Magical encounters in mythical Malapascua - Fox sharks

Magical encounters with thresher sharks in mythical Malapascua, Philippines.

My magical encounters with thresher sharks up close and personal mythical Malapascua was like magic. It's like a dream when four, five pieces close to three meters long, fantastically graceful thresher sharks, or thresher sharks as they are called in English, slide past me within just a few meters distance. The closest one is literally spoken to my face. Don't hold your breath, don't hold your breath.... a diver's mantra pumps through my head as the shark glides past me. I still hold my breath as much as I can to feel and squeeze out this fantastic proximity to the absolute maximum with one of the world's most beautiful sharks. 

We are coming to Cebu

The whole gang has had a night in Cebu at the airport hotel and after breakfast a car transfer awaits up to the northern part of the island of Cebu. Here is the late boat to the island of Malapascua. A small island, only about a kilometer wide and barely twice as long. The island offers pleasant relaxation and a real sense of vacation with sandy beaches, palm trees and beautiful sunsets. Here there are several resorts or smaller houses of varying standards and lots of small restaurants where you can enjoy your vacation and together with the diving, it makes the island one of the most popular places in the Philippines to go on a diving trip.

More and more backpackers are also coming here as the nice beaches and simple life here attract tourists like a sugar cube attracts flies. However, it is rarely experienced as full on Malapascua except when you go diving with thresher sharks. 

Diving with thresher sharks

Early every morning all year round, weather permitting, a small armada of dive boats, called bankas which is the Filipino name for boat, departs Malapascua and about 45 minutes almost due east. Here in the middle of the sea between Cebu and Leyte is a small plateau called Kimod Shoal. The place is one of the few places in the world and perhaps the best in the world to dive with and experience thresher sharks.

The reef is shallow at the top but drops down to a depth of several hundred meters on all sides. At the top it is no more than six or seven meters deep and it is like a large plateau. Coming down our first morning we are in luck. Visibility has improved in the last few days before we get here and we estimated it at just over 40 metres. Magical, it's like a dream. The sunlight streams down through the clear water and we all begin to slide and swim after our guide who takes us towards the edge of the reef.

I'm surprised that it's so empty of people, but probably all the boats in the 20s that were here have already made their first dive. We are late.... I wonder if everything and all the sharks are scared away now but after barely a minute I see my first thresher shark. It is at a distance but it is slowly circling a small spot where it will likely find fish grooming it. 

The sharks are getting more and they are getting closer.....

After a few minutes, I'm alone again, the sharks have swum on, so I move a bit up towards the northern part. It doesn't take many minutes before I see another thresher shark gliding below me. Time stops, I stop, I hear how my breathing slows down and feel that the eyes are getting bigger and bigger, three more sharks come gliding towards me at a depth of only 15-16 meters. They make a break and some of them swim up towards a shallower part and I swim slowly slowly after. 
When I come to a small ridge seven or eight meters deep, I stop. A large thresher shark, roughly three meters long, lies almost completely still in the middle of the water just a couple of meters in front of me and very slowly glides by as a result of 20 or so fish cleaning the shark free of parasites.

I stop breathing even though I know that breathing breathing breathing is A and O but here I am lying completely still with this wonderfully beautiful shark at a good arm's length distance. It is pure magic to get so close to these mythical animals. 
After about half an hour, more sharks have gathered in front of me. At most, I count seven pieces within 15 meters. A shark comes so close that I feel the fins against my mask as it passes over my head. 

Best place

Apparently I have found "the best place to get close to thresher sharks" at least for the day or the hour. More and more divers come towards the ridge where I got to be pretty much alone for close to 30 minutes with these magically beautiful sharks.  
I lie in the middle of the batter and see how the sharks come very close to all the other divers. After a while I think there are too many of us and too much bubbles as the sharks slowly slide on. 

It's time to get up, the hour has passed and I feel happiness bubbling inside me. The happiness and euphoria is "somewhat" knocked over by a real "slap" from something I can't see. On the way back to the boat, it burns all over my face and neck. There were plenty of "No sees" as I call them, little burning particles in the water but this one was probably the second worst I've encountered over the years. All in all, it was still worth this painful experience to say the least. That I looked like Homer Simpson in the face with a giant pork-lipped model and chose to refrain from further diving that day is another story. I have experienced magical encounters in mythical Malapascua with thresher sharks. 

Easy to combine and travel onward in the Philippines.

For those of you who want to go further in the Philippines and combine, it's easy. Because it is so close to Cebu, it is quick to get further in the country. Fast can sometimes be discussed as all transport in the country between different destinations takes time. Count on a day no matter how you combine and go the faster it is a bonus.
You can combine with any of all the resorts and destinations that the Philippines offers. Also live board can be combined with for those who wish.

Overall, the visit was very pleasant. Malapascua is for those who seek peace and quiet. Here at Malapascua, relaxation and vacations are what counts. You alternate diving on species-rich reefs with diving in the mornings with the fantastically beautiful thresher sharks. The fox shark is what made Malapascua the mythical place it is reputed to be. It is definitely not luxury to be and live here. The luxury is to experience magical encounters in mythical Malapascua with ray sharks. A real experience that everyone who dives should try.

All pictures with © approval from Evolution, Malapascua, Philippines