Macro
down to 20 m
Chocolate Island Malapascua
Shallow soft-coral site in the 5-12 m range, a photographers' favourite by day or night.
- Open Water
- Frogfish
Malapascua
Diving in Philippines
20 documented dive sites, 9 of them for Open Water divers. Known for thresher sharks, whitetip reef sharks and frogfish.
- Best months
- Dec–May
- Water
- 25–30 °C
- Levels
- Open Water, Advanced, Experienced, Technical
- Diving from
- Dive resorts
- Nearest airport
- CEB
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
When to go
Pick a month: the diving season, from published sources, and the typical weather.
Pick a month
- Best
- Good
- Possible
- Closed
- Not documented yet
Malapascua in October
Good season- Sea
- 30 °C
- at the surface
- Air
- 29 °C
- 27 °C at night
- Rain
- 340 mm
- one of the wettest months
- Wind
- 15 km/h
- on average
Typical weather, not a forecast: averages for 2021–2025 (air, rain, wind) and 2023–2025 (sea), data from Open-Meteo (ERA5 / Copernicus, Météo-France). Covers an area of roughly 10 to 25 km around the destination.
High season Dec–Apr; March–May best overall. Thresher sharks at dawn year-round.
Dive sites in Malapascua
From the easiest to the most demanding. Levels with a dashed outline are estimates we are still verifying.
Open Water friendly
usual dive down to 18 m9 sitesMacro
down to 10 m
Lighthouse
Favourite night dive to watch mandarinfish spawn, with bobtail squid and other critters after sunset.
- Open Water
- Blue-ringed octopus
Muck
down to 12 m
Exotic House Reef
A 12 m muck and reef house reef where PADI lists frogfish, seahorses, pipefish, octopus and nudibranchs.
- Open Water
- Frogfish
Muck
down to 12 m
Ka Osting
A shallow site close to Malapascua mixing muck and coral, where critter hunters find bobtail squid and decorator crabs.
- Open Water
- Frogfish
Drift
down to 22 m
Lapus Lapus
- Open Water
- Frogfish
Macro
down to 25 m
North Point Malapascua
- Open Water
- Frogfish
For Advanced divers
usual dive down to 30 m9 sites
Monad Shoal
A plateau where thresher sharks rise at dawn to visit cleaning stations.
- Advanced
- Pinnacle
- Bull sharks
Pinnacle
down to 40 m
Kimud Shoal
Since 2022 the main thresher shark cleaning station, with a plateau at 12 m and cleaning from 12 to 22 m.
- Advanced
- Manta rays
Wreck
down to 40 m
Doña Marilyn Wreck
Inter-island ferry lost in a 1988 storm, lying on its starboard side at up to 32 m; partly broken up by salvagers in 2018.
- Advanced
- Whitetip reef sharks
Kalanggaman Island
Sandbar island with drop-offs where turtles patrol the walls and a thresher shark occasionally appears.
- Advanced
- Wall
- Thresher sharks
Pinnacle
down to 30 m
Quiliano
Small pinnacle north of Malapascua dived as a slow spiral ascent from its 16-18 m base, with flamboyant cuttlefish.
- Advanced
- Cuttlefish
Reef
down to 20 m
Dakit-Dakit
- Advanced
- Cuttlefish
Capitancillo Island
- Advanced
- Wall
Pinnacle
down to 35 m
Bugtong Bato
- Advanced
- Pygmy seahorses
Cavern
down to 25 m
Gato Island
- Advanced
- Bamboo sharks
For experienced divers
usual dive down to 40 m1 siteTechnical and specialty dives
1 siteMarine life
When the big encounters happen, month by month.
| Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thresher sharksSource: zubludiving.com |
- Peak season
- Seen
Thresher sharks: All year
Also reported here, season not documented yet:
- Whitetip reef sharks
- Frogfish
- Ghost pipefish
- Mandarinfish
- Nudibranchs
- Pygmy seahorses
- Sea snakes
- Manta rays
- Bull sharks
- Grey reef sharks
- Hammerhead sharks
- Tiger sharks
- Turtles
- Eagle rays
- Mobula rays
- Blue-ringed octopus
- Cuttlefish
- Seahorses
Where is Malapascua?
- Nearest airport
- CEB
- How people dive here
- Dive resorts
Malapascua: frequently asked questions
- When is the best time to dive Malapascua?
- The best months to dive Malapascua are Dec–May. High season Dec–Apr; March–May best overall. Thresher sharks at dawn year-round.
- Is Malapascua good for beginner divers?
- Yes, partly: 9 of the 20 dive sites we document are suited to Open Water divers, including Chocolate Island Malapascua, Bantigi and Lighthouse. The others need more experience or a higher certification.
- What is the water temperature in Malapascua?
- The water is usually between 25 °C and 30 °C over the year.
- What marine life can you see in Malapascua?
- Divers regularly see thresher sharks (all year), whitetip reef sharks, frogfish, ghost pipefish, mandarinfish and nudibranchs.
- How do you dive Malapascua?
- The nearest airport is CEB. Ways to dive here: dive resorts.
About this page
Seasons and marine life come from the sources below. Site levels and depths marked as estimated come from our original catalogue and are being checked one by one. Conditions change: always confirm with a local dive centre.
Your next dive is somewhere out there.
Find my next dive tripPhoto credits
- Beach and lagoon on Malapascua Island, Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Monad Shoal dive site, Malapascua, Jun V Lao, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Kalanggaman Island sandbar, Gcabig2024, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Capitancillo Islet and its lighthouse, tacit requiem (joanneQEscober ) from Marikina City, Philippines, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sunlight and bubbles in deep blue water, Sarah Lee, Unsplash License, on Unsplash
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