Malapascua is a relatively undeveloped diving island with some of the best underwater ecosystems in the world.

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Malapascua is a small island at the northern tip of Cebu, north of Daanbantayan. Its name translates to English as Bad Christmas, a completely wrong description given by the Spanish when they first landed here in a huge storm on Christmas day.

Malapascua is a virtually unexplored and hidden beauty in the Philippines. Diving facilities are still undeveloped, dive sites are pristine and crowds are nonexistent. It is roughly two kilometers long and half a kilometer wide, housing a little over 4000 inhabitants all living off tourism, fishing and coconuts. Bounty Beach is the most popular beach with almost all tourists' facilities available on the island. There you will also find a few western operated resorts and restaurants, offering all you need. Malapascua is easily reached by car and boat from Mactan Island, Cebu.

Besides diving the main activity is walking around the island's many pathways and soaking up the friendliness from locals and children as you take a look at their houses and fishing villages. You can visit some of the sheltered coves or visit nearby small islands such as Capitancillo, Calangaman, Quatro, Gato and Tapilon Island all offering spectacular diving around its base. An underwater tunnel below Gato Island is spectacular and might be filled with resting sharks and sea snakes. Monad Shoal and several WWII wrecks can be dived as well although these are not regularly dived and should be asked for. Malapascua offers pristine coral gardens, regular sightings of thresher sharks, manta rays and hammerhead sharks most often in September. But the best time to go is probably in the dryer season that runs from December to April.

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