All activities / Scuba Diving / Malapascua
Scuba Diving in MalapascuaPH
A tiny island off the northern tip of Cebu, a few kilometres long with no cars and one industry: diving. It is the only place in the world where divers reliably see thresher sharks every single day.
Why here
Thresher sharks, with their impossibly long scythe tails, live in deep water and almost never meet divers anywhere on earth. Malapascua is the exception: every morning the sharks rise onto a shallow seamount to visit cleaning stations, and boats leaving before dawn put divers on them at close range, often several sharks in a single dive, day after day, year-round. Since 2022 the action has centered on Kimud Shoal after the sharks shifted from the long-famous Monad Shoal, and the island's dive operations adjusted with them. No other destination offers a guaranteed daily appointment with a deep-water shark, and the island around it is the classic small dive island: sandy lanes, dive shops, and not much else you need.
Best months
The thresher dives run every day of the year; the sharks do not take a season off. Surface conditions are best from roughly November through May, the dry months; June through October brings a wetter, windier pattern and occasional typhoon disruption without shutting diving down. Shark dives are early-morning, at 12 to 22 metres, and require an entry-level certification, which the island's schools teach in about three days.
Getting there & around
Fly into Cebu (CEB), drive three to four hours north to Maya port, then take the 30-minute outrigger boat to the island; dive resorts arrange the full transfer. Book accommodation and diving together, as the island runs on package logic, and reserve ahead for the December-April peak. Set an alarm: the shark boats leave between 5 and 8 am.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Malapascua Exotic Island Dive Resort
SchoolOne of the island's original dive resorts, running morning thresher shark trips alongside the wider site list of wrecks, walls, and reef dives, with on-site accommodation a short walk from the boats.
Thresher Shark Divers
SchoolMalapascua's only PADI 5-Star Career Development Centre, running daily thresher dives at Kimud Shoal plus the full PADI course ladder from Open Water through professional ratings, with dive-and-stay packages and transfers handled in one booking.