Backpacking Malapascua
Malapascua is two and a half kilometres long, sits off the northern tip of Cebu, and is on the map for one reason: thresher sharks. Monad Shoal, twenty minutes offshore, is a seamount where they come up from deep water at first light to be cleaned by small reef fish, and it is one of a very small number of places on earth where you can see that on a recreational dive, almost every day.
The catch is the alarm. The boat leaves around five in the morning and you are in the water by half past five, in the dark, at just under thirty metres. It is not a beginner’s dive and nobody pretends otherwise.
If you do not dive, the island still works: Bounty Beach, coral straight off the sand, a day trip to a sandbar island that looks unreal, and a village that still feels like a village. Getting here is a full day from Cebu City, which is exactly why it is still quiet.
Why Malapascua is popular with backpackers
- Thresher sharks at Monad Shoal, near enough daily, at recreational depth
- Gato Island, with a tunnel straight through it full of sea snakes
- Kalanggaman Island: a white sandbar running out into open sea
- Coral you can snorkel to from Bounty Beach without a boat
- An island you can walk across in an hour, with almost no roads
- Still a fishing village rather than a resort strip
- €20 a day, and a bed for €7
Best time to visit Malapascua
Small, low and off the north tip of Cebu. The crossing is short but open water, and when the sea is up the boat does not go.
Malapascua was hit hard by typhoon Haiyan in 2013 and rebuilt itself from close to nothing. In typhoon season do not plan a tight connection to a flight from here, because the crossing to Maya is the first thing that stops.
Backpacker budget: around €20 a day
- €7hostel bed
- €2.50local meal
- €1.20beer
- €5scooter for the day
Guide prices from our own days in Malapascua. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best area for backpackers
Bounty Beach and Logon
Bounty Beach on the south side is where the boats land and where nearly everything is: hostels, restaurants, dive shops and the beach itself. Logon village sits just behind it.
Every dive boat, snorkel trip and island trip leaves from the sand in front of you, which on a five in the morning start counts for a lot.
Good to know about this area
- Every dive shop and boat trip on the island is along this beach
- The island is 2.5 km long, so everything is on foot
- One cash machine, and it is regularly empty: bring cash
- No pharmacy worth the name, so carry what you need
- The boat to Maya leaves from here, and stops when the sea is rough
- Quiet at night, because most people are up before five
Best hostels in Malapascua
Small island, small places, all within a few minutes of Bounty Beach.
Lionfish Backpackers Malapascua
The most social hostel on the island and the easiest place to fall in with other people heading out on the same boat. Central, relaxed and well rated.
Malapascua Budget Inn
Simple and cheap, in a good spot near the beach. Nothing fancy, and on an island where the diving is the expense that is often exactly the point.
Villa Atlas Guest House
Quieter rooms a short walk from the beach, and more comfortable than the dorms. Worth it if you are doing a five o’clock start two mornings running.
Best things to do in Malapascua
One dive that defines the island, a few more that hold their own, and a sandbar.
Diving with Devocean Divers
Our own pick
Diving with Devocean Divers
The thresher sharks at Monad Shoal are why you are here, and Devocean goes out to them every morning. A PADI 5 Star IDC centre on Bounty Beach, a Green Fins member, a maximum of four students per course, and instructors who have been doing that dawn dive for years.
Reader discount with the code REBELSONTHEROAD. Give it when you book, because without mentioning it you will not get it.
See Devocean DiversOur partner on Malapascua
Worth going through a shop that takes the shark dive seriously rather than the cheapest one on the beach, because how the boat behaves at the shoal decides whether the sharks stay.
Thresher sharks at Monad Shoal
The dive the island exists for. Monad Shoal is a submerged plateau where thresher sharks, with tails as long as their bodies, rise from deep water at dawn to hover over cleaning stations while small fish pick them clean.
You leave around five, you descend in the dark to about thirty metres, and you kneel behind a rope line and wait. Nobody approaches them and nobody uses a flash: both send them back down, and that ends the dive for everyone.
Gato Island
An hour out, and a completely different dive: a small rocky island with caves and a tunnel that runs right through it, out the other side. Sea snakes, white tip reef sharks and nudibranchs all over the walls.
Half a day, two dives, and the best non shark diving here.
Kalanggaman Island
An hour and a half by boat: a small island with a white sandbar running several hundred metres out into open sea in both directions, and clear water either side of it.
There is nothing on it. Bring food, water and shade, because all three of those are genuinely absent.
Snorkelling at the Coral Garden
You do not need a certification to see the good stuff here. There is coral directly off Bounty Beach, close enough to swim to, with plenty of fish on it.
Best at high tide and clearest in the morning, and a mask costs about €3 to hire.
