so they didn’t come very close. Diving in a group of seven, including guide, wasn’t ideal but it was clear that everyone was fairly experienced. Most were carrying large underwater cameras so we were all jostling for position to try to get photos of the sharks without someone else’s arm, leg or bubbles in it. By the end of three dives Steve was pretty knackered and decided not to do a second day’s diving without Debbie.
We got back to the dive centre around lunch time and found that they had laid on a generous lunch. The rest of the group seemed to be staying their and their meal was laid out family style, but for some reason Steve was served his food separately on a different table – and there was so much of it! Once he had eaten as much as he could Steve settled his bill, said his goodbyes and went to find Debbie – but ended up snoozing all afternoon in the room. Must be getting old!
Debbie did some research on the PADI website and contacted a load of dive centres by email about their availability – with some success. She found one that could fit us both in for a few days time, by when she would hopefully be able to breathe sufficiently well to risk diving. While Steve was off doing his dives she trotted along to the dive shop, presented our certifications, completed the ‘list of lies’, signed every disclaimer known to man, and was instructed to return the following evening to sort out hire kit. Job done!
Knackered after his 3 dives, Steve was happy to spend the following day on the beach under a tree with Debbie – she really wasn’t well, this lying in the shade is unheard of – occasionally popping out to have a dip in the lovely warm blue waters. Boats were coming and going all day – dive boats, transfer boats (for those flash enough to not use the public ferry) and supply boats. At some point during the day Debbie declared that she wasn’t able to go diving the following day – her airways still weren’t clear and she’d have struggled to equalise her ear pressure or even to breathe properly – and would regretfully need to accept that she wasn’t going to dive in Malapscua or see the Thresher Sharks that we’d come all this way for. Steve told her that he’d already decided that there was no way he’d allow her to dive – he used to be a SCUBA instructor, safety first! And then the shocker – Steve didn’t feel the need to do any more diving here, he’d seen the Thresher Sharks and was knackered.
So a few more days of doing sod all, just about making it for breakfast before 10am, lying under a tree on the beach, drinking happy hour cocktails (about £1.50 each) and eating dinner on the beach it was. We did venture to the restaurant next door for just one evening – a BBQ where you choose your meat/fish/veggies and it arrives complete with rice. We had no clue of the price of 3x spicy pork kebabs, 2x chorizo kebabs, a pork chop, a couple of aubergines and a veg skewer but we needn’t have worried, about £12 in total including a couple of drinks each! A few points about Filipino food/drink – it’s dirt cheap, it’s mainly pork and/or fried, and it’s not very spicy. When we came to settle our bill at Ocean Vida restaurant for 5 days – including 4 dinners, a couple of lunches/snacks, lots of daytime soft drinks & beers and happy hour cocktails – it was a bargain £124!
Our time on Malapscua just seemed to disappear and all too soon it was time to leave. A very relaxed place, totally focused on diving, with most people in bed by 9pm as they are up early to dive. Debbie was gutted that she missed the diving, Steve happy that he saw enough. On leaving at 0630 for the first public ferry back to Maya Port, our hotel porters transported our bags and guided us through the ‘town’ to the ferry jetty. We’d been here 5 days and not even realised that there was a ‘town’. Perhaps there was a lot more to Malapascua than we realised.
Debbie’s conclusion – really liked the place, despite the heat and humidity (unavoidable in this part of the world at this time of year it seems), and if she’d been diving then it’d have been fabulous.
Steve’s thoughts – the diving was rushed. With the number of photographers in the group it would have been better to stay still and let the sharks come to us. We would have got better photos that way and conserved our air. It seems that most divers use the accommodation provided by the centre they are diving with and book it well in advance. We will know next time. The beaches and relaxed vibe of the place were fantastic though.
Next stop – Moalbal, on the West coast of Cebu island, a VERY long journey from Malapascua…….
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