Malapascua Island – in 1990’s this island was a very famous diving destination, known for its beautiful coral walls, excellent local dive spots, and beautiful coral gardens. There are also beautiful sceneries including Kemod Shoal, Gato Island and Monad shoal. This Island gained its name “Bounty Beach” because of its white sand.
They say that the name Malapascua means “Bad Christmas”. The word Mal means “Bad” and in the local Cebuano the word Pasco means “Christmas” (but in Spanish the word Pascua means Easter).
From all off the islands of the Philippines, Malapascua Island is one of the most favourite tourist destinations. It’s mostly thanks to its remarkable activities like snorkelling or scuba diving at the Monad Shoal an underwater plateau, where Manta rays and Thresher sharks can be seen.
Kayaking and Stand-up paddling. Climbing at the Malapascua lighthouse. Taking pictures to catch the wonderful sunset in Logon Beach – all those are popular activities. You can also enjoy kitesurfing, windsurfing and top surfing on this island.
There are several small bars and restaurants at night where you can relax and enjoy beers and other drinks with other fellow divers. Restaurants serve decent, tasty and inexpensive food. Some of them are Oscar‘s Bar and Restaurant, Kokay’s Maldito Dive Resort, La Isla Bonita, Bakao Kiwi, Mabuhay Foods and Dano restaurant.
Hostels Booking Here
The island offers a variety of lodging houses and hotels such as the Casablanca, Casabonita Hotel, The Bb’s Lodging House native cottages and the Borgreen lodging house. For backpackers, there is the Sunsplash resort.
If you are planning to visit this island, here are some instructions on how to get to this place. From Metro Manila, you can book a flight with Cebu Pacific or Philippines Airlines. From the airport, you can take a taxi or bus to Maya port that takes about 4 hours to travel.
From Maya port take a banca ferry going to the island (about 30 minutes ride). Make sure that you bring enough cash to pay for diving and accommodation. There is no ATM on the island and they don’t accept credit cards.
Malapascua Island Hotels Booking Here