MALAPASCUA Aquaquest Pacific Travel  / Scubaguam Special Dive Trips

Why Malapascua?  Fours hours north of Cebu is the "picture perfect" island of Malapascua. I've been there in 2010 and 2011, and I'm ABSOLUTELY going back n 2012.  It's a lot better to show you what you'll see then write all about it here, so there are 7 videos here.  You'll see how we get there, what we saw, what we did, and some slightly "sarcastic" commnets. James McLoed has his Malapascua picture album here.

If you want to see Thresher sharks, Malapascua is THE place to go.

 THIS TRIP INCLUDES:

-all transportation to and from the Cebu airport to the island.

-full resort/meal package for 6 days and dinner on the first evening when we get there, and breakfast on the day we leave. This package is a "open menu" and not a buffet. It includes a soft drink, water, and beer or wine in the evening. The food is extremely quite good and there's a large selection.

-4 days of nitrox diving with 3 dives a day, all with nitrox 32 or 36. If everyone wants this for 5 days of diving the addl day is 3750P (or aprox another $82). Additional dives or a night dive are optional and can be paid direct there. All 4 days include an early morning thresher shark dive.

-Deluxe air conditioned rooms for 7 nights at the Tepanee Resort. This is where we've stayed for the last two trips and it's located 3 minutes away in a quiet part of the island.

-A free t-shirt.

-unlimited free internet service at the dive shoo and restaurant.

 

March-late June: The weather should be very good. This is the "quiet season" and it's the reason we picked these dates. The water temp is just like Guam. A full suit of some kind is highly suggested due to the plankton and no seeums in the water.

Why no airfares? Because a lot of us use miles or have a relationship with a travel agent, like MDA. I'll give you the flight info you have to be on and any other specials that I come across, but you'll have to book them yourself.  I recommend that you let MDA book these flights and the CO Holidays package which includes your Heritqge hotel room in Manila.  We travel to Manila the evening before so we can catch the am flight to Cebu. 

DON'T GET LEFT AT THE AIRPORT! Your passport can't expire within 6 months from your return date of travel. Please check the expiration date. We'll need your name exactly as it's on your passport, your date of birth, adn your phone number after your reservatiions are confirmed.

A DEPOSIT HOLDS YOUR SPACE: I hate to be pushy about this, but that's the only way you'll be officially on the trip. This trip is limited to 12 divers. If you're serious about going I'll need a $200 deposit when you decide to go and the final payment of $760 by April 15tt.  You can leave your deposit at the MDA travel desk. They will accept credit cards for this or if you're paying by check make it out to MDA. They handle all of the financial transfers for me.  Just identify that it's from the "Pete's Malapascua trip."

CANCELLATIONS/REFUNDS:  These are very special prices that our dive and hotels partners have committed to.  There are no refunds within 30 days of your departure unless very extenuating circumstances prevent you from going. The criteria for this would be military leave cancellatinons, deployments, and medical emergencies.  In such cases we will need documentation to verify the cancellation. In all cases MDA will retain $75 for administrative costs. We are also not rresponsible for any penalties imposed by airline cancellations. These are out pf our control.

Can you extend your dates for this trip?  Yes. Let me know how many more days you want to stay there.  I can give you a quote.

Are there any extra fees not included: Yes...but not much.

Marine Sanctuary fee: I've included the normal sanctuary fees but if we go to an island that's not normally on the list there will be a fee for this.  It's usually not much.

Airport and transfer fees:  Each airport in the Philippines has it's own departure tax.  Usually it's between 30-50P (42.95P to the US dollar as I write this).  The Manila domestic airport has a 200P departure tax when we go to Bohol, and the departure tax is 750P when we leave Manila to come back to Guam.  Overall figure about 1,000P ($23-24) to cover these taxes.

How much extra money to bring? Lots of travel tips are here.

How do you get on the trip? Send me an email at islands@mdaguam.com. 

Diver comments on the 2011 trip:

Reed Nelson: "The trip to Malapascua was a very enjoyable experience. The resort
accomodations were excellent. The food was terrific (if not too much).
The diving more than lived up to expectations. The opportunity to see the
thresher sharks was thrilling. I would say that this was a great dive
trip all around."

Alice Leliukas: "All around one of my top dive trips! The dive shop could not have been
more accommodating with good food, good selections and great drinks. NO
worries about my gear, always ready to jump into and drop in, really
spoiled us all week.

Of course the critters were fantastic! The PI in general has such diversity, but the blue ring octopus was a real find.  Huge beautiful nudibranchs and even saddleback anemone fish! Corals and fans, pigmy and full size seahorses, and on and on.

The Tapnee Resort where we stayed was also a treat. Rooms large enough to spread out, private settings with nice front decks for happy hour, clean large bathrooms, plenty of hot water and a GREAT massage area with a fantastic view. One suggestion....bring towels for the boat. None were supplied OR sold at and shop. GO THERE!!"

Banka boat photo by James McCleod