THE DIVING

If you are contemplating your first trip to Malapascua its probably because you want a personal encounter with our famous Thresher Sharks.  Well that’s no problem, but please don’t forget that apart from near daily sightings of mesmerising Threshers we have so, so much more. Contact us now for our latest rates.

Like all diving we need to be mindful of currents, tides and weather but if you stay one week with us you can expect to sample all of the following.

Dive Monad Shoal – we do daily trips to see the Thresher Sharks on Monad Shoal – it’s a dawn dive and it is the most popular excursion for visitors here.  We also do day dives here to see the Manta Rays who swoop in for a good clean.  For our tech customers we do day dives here between 30m and 100m where we encounter the Threshers by ourselves over the side of the plateau.

Dive Kimud Shoal – this is Monad’s Shoal’s little brother. Here we can have day time encounters with Threshers away from other divers.  For our Tech customers we also do dives between 30m and 100m where we have personalised encounters with Thresher Sharks.  And schooling Hammerheads. Yes Hammerheads -  so no boring deco stops here.

Dive Gato Island – a sanctuary and protected breeding location for the beautiful Sea Krait (sea snake).  We’re almost guaranteed to see the resident White Tip Reef Sharks.  This island is alive with nudibranchs, Harlequin Ghost Pipefish, Pygmy Sea horses and an endless amount of other macro surprises.  Gato is always tough for photographers – macro or wide angle?  We recommend diving Gato at least twice – one with each set up!

Dive The Dona Marilyn – this Philippine ferry capsized over 15 years ago and is now a living, breathing wreck.  It takes time to explore all the features and remember those who were lost. It is the perfect location for the PADI Wreck Specialty.  For our tech customers this is an excellent penetration dive with lots of multilevel deep passages to explore.  Not qualified to do safe wreck penetrations?  Well sign up for our TDI Advanced Wreck Course and give yourself the ultimate diving challenge.

David carrying out a technical dive on the Mogami Maru


The Mogami Maru - "Pioneer"
It would appear that the wreck commonly known as the Pioneer by most dive operators on Malapascua is actually not that wreck. The 'Pioneer Cebu' was a passenger ferry which sunk in 1966, somewhere near to Malapascua, but whose location is currently unknown.

The wreck which is a short distance north of Malapascua lying in 50m on a sandy bottom, is certainly not a passenger ferry and is almost certainly a Japanese vessel from WWII. The Mogami Maru was a fishing trawler of 50m length, completed in July 1941, and then converted to a submarine chaser before entering service for the Japanese Navy. Records show her to have been sunk after bombing in the Malapascua area on Sept 12th 1944.

We can assume that this wreck is the Mogami, partly due to her size, the length and beam have been measured to match very closely. Additionally the condition of the wreck is very similar to other wrecks sunk during the war, the decay of the steel, the proliferation of marine life, and the fact that there appears to be some kind of explosive damage in the stern section of the boat which would indicate she was sunk due to a bombing attack. To add further evidence in support of this a number of items have been found on board with Japanese text on them, which would go even further to support these claims.

To dive the wreck today technical diving certifications are required. A maximum depth of 52m when the tide is high, mean you easily enter decompression while exploring the wreck, and with the shallowest part of the wreck around 45m there is a lot of blue water between the wreck and the surface. However this wreck is well worth a visit, although fairly small by wreck standards it is easy to spend the entire dive enjoying the small engine room which sustained massive damage before sinking - and in this are a number of interesting artifacts have been found. The propellor sits on the bottom half buried, with the destroyed stern around it a sign of the ships previous power.

As you move forward along the wreck there is a host of marine life crowded into the nooks and crannies of the ship for protection; expect to see schools of grunts, and anthias al over the coral covered midships, and watch out where you touch as the Mogami is home to at least 4 very large scorpion fish.

The midships section which would have supported the wheelhouse is collapsed down to deck level, and the helm has already been removed from the wreck by another diveshop to be displayed in their restaurant. Further forward there is a cargo hold which appeared to be carrying various electrical parts, along with oil drums. Much of this area is open and easily penetrated although no extensive penetration is possible due to the small size of the ship. Forward of the hold is the f'ocsle which shows the collapsed remains of an anti-aircraft gun mount. It seems that the gun has been removed at some point but the weight of the mount remained and assisted in the collapse of the upper deck area.

The forward bow section is nicely intact and the anchor windlasses can bee seen on both sides, with the chain still running down on both sides to the anchors which lie in position on port an starboard. The very tip of the bow supports a nice growth of soft coral sticking up towards the surface and providing a beautiful view if you have time to swim out in front of the bow and look back over the wreck as if she were steaming along the bottom towards you.

The Oakita Maru - "Tapilon"
Very little is known but it seems the Oakita Maru is better known as the Tapilon wreck by most divers in the Malapascua area. Built in Nagoya Zosen shipyard, Nagoya, Japan for the Nakagawa Kisen line and completed in September 1943 she was a standard cargo ship of nearly 100m in length.

Brought into service for the Japanese navy immediately after her completion the vessel was assigned to carry supplies to the Japanese forces stationed around the Philippines at the height of the war. It seems that the Oakita was carrying munitions including at least 2 and 3 inch artillery shells. There are a few of these still remaining amongst the wreckage which remains, but damage to the wreck is extensive leaving very little of the hull intact. The scope of this damage would indicate that her holds of munitions were ignited by a bomber attack (recorded as the 12th of September 1944) destroying the ship instantly.

What remained of the ship initially has been plundered by local salvagers and hooker divers over recent years; signs of their digging amongst the wreckage are quite clear. Even so there is much of the large wreck still visibly identifiable and fun to explore, although there is no penetration available. The wreck lies in 26-30m about 30mins away from the Evolution beach, and depending on your interest level can easily take up 2 dives due it its size and the way in which the wreckage is scattered around.

Other than the wreckage this is a great place to see bushes of black coral with hundreds of small bait fish amongst them, and the hiding places created by the overhanging steel has become home to multiple type of fish, starfish, and sponges. Also keep your eyes open for the many varied nudibranchs covering the site, even though there's not massive amounts of coral they seem to thrive here.




Contact us for our current prices.  We offer a sliding scale so in simple terms, the more you get wet, the cheaper it becomes.

Thanks to Terry Dukes for providing much information on the wrecks