Malapascua Island 2026: Where the Thresher Sharks Went, and How to Get There

Checked September 2026. The public boat from Maya is ₱200 to ₱240 plus fees, the thresher dive boats leave Bounty Beach between 4:30 and 5:30 AM, and the sharks are an hour out at Kimud Shoal, not at Monad.

Malapascua is 2.5 kilometers of island off the northern tip of Cebu, one barangay of Daanbantayan with about six thousand people, a lighthouse on a wooded hill and a beach on the south end lined with dive shops. Almost everyone who crosses from Maya comes for one animal. Thresher sharks, the ones with a tail as long as their body, come up to a cleaning station most mornings, and very few places anywhere put a recreational diver within sight of them on an ordinary day.

What changed is where. The sharks left Monad Shoal around 2022 and now turn up at Kimud Shoal, about an hour’s boat ride away. The island did not change. It is still a full travel day from Cebu City, still small enough to walk end to end in an afternoon, and still worth that day.

Malapascua in one minute

• Getting there. Bus from Cebu North Bus Terminal to Maya Port in Daanbantayan, 4 to 5 hours, then a public outrigger across, about 30 minutes.
• The boat. ₱200 to ₱240 per person, plus an environmental fee and a ₱20 terminal fee. It leaves when it fills.
• Last boat. Be at Maya by 3 PM. The last public trips go between about 4:30 and 5:30 PM, and after that it is a private boat at ₱3,000 to ₱5,000.
• The sharks. Kimud Shoal, about an hour out, leaving 4:30 to 5:30 AM. Ask which certification the shop requires.
• Stay. Two nights minimum. The shark dive is a dawn start, so arriving and diving on the same day does not work.

The thresher sharks are at Kimud Shoal now

For years the whole island ran on one site, Monad Shoal, a sunken island off Malapascua where threshers came up at dawn to be cleaned by small fish. Around 2022 they shifted to Kimud Shoal, a similar sunken island farther out. Monad is still dived, now mostly for tiger sharks and rays, but the thresher boats go to Kimud.

Sources disagree on the depth at Kimud: one 2026 guide puts the sharks from about 12 meters, another puts the cleaning stations at 28 to 30 meters with Advanced Open Water required. Ask the dive shop which certification it requires before booking. One thing did get easier with the move: the sharks keep a longer window there, from around sunrise into late morning, which is why the boats still leave in the dark but a missed alarm is no longer the end of the trip. The ride out is about an hour each way.

The rules at the station are strict and enforced: no strobes and no flash, no touching the reef or the sharks, stay low and still where the divemaster puts you. A diver who breaks them can be taken off the dive.

What a thresher dive costs in 2026

Prices differ from shop to shop, so these are the ranges across the Bounty Beach dive centers, checked September 2026. The dive itself is only part of the bill.

Item	What to expect
Fun dive, per dive	₱1,800 to ₱2,500, less on a 10-dive package
Marine park fees	₱300 to ₱700 per day
Kimud Shoal site fee	₱100
Fuel surcharge, shark and Gato trips	About ₱500 per trip
Full equipment rental	₱400 to ₱800
PADI Open Water course	From about ₱23,500 at the shops that publish a price

Add it up before booking. A single morning at Kimud with rented gear lands somewhere around ₱3,000 to ₱4,000 once the fees and the fuel are on it, which is the number to compare between shops rather than the headline dive price.

If you do not dive

Threshers need a tank. There is no snorkel version and nobody honest will sell one. For everyone else the island is still a good trip, just a quieter one: the water off the beaches is clear and shallow, the reef starts close to shore, and Gato Island, a small rock known for sea snakes and a tunnel through it, runs as a boat trip from the same beach.

Stay near Bounty Beach anyway. The shark boats go out in the dark and come back mid-morning, and that return is the island’s daily event for everyone on the island, on the boat or not.

Above the water

The island is roughly 2.5 kilometers by one. Paths run between the village, the beaches and the lighthouse, and a slow walk covers most of it in an afternoon. Bounty Beach on the south side is where the dive shops and most of the resorts sit, and where the shark boats leave from.

