After Palawan Island I flew to Cebu before heading up to the tiny island of Malapascua. While small, it only took 30 minutes to walk the length of the island, I fell in love with this island and kept extending my stay night after night. When it was finally time to leave I was sad to go.
To get to Cebu Island from Palawan Island I had an evening flight. While I had spent the day trying to figure out how to get to another island to possibly see Whale Sharks, nothing was working out. By the time I arrived in Cebu I had nothing planned and so after texting with Sinead, who was arriving in Cebu on a later flight, and her telling me she was headed to a tiny island called Malapascua, I decided to join and I am so glad I did. The next morning Sinead and I met up on the bus headed to the pier at the northern tip of Cebu Island. It was an easy bus ride up there and once to the pier we were able to get a ferry to the island. The ferry ride was an easy journey, however since it was a smaller local boat that was lower to the water we did end up getting splashed along the way but it was all in good fun. Once on the island Sinead and I headed to our hostel and on the walk there we met Chris who had also been on the same ferry and was staying in the same hostel. After getting checked in and settled, the three of us headed out to the beach to watch the sunset before going to the evening market for dinner. Following dinner the three of us found a karaoke bar and had fun there for a while before heading back to the beach to look at the stars. Karaoke is huge in the Philippines. It was a great first evening in Malapascua.
On my first full day on the island I had a relaxed, slow morning. As I made plans for what I was going to do that day I met Patri who was also in my room. After talking we decided that we’d go to the beach together and we were also joined by Laura, who had switched hostels that morning. The three of us headed to sunset point, a beach where you can go snorkeling and swim with baby reef tip sharks. We ended up hanging out there all day and it was a lot of fun. That evening we met up with Sinead and Chris back at the hostel and a big group of us went out to dinner together before going out to karaoke. It was a fun evening and after karaoke we went to the beach and then for a night swim. At the beach we were able to see glowing plankton in the water which was super cool and a fun ending to the day. The next day I woke up bright and early and joined a dive boat to go snorkeling with thresher sharks. It was fun relaxing on the boat while the divers went out for their first dive then, after they came back, we headed to the next stop which was a dive spot known for thresher sharks. The water was super clear and I was able to see so many thresher sharks while snorkeling; it was such a cool experience. Once we got back I headed straight to the dive shop and signed up to start my open water dive certification for the next day. I had been thinking about getting dive certified for a while and after seeing the divers’ experience I decided to finally do it. After signing up for my open water dive certification I headed back to my hostel to get ready for the evening and again the group of us from the hostel met up and went out to dinner that night. We went to a vegetarian vegan restaurant where they also had live music and spent most of the evening there before heading back to the hostel to hang out on the rooftop for a while. It was another great evening spent with a great group of people.
The next morning I woke up bright and early and started my first day of my dive certification. It started with confined water skills; while some dive shops do this in a pool, since the shop I was at didn’t have a pool we did it in a bay at 3 meters deep. Jumping in the ocean with all my dive gear seemed scary at first but once I hit the water I was able to float and all my nerves disappeared. It was an amazing experience going down underwater with all the gear. There were a bunch of different skills to practice from taking off my mask and putting it back on to taking out my respirator, which is how I breathe, and more. It was a lot of work but I was able to catch on to it all pretty fast. After going through multiple confined water lessons we came back up to the surface of the water and the boat picked us back up. Once on the boat I was able to take a break, eat lunch, and then after lunch I went back in the water to do my first open water dive. Doing my first open water dive was absolutely amazing. Being deep underwater and feeling suspended in the water, the weightless feeling was amazing and was made even better by all of the colorful corals and fish. It was a great first dive and before I knew it we had to surface and that was the end of my first day. Once back on land I headed to the north end of the island to meet up with Sinead and Chris at a beach up there. Since the island is tiny and most of the areas I had walked weren’t paved, I had been walking around shoeless and on my walk to the north beach I decided to go shoeless again; it was an excruciatingly painful and stupid idea. The whole walk to the north side was paved and the road was burning hot, my feet were being cooked from the heat of the pavement. By the time I got to the beach my feet were in so much pain all I could think to do was head straight to the water to cool them off. Other than burning my feet on the walk there, once at the beach it was a fun time hanging out and floating in the water. Since Sinead had also gone barefoot to the beach and had the same painful experience as me and forgot to warn me to wear shoes, we waited until the sun set to head back to town so as to not burn our feet even more. Once back at the hostel we again met up with the others and went out for dinner and live music. Throughout the night I also had to work on the written portion of the open water dive certification.
My second day of diving was similar to my first, I started with confined water lessons in the morning and from there went into my first open water dive of the day. After the dive I came up for a light lunch on the boat. Following lunch I had to do a water skill test of a 200 meter swim and then a fifteen minute float. Once I finished both of those I went into my final open water dive of the day. It was a really fun day where I again got to see even more of the beautiful and amazing underwater world. That evening I spent most of the night working towards finishing the written portion of the certification. I was still able to again join everyone for dinner and live music. After two busy days of dive training, on my final day I was able to have a slow relaxed morning studying for the dive exam. While hanging out at my hostel, I met a woman named Bang who worked there with her husband. After talking for a while she told Sinead and I about a cacao meditation ceremony and offered for us to join that evening which we both agreed to. That afternoon, I got lunch and then relaxed on the beach until it was time to head out for my final open water dive and before going to the dive shop to take my written exam. It was a shorter day, but a good final day and I was able to complete my open water dive certification, which was really exciting. That evening Sinead, Chris, and I headed to the beach at sunset with Bang and her husband. Once at the beach they held a cacao meditation ceremony for us. Going into the experience I didn’t know much about it but it was an awesome experience. The cacao meditation ceremony was about connecting with the earth while listening to the waves and water, feeling the sand and also connecting with our inner selves. Just saying yes to joining while not knowing much about it was a great choice and it was great opening myself up to new experiences. Once over Sinead, Chris and I headed to dinner before relaxing and enjoying our last evening on the island.
The next day I sadly had to leave the wonderful island of Malapascua and head back to Cebu City. I went back with Sinead and Chris and the three of us took the ferry and bus back to the city. Once back in the city we had lunch together before they had to head to the airport and me to my hostel. I finished out my time in the Philippines in Cebu City and spent the time working on planning my next stops.
While I wasn’t originally planning on going to Malapascua, I am beyond grateful and happy that I went. I had the most amazing time on the island and met a bunch of great people. Malapascua will always hold such a special place in my heart and I will definitely be back to the island again someday. It felt like home and more than the experiences I had on the island, I also just loved the island itself. I loved how small the island was and that I could walk everywhere, the locals were also so nice and there are still a bunch of amazing dive sites to explore off the island. I will be back again and will always cherish the amazing memories I made in Malapascua.
“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.”
- Lawrence Block
Wow, the island sounds amazing! And congratulations on getting your certification!