Diving with Thresher Sharks in Malapascua.
I was that middle schooler who drew Naruto characters in class and so becoming a diver chick, let alone a diver chick actively looking for sharks, was not something I or anyone else would have imagined I’d do. No one I knew was a diver. I always imagined it was one of those activities wealthy people did on exotic vacations (i.e., not me, the girl from the wrong side of the tracks). Then I stumbled on Thresher Shark Divers who welcomed me into the diving world.
Here is the email I sent to my future diving school to show exactly how clueless (and still bad at grammar) I was:
Sigh. Oh that brave, sweet summer child. The point is if I could do it with little money, research, or planning, you can become an advanced diver searching for the kittens of the sea with a modicum of money, research and planning:
1. Make your way to Malapascua Island.
Go to the Philippines. Just do it—it’s fun. Malapascua Island is a relatively short trip from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which is also a great place to start your Philippines adventure given its access to numerous other Philippine islands.
From the airport, I suggest splurging on a private transport, but you can also board a bus to Maya Harbor where you will take a ferry to the island. Once you arrive on the island, your transportation choices may be limited to the motorcycle drivers who hang out at the port, so you’ll want to consider packing lightly to avoid my situation (riding on a motorbike balancing a hard suitcase through dirt roads).
Thresher Shark Divers gives a helpful breakdown of transportation options here. For those staying with them, they also offer a reasonably priced private transport.
2. Find your way to Thresher Shark Divers.
There may be other good diving schools that offer trips to see the thresher sharks, but everyone I’ve sent to Thresher Shark Divers to learn diving and to swim with sharks enjoyed their stay. Definitely check with Thresher Shark Divers prior to your trip to book a room and to book your diving experience. They will tell you what your class options are, and they will likely give you materials prior to your trip so you can save instruction time by doing some of the readings on the airplane.
As is standard, we were required to decompress after a dive, so I spent the time after diving lessons napping on the resort’s beach, meeting the other tourists at the resort’s restaurant, and catching up on my diving lessons with a very friendly cat. Of course, there was also the island to tour!
3. Become an Advanced Open Water Diver.
Overall, getting my diving license and seeing the sharks took me less than a week, and it was a fun week of diving lessons and lounging on the beach. This advanced license is what you will need to go diving with the thresher sharks in Malapascua because they hang out at a feeding station a little less than 30 meters under water. To achieve that depth while being safe, you will need a little additional instruction; the light plays tricks at these depths, for example, and it’s best to be prepared. Many of the best diving spots around the world will require this license, so I thought it was well worth the additional cost. Overall, I paid around $600 for the dive trip (minus the plane ticket to the Philippines). I was on a tight budget, and so you may prefer to spend more on accommodations, private transportation, etc.
After this experience, diving very quickly became a go-to vacation activity. I would make my way to an island known for its reefs and book a dive trip at a local dive shop (for safety reasons, you should not go diving alone) for early in the morning when fish tend to be more active. I had no money for the diving equipment, but these shops often included equipment with the trip. The other tourists and guides on these trips were very nice, and you may make fast friends. It is common practice to return from a diving session with your new crew, find a nearby restaurant on the beach, decompress, and update your dive books on what you saw. Then you might go bar hopping or nap before an afternoon or night dive.
All in all, diving is both exciting and social, and makes for a great vacation activity! We kept this short and sweet, but if you have any questions about this trip we encourage you to reach out to Thresher Shark Divers by clicking here.
I wasn’t able to snap a picture of the thresher sharks, but here is a whale shark from a separate Philippines diving trip! Awww, pretty baby.