Diving with Thresher Sharks at Malapascua Island

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
5
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
4
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
75 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
101st/454
Top 30%
continent
Asia
country
Philippines
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$70 ($60-$80 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
May
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Islands Scuba diving Wildlife - Sharks
All Tags
Adrenaline rush Beaches
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

Malapascua Island is the only place in the world where you can regularly see Thresher Sharks – a 6m long shark that has a very distinctive long sloping tail used to stun fish during hunting and, as they usually live at 350m / 1150ft, are very rare to see.

This makes it a real must for divers, but Malapascua is also an idyllic small tropical island to relax on – certainly also worth checking out as part of a broader Cebu trip if a non-diver.

Highlights

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#1 Diving deep to see up close one of the Thresher Sharks - the #1 attraction of Malapascua Island

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#2 Chilling in an idyllic tropical paradise

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#3 Some great diving in the nearby reefs

Travel Tips

The Thresher Sharks come up for cleaning in the early morning, so be prepared to be heading out on the boat at 5am to Monad Shoal.  The dive is all about the sharks – you’ll stay for around 20mins at the max depth on the reef of 28m / 90ft and watch as the Threshers come up from the depths.  Visibility is good at 15m or so.  Chance of seeing a Thresher are around 75% and, as with so many places in this part of the world, there are also some great dives nearby.  I went with DevOcean divers who were super and did the following dives:

  • Gato Island x2
  • Monad Shoal x2
  • Lapus x1

I stayed at the Tepanee Beach Resort on the headland at the far west end of the main beach, which I’d really recommend as has its own private beach to enjoy after morning dives.

Getting to Malapascua can be a bit of a pain.  Most realistically you’ll be flying to Cebu and taking the bus up to Maya, and then the boat over to Malapascua.  For the bus, try and get a mini van which will take 3.5 hours rather than the bus which takes 4.5 hours and they leave more regularly.  For the boat – its fairly straightforward and the last one is at 530pm.

Consider a trip over to Bohol – if you’re visiting Malapascua, you’re more likely flying into Cebu.  From there it is a short ferry ride over to the island of Bohol where you have the option of Quad-biking through the Bohol Chocolate hills (including seeing some of the super small Tarsiers, the world’s smallest primate) and Diving off Balicasag Island which is really pleasant when you stay on Pangalao Island.

How does this compare to the best dives in the world?

Diving with thresher sharks is a true bucket list experience for scuba divers.  The general diving quality in Malapascua is far from other places in the world, but the consistent chance of seeing thresher sharks puts it in the must-experience category.

 

Tier: World’s Best

RAJA AMPAT 🇮🇩 – THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
Pristine reefs, huge fish life, manta rays, sharks, world-class macro and an incredible variety of dive sites, all set among some of the most beautiful tropical islands on earth. Raja Ampat is about as close as diving gets to the complete package. Raja Ampat by liveaboard / Raja Ampat at Misool Eco-resort/ Raja Ampat by guesthouse

THE GALAPAGOS 🇪🇨 – BIGGEST WOW DIVING ON EARTH
So many hammerhead sharks you genuinely get bored of them, plus whale sharks, sea lions and marine iguanas, all in one of the world’s most extraordinary wildlife environments. The trip out to Wolf and Darwin makes this the single biggest wow diving experience on the planet. Scuba diving at Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos

Tier: Elite

TUBBATAHA REEF 🇵🇭 – REMOTE DIVING WILDERNESS
UNESCO-listed reef system in the middle of the Sulu Sea, only accessible by liveaboard.  Huge healthy reefs, big marine life and almost no other divers – everything feels wild, remote and untouched.  The pride of the Philippines. Tubbataha Reef liveaboard

KOMODO ISLANDS 🇮🇩 – BIG FISH & WILD DRIFT DIVING
Strong currents, huge schools of fish, manta rays, sharks and some of the most exciting drift diving in the world.  Plus the Komodo Islands themselves are one of the most beautiful locations to dive.  Not always easy diving, but when Komodo is good, it’s elite. Sailing the Komodo Islands in November

THE RED SEA 🇪🇬 – BEST EASY WORLD-CLASS DIVING
Incredible coral reefs, warm clear water, huge walls, wrecks and reliable conditions, all with relatively easy access. The Red Sea is probably the easiest place in the world to do truly world-class diving. Scuba diving in the Red Sea from Hurghada

SIPADAN 🇲🇾 – TURTLES, BARRACUDA & SHEER WALLS
A tiny island with spectacular wall diving, huge schools of barracuda, lots of turtles and very healthy reefs. Small, focused and very special — Sipadan is one of Southeast Asia’s standout dive sites.

Tier: Specialist Dives

MALAPASCUA 🇵🇭 – THRESHER SHARKS
One of the only reliable places in the world to dive with thresher sharks, seen regularly at Monad Shoal. Not a huge variety of diving, but for thresher sharks this is the place.

TULUM 🇲🇽 – CENOTES
Freshwater cave diving through crystal clear water, stalactites and beams of light – completely different from ocean diving and one of the most unique dive experiences in the world. Scuba diving the Cenotes of Tulum

BEQA ISLAND 🇫🇯 – TIGER SHARKS
The most intense shark experience in the world and one of the only places you regularly dive outside of a cage with tiger and bull sharks.  Not for the faint-hearted. Diving with bull and tiger sharks by Beqa Island

CAPE TOWN 🇿🇦 – KELP FORESTS
Cold water diving through giant underwater kelp forests with seals, dramatic light and a very different feel to tropical diving — more like an underwater jungle. Kelp diving near Cape Town

CORON 🇵🇭 – WWII WRECK DIVING
A collection of Japanese WWII wrecks sitting in clear water, making this the best wreck diving destination in the world. Wreck diving in Coron

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Great Diving Experiences

Scuba diving at Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Diving the Blue Hole
⭐⭐⭐

Diving and staying in guest houses in Central Raja Ampat
⭐⭐⭐

Diving and relaxing around Ko Phi Phi
⭐⭐⭐

Sailing the Komodo Islands in November
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scuba diving the Cenotes of Tulum
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Diving with bull and tiger sharks by Beqa Island
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Swimming with Humpback Whales and relaxing in paradise in Vava’u
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chilling, diving and drinking in Caye Caulker
⭐⭐⭐

3 days relaxing and diving by the beautiful Lake Atitlan
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scuba diving in the Red Sea from Hurghada
⭐⭐

Diving Balicasag Island near Pangalao
⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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