Capturing the Moment

Colors of the deep, who knew?   Scuba Diving Gato Island, Philippines    Since the discovery of a thresher shark dive near Malapascua Island, adventurous divers have been flocking to the golden sand shores of this little tropical island north of Cebu, Philippines. Everyone wants to see big animals like the threshers. Those in the know come here for two reasons; thresher sharks and tiny macro critter hunting. The place to go for the latter is a nearby rock, jutting straight up out of the clear blue water, covered in dense jungle. Terns squawk as they fly in and out of caves and overhangs, but the real wildlife lives just underwater. Gato is famous for sea snakes but also houses treasures like sea horses, nudibranchs, frogfish, and even little white tip reef sharks.    Colors and patterns of all kinds shock the senses as you dive around the island. The shallows are best for nudibranchs and frogfish, while the sea horses like it a bit deeper. Wi...

Two Ornate Ghost Pipefish  When I talked to my dive guide at Malapascua about finding rare small underwater creatures he told me about two nearby places; Calanggaman Island and Gato Island. Calanggaman, he said, is a long sand bar dotted with coconut palm trees that drops steeply off into the abyss. Gato on the other hand, was described as a solid rock topped with jungle surrounded by nudibranchs and sea snakes. I immediately added both destinations to our dive plans during my stay in Malapascua. First on the list was a two dive day trip to Calanggaman Island. Denise's pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise) Can You Find the Sea Horse?  I was already impressed by J.N., our local dive guide and creature finder by his skill in spotting wildlife on our first few local dives. When we dropped over the underwater cliff edge on the outskirts of Calanggaman, J.N.'s critter vision went into overdrive. He found pygmy sea horses no bigger than your pinky finger nail. Ornate gh...

                 Thresher Sharks of Monad Shoal    When we started researching our dive trip to the Philippines we started hearing about a site near Malapascua Island where divers frequently encounter thresher sharks. Before this I had never heard of any scuba divers encountering this shark before. They usually live offshore and stay very deep in the water. The more I read about this place called Monad Shoal, the more I wanted to go see it for myself. I am a huge shark fan, and seeing one in the water is always a dream come true. This would be the 21st species of shark that I have swam with if I am lucky enough to see one. It turns out I did see a thresher shark here in Malapascua, but not just one, I saw 5 thresher sharks and had some incredible close encounters. Now the thresher shares a place on my list alongside an oceanic white tip, great whites, hammerheads, and whale sharks. Only about 360 ...

Beautiful Malapascua Beach Adorable Beach Babies Everywhere Heidi and Dive Master J.N. Ornate Ghost Pipefish Orangutan Crab   If beautiful sand beaches, happy hours, friendly, laid back locals, and excellent diving are what you are after, then look no further than Malapascua Island in the Philippines. After flying into Cebu Int. Airport it is a three hour car ride to the tiny port of Maya. From there a 30 minute boat ride takes you across the normally calm channel and deposits you right on the beach in front of all the resorts. Each resort has its own bar, restaurant, and dive center. Heidi and I chose Ocean Vida since we had a package deal with Sea Explorer Divers already and that was the resort that houses that dive company. Denise's Pygmy Sea Horse  Malapascua has been a familiar name in the diving community because of its incredible macro wildlife. Sea horses, nudibranchs, sea snakes, and frogfish can be found here, especially on the nearby isla...