Dive Review of Evolution Dive Resort in
Philippines/Malapascua

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Evolution Dive Resort: "Persistence pays for threshers at Malapascua", Feb, 2018, by Phil Johnston, Bayswater, AU ( Sr. Contributor 25 reports with 23 Helpful votes). Report 10144.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Malapascua isn't the easiest dive destination to reach (see "How to get there" field). The drive from Cebu City is pleasant enough once Cebu's urban area is cleared. Be aware Philippino driving habits will differ from those in your home country!! Malapascua Diving - the good: "Bugtong Batu" is an excellent local dive site, a sea mount with very rich marine life, many species of clownfish & good small critters including a snowflake eel. I loved this site but was told it can be current prone. I also dove the wreck "Dona Marilyn", not huge fish life but quite a large, impressive wreck covered in encrusting invertebrate life. Some surface current but not too challenging. Gato Island provided rich soft corals, banded sea snakes, curled & good macro life (nudis, small frog fish etc). The wreck & Gato can only be done as day trips due to distances from Malapascua Island (at additional cost over local dives). My main reason for visiting Malapascua was to see the thresher sharks at Monad Shoal. I read that chances of seeing threshers are around 75% but I only had good sitings on my 4th (& last) visit to Monad - around 10 sitings including 3 individuals circling a cleaning station. Thresher dives are only done at dawn as this is the time they most commonly visit the cleaning stations. I did see Mobulas also visiting the same cleaning stations. I'd advise those wanting to see threshers to book at least 3 separate dawn dives. In the absence of threshers or Mobulas Monad is fairly uninspiring. Malapascua - the bad: I would not recommend February as a good time to visit Malapscua - I was told February is the windiest time of the year, & Diving was in fact cancelled on 2 of my 6 days due to rough weather (apparently March-June is calmest period, with July-November being typhoon season. Chinese New Year in Jan/Feb is best avoided, I suspect the absence of threshers was due to the huge numbers of divers in the water during Chinese NY holidays. A dusk "Mandarin fish" dive was an unedifying experience, due to the sheer numbers of divers in the water & the lack of respect shown by underwater photographers to these small animals. The UWPs are going to strobe the Mandarin fish at this site to death at this rate. I suggested to a staff member at Evolution that restrictions on flash photography similar to those in place for thresher sharks be implemented. He agreed that the Mandarin dive needs better management. Overall I found Evolution Dive staff to be quite professional, helpful & attentive. Resort accomodations were good without being 5 star, the toilet in my bungalow was a bit smelly. Food at the resort restaurant was good (I recommend the chicken wrap) but at tourist prices. I'd recommend Malapascua for those interested in threshers, Mobulas, wrecks & good coral reef/macro life, but not during Chinese New Year holidays due to high numbers of divers & chances of poor weather.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Australia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia/Bali, Cocos, Cozumel, Tonga, Galapagos, Tahiti, Maldives, Mozambique, Bahamas, Red Sea, Roatan.
Closest Airport	Cebu City, Cebu	Getting There	Daily direct flights from Manila & some Asian cities to Cebu City, then a 4 hour drive/bus trip to Maya, then 25 minute boat ride to Malapascua.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	25-26°C / 77-79°F	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	25-40 Ft/ 8-12 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	The usual restrictions - no deco diving, commence ascent at 70 bar, no solo diving, generally all enforced
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	No Camera rinse facilities on the boats that I can recall

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Dive Review of Evolution Dive Resort in Philippines/Malapascua

Evolution Dive Resort: "Persistence pays for threshers at Malapascua", Feb, 2018,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Evolution Dive Resort in
Philippines/Malapascua