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Evolution Dive Resort: "Persistence pays for threshers at Malapascua", Feb, 2018,by Phil Johnston, Bayswater, AU ( Sr. Contributor 26 reports with 25 Helpful votes). Report 10144.
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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| Comments | Malapascua isn't the easiest dive destination to reach (see "How to get there" field). The drive from Cebu City is pleasant enough once Cebu's urban area is cleared. Be aware Philippino driving habits will differ from those in your home country!! Malapascua Diving - the good: "Bugtong Batu" is an excellent local dive site, a sea mount with very rich marine life, many species of clownfish & good small critters including a snowflake eel. I loved this site but was told it can be current prone. I also dove the wreck "Dona Marilyn", not huge fish life but quite a large, impressive wreck covered in encrusting invertebrate life. Some surface current but not too challenging. Gato Island provided rich soft corals, banded sea snakes, curled & good macro life (nudis, small frog fish etc). The wreck & Gato can only be done as day trips due to distances from Malapascua Island (at additional cost over local dives). My main reason for visiting Malapascua was to see the thresher sharks at Monad Shoal. I read that chances of seeing threshers are around 75% but I only had good sitings on my 4th (& last) visit to Monad - around 10 sitings including 3 individuals circling a cleaning station. Thresher dives are only done at dawn as this is the time they most commonly visit the cleaning stations. I did see Mobulas also visiting the same cleaning stations. I'd advise those wanting to see threshers to book at least 3 separate dawn dives. In the absence of threshers or Mobulas Monad is fairly uninspiring. Malapascua - the bad: I would not recommend February as a good time to visit Malapscua - I was told February is the windiest time of the year, & Diving was in fact cancelled on 2 of my 6 days due to rough weather (apparently March-June is calmest period, with July-November being typhoon season. Chinese New Year in Jan/Feb is best avoided, I suspect the absence of threshers was due to the huge numbers of divers in the water during Chinese NY holidays. A dusk "Mandarin fish" dive was an unedifying experience, due to the sheer numbers of divers in the water & the lack of respect shown by underwater photographers to these small animals. The UWPs are going to strobe the Mandarin fish at this site to death at this rate. I suggested to a staff member at Evolution that restrictions on flash photography similar to those in place for thresher sharks be implemented. He agreed that the Mandarin dive needs better management. Overall I found Evolution Dive staff to be quite professional, helpful & attentive. Resort accomodations were good without being 5 star, the toilet in my bungalow was a bit smelly. Food at the resort restaurant was good (I recommend the chicken wrap) but at tourist prices. I'd recommend Malapascua for those interested in threshers, Mobulas, wrecks & good coral reef/macro life, but not during Chinese New Year holidays due to high numbers of divers & chances of poor weather. | ||
Reporter and Travel |
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| Dive Experience | Over 1000 dives | ||
| Where else diving | Australia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia/Bali, Cocos, Cozumel, Tonga, Galapagos, Tahiti, Maldives, Mozambique, Bahamas, Red Sea, Roatan. | ||
| Closest Airport | Cebu City, Cebu | Getting There | Daily direct flights from Manila & some Asian cities to Cebu City, then a 4 hour drive/bus trip to Maya, then 25 minute boat ride to Malapascua. |
Dive Conditions |
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| Weather | sunny, windy | Seas | choppy |
| Water Temp | 25-26°C / 77-79°F | Wetsuit Thickness | 3 |
| Water Visibility | 25-40 Ft/ 8-12 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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| Dive own profile | ? | ||
| Enforced diving restrictions | The usual restrictions - no deco diving, commence ascent at 70 bar, no solo diving, generally all enforced | ||
| Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
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| Sharks | Lots | Mantas | 1 or 2 |
| Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
| Turtles | None | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Tropical Fish | |
| Small Critters | |
Large Fish | |
| Large Pelagics | |
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Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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| Subject Matter | |
Boat Facilities | |
| Overall rating for UWP's | |
Shore Facilities | |
| UW Photo Comments | No Camera rinse facilities on the boats that I can recall | ||
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above. |
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