Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines - the cool critters and notable absentees.

A Turtle swims overhead at Tongo.

By Ryan Pearson

DD and I came to Moalboal when we were in the Philippines 2 years ago, and we remember it being amazing! Mind blowing even. There was a massive school of sardines that completely surrounded Pescador Island, and was one of the main attractions along with the Thresher Sharks that came in hunting them. This year... they're no where to be seen...

Malapascua Island: Dives 7-10 - Deep Rock, Gato Island, and Monad Shoal

One of the three Pygmy Seahorses we found at Deep Rock. Unfortunately the little bastard wouldn't look at me. Photo: Ryan Pearson

By Ryan Pearson

This morning we did our last dive at Malapascua Island (for this trip at least). It was a great dive at Monad Shoal at dawn and we had a thresher shark with us up close for about the first 35 minutes. After that we spotted about 4 more sharks and a gigantic bed of garden eels. In all a great way to finish the trip. Yesterday we did two dives at Gato Island, and the day before we had one dive at Deep Rock. Gato and Deep rock are competing for my two favourite sites that we dived as they are both bursting with interesting critters, white-tip sharks, cuttlefish, and sea snakes. I found myself constantly thinking 'What the hell is that?' Here are the pics I got from the dives. 

Malapascua Island: Dive 6 - Monad Shoal and the Thresher Sharks

My first Thresher Shark. Photo: Ryan Pearson

By Ryan Pearson

WOW! We got one! A thresher at last! Our 4am wake up paid off this morning with warm clear water, and a thresher shark virtually as soon as we descended. Unfortunately, the rules don't allow for any artificial light source on the shark dives, and being a dawn dive it's very hard to take photos... but I got a couple of them.

Malapascua Island: Dive 3,4,& 5 - Monad Shoal, Dona Marylin, & Gato Island

My first photo of a porcelain crab. Photo: Ryan Pearson

By Ryan Pearson

Today was the day we were supposed to have our first thresher shark encounter... we didn't. But we did have an epic wreck dive, followed by a dive at possibly the most amazing site I've ever been too. Unfortunately, my pics here don't do it justice, but it was truly incredible. 

Malapascua Island: Dive 2 - The Night at Bool

The tiniest squid I've ever seen. Yes, it's sitting in regular sand and those are the grains you can see! Photo: Ryan Pearson

By Ryan Pearson

Dive two at Malapascua Island with Thresher Shark Divers was a night dive at the site known as Bool. Amazing! I saw 4 kinds of cephalapod: a squid, a small cuttlefish, a small octopus, and a tiny tiny tiny bobtail squid... but I only managed to capture a decent image of the smallest of them all (above). This was another critter dive and we saw our second sea snake in two dives. Below are some pics, enjoy.

Malapascua Island: Dive 1 - The Muck of Chocolate Island

By Ryan Pearson

We just got back from our first dive with Thresher Shark Divers at Malapascua Island, Cebu, Philippines. This was a muck dive at one of the nearby islands called Chocolate Island. There were soft corals everywhere, as well as an endless supply of critters. Check out some pics below that I've managed to quickly upload before we head off for our second (night) dive...

Whale Sharks? Yes please!

Two whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) at Oslob, Cebu, Philippines. Photo: Ryan Pearson

By Ryan Pearson

I've been in the Philippines for a few days now, and we're having a blast. Being fed too much amazing food, and buying too much stuff for super cheap. We are staying with DD's family in Lapu-lapu, in Cebu city. The people are truly amazing and their hospitality is second to none! Today, Chano drove us 3 hours south (and back again) from Cebu city at about 4am to go swimming with whale sharks. Were we excited? Heck yes we were, and we were certainly not disappointed!