Bounty Beach
The main beach, on the south side, where the boats come in and where the island eats and drinks in the evening. White sand, shallow water, and the sunset directly along it.
Walking or riding the island
Two and a half kilometres long and barely any roads, which means you can walk the whole thing in an hour and find beaches on the north side with nobody on them.
A scooter is about €5 if you would rather, though on paths this narrow walking is genuinely competitive.
How to plan your days in Malapascua
Two to three days, and one of them starts at five in the morning. Pick how long you have.
Arrive and get in the water. Four hours from Cebu City and thirty minutes on the boat. Snorkel the coral straight off Bounty Beach in the afternoon, and book tomorrow's dive.
Tonight: early. The shark boat leaves around five.
Thresher sharks at dawn. Out around five, in the water by half five, almost thirty metres down behind a rope line while the sharks come up to the cleaning stations. Back for breakfast.
Tonight: sunset on Bounty Beach, and a proper sleep.
Gato Island or Kalanggaman. Gato has the tunnel and the sea snakes, half a day of diving. Kalanggaman is the sandbar island, a full day out and no diving needed.
Tonight: boat and bus back to Cebu City, or on through there to Bohol.
Food and drink in Malapascua
A row of small restaurants behind Bounty Beach and a handful of places in Logon village, and that is the whole choice. Fish that came in that morning, rice, and the usual Filipino repertoire.
The village places are half the price of the beach ones and five minutes further, which on an island this size is no distance at all.
Getting there and onward
Getting to Malapascua costs a day: a bus to the top of Cebu and then a boat across. That is exactly why it is still quiet.
Getting there. From the North Bus Terminal in Cebu City it is about four hours to Maya. From there it is a thirty minute boat, or at low tide a smaller one off the beach.
On the island. Two and a half kilometres long with hardly any roads. You walk everywhere, or take a scooter along the few paths there are.
Onward. Back through Cebu City for Moalboal or Bohol. There are boats to Leyte too, but not every day.
- BusCebu City to Maya, about 4 hrs
- BoatMaya to Malapascua, 30 minutes
- Dive boatMonad Shoal, leaving around 5.00
- Kalanggaman1.5 hours out, a full day
- On footThe island crosses in an hour
Staying safe in Malapascua
Small and safe. What needs attention here is the diving: Monad Shoal is a deep dive in the dark, and that is not a beginner’s dive.
- Get your advanced certification before you come. Monad Shoal goes to almost 30 metres
- Take a torch. The dive starts before sunrise
- Bring cash. The one machine on the island is often empty
- Ask whether the boat to Maya is running if the weather turns
- Chase a thresher shark or swim towards one. Stay behind the line
- Fly within 18 hours of diving Monad Shoal
- Use a flash near the sharks. It drives them off and disrupts the cleaning station
- Count on a cash machine or a pharmacy. Bring everything with you
Rebels on the Road tip
Everyone here is up before five anyway, so use the morning you are not diving. Walk north across the island at first light to the fishing village on the far side. The boats come in as the sun clears the Visayan Sea, the catch is sorted on the sand, and there are no tours, no souvenir stalls and usually no other travellers at all. It takes half an hour to walk there and it is the most ordinary and the most memorable thing on Malapascua.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Malapascua?
Two to three. One to arrive and snorkel, one for the thresher sharks at dawn, and a third for Gato Island or Kalanggaman. Getting here and away costs most of a day at each end.
Why is Malapascua famous with divers?
Because Monad Shoal is one of very few places on earth where thresher sharks come up to recreational depth almost daily, to be cleaned by reef fish at dawn. Nowhere else makes that close to reliable.
Do I need an advanced certification?
It is strongly recommended. The dive goes to about thirty metres, starts in the dark and has a current. Some shops will take an open water diver, and you will be at your limit the whole dive.
Is it worth it if I do not dive?
Yes, but with lower expectations. There is coral off the beach you can snorkel to, a sandbar island day trip, a village that still feels like one, and very little else. If you want a full beach island, Bantayan or Siquijor is the better fit.
Will I definitely see thresher sharks?
Nearly always, and not always. They are wild animals at a cleaning station, nobody feeds them, and some mornings they do not come up. Most shops will tell you their recent hit rate if you ask, and most people who dive two mornings see them.
How do I get to Malapascua?
Bus from the North Bus Terminal in Cebu City to Maya, about four hours, then a thirty minute boat. Leave early: the last boats go in the late afternoon and stop entirely in rough weather.
Is there a cash machine?
One, and it is frequently out of money. Bring cash from Cebu City for your bed, your diving and your food, because the diving is the biggest single expense on this island.
When is the best time to visit?
January to March for visibility at Monad Shoal. April and May have the calmest sea of the year and the easiest crossing. June to December is the rainy season with typhoons possible, and the boat is the first thing to stop.
