iainwilliams:
Andrea was with Bubble07 and now operates Threasher Shark Divers. Nice Gal....Iain
Since originally starting this Malapascua thread with a question on whether to dive in July, I ended up going for 6 days, pre-booked three dives a day from Hong Kong and ended up doing my advanced PADI so I could deep dive with the threshers.
I stayed at Exotic, which was great...hardly anyone there, and the dive masters (right up to Zoe at instructor level) were fab. I was there on my own and arriving late at night with transfers all arranged was a bit scary...as despite transfers being pre-arranged, I had to board a boat in the dark with a 5-man Philippino crew and no-one said a word to me besides 'get on the boat' and 'give us the money for the transfer from the shore' which was on a skiff as it was low tide, befor getting to the Exotic's charter boat. Anyway, besides fumbling around for cash in the dark with a load of strangers wearing t-shirts on their heads, the rest of the trip was great!!
Some amazing dives. Gato island turned out to be a big disappointment, due to the 20 man-and-fishing-boats that were camped around the island (no-one in the watchtower policing this) and the fact that on both dives that day dinamite was echoing all around. Pretty infuriating, and only saw small reef fish (no prizes for guessing why!!), as well as some gorgeous small sharks sleeping under rocks.
Monad Shoal was cool...the first time was murky and didn't see much, but the second trip was clear and we saw 2 threshers and a manta ray fly past.
The threshers were awesome, although I confess that when one came up close to get a look see (of me and the dive master) it was frightening...just being regarded and part of the thought process of such an amazing creature is quite a humbling experience.
Also saw sea snakes and lots of cool stuff. Sadly the only rays besides the manta, were all dead juveniles we spotted over 20 dead ones on 1-dive and apparently the culprate is line-fishing. These would have come straight from their mother's bellies.
Overall great visibility, and I was really lucky with the weather too. My only thought would be don't ask Exotic (or any of the resorts) to reconfirm your flights etc. as they slapped on the costs at the end by way of incidentals.
Definitely worth the trip!!