The lighthouse is the walk worth doing. It stands on the wooded high ground above the village, and the frame at the top of this page was flown from above it. Go in the late afternoon, when the light comes in low across the water from the west.

Walk back through the village rather than along the beach. Fish hang drying outside houses there, and it is a reminder that this is a fishing community that also happens to have dive shops, not the other way around.

How to get to Malapascua from Cebu City

Take the bus north from Cebu North Bus Terminal to Maya Port in Daanbantayan. It takes 4 to 5 hours, longer on a bad traffic day, and costs roughly ₱225 to ₱350 depending on whether the bus is air-conditioned. Buses stop running north in the evening, so an afternoon flight into Mactan usually means a night in the city first.

At Maya, pay at the counter before boarding. The public boat is ₱200 to ₱240 per person. On top of that come a ₱20 terminal fee and an environmental fee that has been charged at anywhere from ₱75 to ₱140 depending on residency and the year, so budget ₱400 a person to be safe. The crossing is about 30 minutes. Boats run from around 5 or 6 AM and leave when they fill, which can mean a wait on a quiet weekday.

The timing that matters is the last boat. Public trips end somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 PM depending on the season and the weather, and after that the only way across is to hire the whole boat, ₱3,000 to ₱5,000. Aim to be at Maya by 3 PM. Going back, the island’s boats run from early morning until mid-afternoon.

At low tide the boats cannot reach the sand, so the last stretch is a smaller boat or a wade. Pack for wet shoes and keep the bag you care about off the floor of the boat. If the trip starts with a flight into Mactan, the CEB tee from the Airport Series was made for that first leg.

For the port choice and the bus terminal in more detail, see the Northern Cebu ferry guide and the Cebu bus terminal guide. Maya is not Hagnaya. Hagnaya is the port for Bantayan.

When to go

The sharks come up year-round, so the question is the sea, not the sharks. The Maya crossing is an open outrigger, and it is the weather that stops it. June to November is typhoon season, when trips are suspended most often, and a stretch of strong northeast wind in the cooler months can also make the crossing rough. Build one spare day into any trip here, and check whether boats are running the evening before you ride the bus north.

The annoying parts

It is a long day in each direction: a bus, a port, a boat and a wade, with no way to shorten it except a private car to Maya, which runs into the thousands. The fees at Maya are collected at more than one window and the environmental fee has changed more than once, so carry small bills. Arrive with enough cash for the stay and the dive fees rather than counting on finding it on the island. The shark dive means a 4:30 alarm on at least one morning. And the boat leaves when it is full, not when it is scheduled, which on a slow afternoon can mean an hour on the Maya pier.

Questions people ask

Where are the thresher sharks in Malapascua now?

At Kimud Shoal, about an hour by boat from the island. They moved there from Monad Shoal around 2022. Monad is still dived, mostly for other sharks and rays.

How much is the boat from Maya to Malapascua?

₱200 to ₱240 per person, plus a ₱20 terminal fee and an environmental fee of ₱75 to ₱140. Budget ₱400. A private boat after the last public trip is ₱3,000 to ₱5,000. Checked September 2026.

What time is the last boat to Malapascua?

Between about 4:30 and 5:30 PM, depending on the season and the weather. Boats leave when full, so plan to be at Maya Port by 3 PM.

Do you need to be certified to see the thresher sharks?

Yes. Some 2026 sources say Open Water is enough and others require Advanced Open Water, because they disagree on the depth at Kimud, from about 12 meters to 28 to 30. Ask the dive shop before booking. There is no snorkeling version of the thresher trip.

How many days do you need in Malapascua?

Two nights at minimum. The shark boats leave before dawn, so arrival day and shark day cannot be the same day. Three nights leaves room for a weather day on the crossing.

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Aerial frames of Malapascua are Suroy.ph’s own; the lighthouse frame was shot 29 May 2021 at 5:37 PM and the coordinates are read from it. Maya Port photographed March 2024. Boat fares, fees, schedules and dive prices checked September 2026.