The Best of Malapascua Island

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Malapascua is an island just off northern Cebu in the Philippines. Measuring just 1.5km across, it only takes 20 minutes to walk around the whole island.

From relaxing under swaying palm trees to getting up close and personal with majestic sharks, this island truly is a paradise.

The main talking point is, of course, the thresher sharks. With their uniquely long tails, many people come to get a sighting of these rare ocean-dwellers.

I had the pleasure of diving with them and, I can safely say, it was one of the most memorable things I did during my trip around South east Asia.

During your stay, there’s a lot more to do than just dive. But let’s start with that!

Diving in Malapascua

There are 26 different dive shops on this tiny island so there is plenty of choice. Whether you want to experience night dives, shark diving, swimming through underwater caves, or are just starting out with a discovery dive, Malapascua has every option.

I dived with Dan’s Dives Malapascua and I really enjoyed their laid-back atmosphere and friendly staff. Moreover, they offered the best prices I could find on the island.

Equally important are the dive locations. Kimud Shoal was an incredible spot for seeing wildlife. From octopus chasing each other to fish attacking jellyfish and, of course, the thresher sharks.

I would consider Kimud Shoal to be the best diving I’ve ever done.

We also dived at Gato island which had beautiful, vibrant coral and even a 12-metre underwater cave. On top of this, white tip and black tip sharks often hang out here, as well as sea snakes and the rare nudibranch.

Accommodation in Malapascua

Malapascua Budget Inn – tucked away amongst one of the quaint streets of the island is this hostel. It is the cheapest accommodation on the island and offers basic dormitory capsule beds, as well as a chill out area and a big terrace. They even served food and drinks in the evening.

Hippocampus Beach Resort – with the best location on the island, this hotel it is situated on the beach with many restaurants nearby. In addition to this, there is a restaurant/bar serving Filipino, Western and barbequed dishes. During our visit to this restaurant, we joined in with the karaoke which was good fun.

Despite being so small, Malapascua island has so many different accommodation choices. From cheap and cheerful to luxurious, you can find many options here.

Best restaurants in Malapascua

Villa Potenciana Restaurant

This restaurant serves vegetarian and vegan breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its very popular amongst tourists and the menu will suit everyone, from shakshuka to burgers.

The decor had very hippy vibes, full of dreamcatchers, fabrics and also had handmade jewelry for sale. Its also situated on the beach so it offers relaxing island vibes.

Bebot’s Café

This place is a cosy breakfast spot surrounded by greenery, bamboo and wood. It offers a tranquil atmosphere and felt like a serene garden paradise. As well as this, the food was delicious, serving up homemade smoothies, sandwiches, pancakes etc. I liked it so much I went back 3 times!

My Tablea Café

Just off the Northern beach is this cute garden café selling sandwiches and smoothies. It offers tranquil vibes and a nicely decorated garden. When you visit the north of the island, this is the nicest place to grab some lunch.

What to do on Malapascua Island?

Eat at the local food market

Dine with the locals! There were a variety of food stalls selling barbequed fish, meat and veggies. In addition, they had various rice and noodle dishes.

In fact, you can see the local produce all over the island. Check out the catch of the day being dried in the sun.

Visit the Malapascua’s church

Whether you support Catholicism or not, you are sure to find some serenity at the church. Though its a basic building, the blue and white design is very beautiful and the garden at the front is very calming.

You can even visit a service to see how the locals worship. I was there at Christmas and attended midnight mass (at 4am) in which all the locals gathered together for the nighttime service.

Snorkel with black tip reef sharks

A great alternative to diving is seeing the black tip sharks. You can find them at sunset beach just past Tepanee Beach Resort. They are smaller in size and not a threat to humans so its safe to swim with them.

Explore the island

It only takes 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Simply meander through the streets and see how the locals live.

This journey requires some guesswork as a lot of the paths are not registered on Google maps. I found the best thing to do is just ask the locals for the way to North beach as they were very helpful.

Check out the artwork

Around the island, you can find thought-provoking artwork all along the walls. It was very clear that the people of Malapascua care a lot about keeping oceans plastic free.

Walk to the Malapascua lighthouse

Okay, its just a lighthouse. But its a short walk from white sand beach through the jungle and offers a lovely view of the sea.

When you reach the top, you’ll find abandoned buildings surrounding the lighthouse which was fun to explore and a little spooky.

Relax on white sand beach

In my opinion, this is the nicest beach on the island. It boasts fine white sand, its very quiet and the tall, swaying palm trees complete its serene atmosphere.

When I visited, the beach was almost empty. The only other people were some local children running around and a couple of other tourists.

Things to note

• Money – there is a Euronet ATM on the island as you will certainly need cash during your stay. They take a high commission so I recommend getting money out in Cebu before you arrive.

• Getting there – there are daily buses from Cebu’s North bus terminal (make sure you are at the right terminal) to Maya Port. You can choose between the air-con or non air-con bus at different prices but the air-con buses are definitely quicker. Once you have arrived at Maya Port, you have to take a 30 minute boat journey across to Malapascua Island. The boats go throughout the day and the last one is at 5pm.

• Getting around – There is no need to rent a scooter here as you can walk everywhere. In fact, everything you will need is in the South of the island, for example, the bars, restaurants and dive shops.

• Internet – despite having a Filipino SIM card, the mobile data didn’t work around the island. As well as this, the internet at my accommodation was very slow. I decided this was a positive thing and just went internet free for the 4 days I was there.

Whilst you’re in the Cebu area, you can’t miss the mystical Siquijor Island!

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