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Published: April 18th 2011
I'm starting to forget how we arrive at places to be honest. I'm in the Philippines so definitely a boat... Probably some form of spine jarring bus journey as well I'd imagine...!
Anyway here we are on the beautiful island of Malapascua! Our trip here was a bit of a last minute decision based on a recommendation from some divers we met in a bar. Situated at the northern tip of Cebu, Malapascua is home to only a handful of resorts. People come here to dive not party or sunbathe, so the beaches are deserted in the day apart from a few village children and the occasional snorkeler (not that there's much coral due to dynamite fishing).
One of the main reasons to come to Malapascua is to see the Thresher sharks. I'd never heard of them until we came here but they really are beautiful. Threshers are usually a couple of metres in length, and have tails as long as their bodies which they use to stun their prey. They can be found on almost a daily basis at a site called Monad Shoal which is a sunken island. The sharks and other larger creatures come up from
the deep to be cleaned. You have to be early to catch them though so dive trips leave at 5am. We went this morning and saw one (you can't predict nature!), so we're going again tomorrow before we leave. All these early starts and diving are leaving us shattered, so we were in bed by 9pm last night!
We also went to a place called Gato Island which is probably the best dive site around here. It's just an unassuming rock formation on the surface, but underwater it's teeming with soft corals. We got to wait in the mouth of a cave and watch the biggest White tipped shark we've seen yet swim only a few metres away from us. It was like looking into an aquarium with all the shades of blue and fish behind him. It was probably the size of Dave, so take from that what you will! The shark did actually swim into the cave and go behind us so we had to make a swift exit. Don't worry mum they're friendly as long as you don't panic them or wind them up!! Our guide also found a Pygmy seahorse which is ridiculously small and well
camouflaged. It's never a good sign when he has to get out his special underwater magnifying glass for you to see it.
Other than that there isn't much to do here which is fine by us. We've been doing two dives a day so have still had time to catch some rays, munch some tasty food and have a few beers at our lovely resort, Exotic Island. We managed to get a deal on the room and diving which is always good. We're staying in a shared bathroom block which is newly built and actually very nice. It's like being at uni and staying in halls. We met a guy from England who is staying here to do his Divemasters. It's costing him about £1500 for six weeks of accommodation, the qualification and unlimited diving! Not bad, not bad at all! Unfortunately we have neither the time or the money, but on the plus side that does mean you lovely people back home get to see us soon! :-)
Love Emma & Dave xxx
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