An island situated in the Visayan Sea, located across a shallow strait from the northernmost tip of Cebu Island is Malapascua Island. The island is 3 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide, with a population of about 4,000. The main beach (Bounty Beach) has white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. The west coast is ideal for swimming and snorkeling.
Malapascua is a developing island without basic infrastructure. It does not have a many of the things we often take for granted in our homes. This means you need to come with an open mind and be ready for things that may make you a little uncomfortable such as salty water, electric blackouts during the day etc. But you are on holiday, relax, it's not a problem.
It is beginning to get a worldwide reputation for incredible diving which means now is a great time to come, before it gets too famous. It is the only place in the world you can reliably see thresher sharks and is possible the best place in the Philippines for big fish encounters.
Malapascua is also long-familiar among the international dive society. Divers travel here to meet the friendly Thresher shark. These are big and up to 6 meters, but safe to humans. The Thresher lives in very deep waters but show up daily at Monad Shoal to be cleaned by cleaner fish. This is one of the few places in the world where we can have a glimpse of this splendid fish close-up at only 23 meters distance downward.
It's about a 4 hour bus trip from Cebu City (from northern bus station near SM) to the port of Maya. Catch the Ceres Bus liner (yellow colour approx P 170 aircon or P 163 regular ) they have both air con and non aircon and they drop off right at the pier (port of Maya) to catch the pump boat to Malapascua (80 Peso). If you catch a taxi from Cebu City to Maya don't pay more than Php3000.00. Low tide you will need take another small boat onto the pump boat (another charge 20 Peso) as the pump boats cannot dock. Pump boats leave every 30 mins to an hour depending on passengers, so you may have to sit for a while. Scammers will try to tell you these boats are not running and try to get you to pay 1500 for the special trips. This happens on both sides the only time Pump boats don't run when you arrive late in the afternoon or in bad weather. You can arrange boat pick up at Maya with most hotels (check with hotel when making reservation) you can also arrange pick up from Cebu Airport. It’s about a 30 minute ride to Malapascua on the boat. You usually will arrive on Poblacion Beach (a 5 minute walk to Bounty Beach). Going back to Maya, there is an 8.30 am supply boat that leaves from Bounty Beach (near Blue Water Resort) and they charge P 100.00, locals will help to get the right boat.
History: The name "Malapascua" is said to have been given by some Spaniards whose ship happened got stranded in the island on Christmas Day, December 25, 1520, due to bad weather. Because of their misfortune of having to spend Christmas away from their comrades and family stuck in a desolate island, the Spaniards called the island Mala Pascua, which literally means "Bad Easter". From then on the Spaniards and the non-locals would refer to the island as Malapascua, while the local residents insist that their place is called Logon.
English-Speaking?: YES
Weather: The weather on Malapascua is usually excellent. Typhoon season in the Philippines is from May to December, but Malapascua is rarely affected. The typhoons usually pass to the north and because there are no mountains nearby it avoids a lot of the rain that tends to fall on Leyte or Cebu. Occasional a typhoon will hit but it happens maybe a couple of times a year. Most people do not realize this and come between January and April. If you want a quieter holiday, come during 'typhoon' season. The diving is better at that time as well.
Currency: Philippine Pesos (no ATM on island, so bring cash)
"Dominica was another stop on our Caribbean cruise. Here's an excerpt from my blog post about our day in Dominica:
The bus departed from the pier at 10:30am and we were en route to our first stop up in the mountains for a hike to a waterfall. As we drove through town, it looked really poor - more than the other places we've visited. During our history lesson of Dominica we learned that the island is 99% volcanic rock and 1% limestone, that there are 17 dormant volcanoes and 365 rivers - one river for every day of the year, and during leap years they find another river, was the joke.
The bus stopped after the 45-minute drive through the mountains, and we were at the entry point of the rain forest for the walk to Spanny's Waterfall. A few people stopped to use the facilities but the rest of the group began their walk through the rain forest - great tour guide, just leaving us to navigate on our own. The walk was roughly 20-minutes and was a pretty substantial hike through the mud. We saw a lot of interesting and colourful plants along the way, but surprisingly no bugs. The waterfall was absolutely beautiful. Could have spent a lot more time there.
Back on the bus, we made our way down the mountain and to Mero Beach, which is a black sand beach. The drive down the mountain was a little easier to handle than the drive up. Baron sure did like to grind the gears, and take the turns pretty fast. The beach was pretty interesting, seeing that I've never been to a black sand beach before. The water looked really murky, but was surprisingly clear - the black sand makes the water clarity deceiving. Because we were with the tour group, we didn't have to pay for the chairs/umbrella, and we were given a free drink at the bar."
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