MALAPASCUA ISLAND

Malapascua is a tiny island located in Visayan sea, it is only about 2.5 kilometers long and 1km wide,

 located across a shallow strait from the northernmost tip of mainland Cebu island.

The name “Malapascua” is said to have been given by some Spaniards whose ship happened

 to get

 stranded in the island on Christmas Day, December 25, 1520, due to bad weather.

Because of their misfortune of having to spend Christmas away from their comrades and

family stuck in a desolate island, the Spaniards called the island Mala Pascua,

which literally means “Bad Easter”.

From then on the Spaniards and the non-locals would refer to the island as Malapascua,

while the local residents insist that their place is called Barangay Logon.

Sunset on Bounty beach in Malapascua

Malapascua became famous fairly recently, only in the early 90s as a dive destination. Prior this,

the island was

 known for its wide white sand beach, known as Bounty Beach; it has also become known for its

beautiful coral gardens and excellent local dive spots, as well as further-out sites including Gato Islet,

 Monad Shoal, and Kemod Shoal

GATO ISLET

 Gato Islet a small sharp rocky island rising in the middle of the Visayan Sea,

about 15 kilometres (9 miles) from Malapascua. The 83 metres (272 feet)

high island is home to nesting seabirds,

a colony of flying foxes,

soft coral canyons, and rare and unusual nudibranch.

MONAD SHOAL

Monad Shoal is a world famous dive site located in Malapascua.

 It is a sunken island at about 20 meters that is a well known cleaning station for

Thresher Sharks.

TRESHER SHARKS

These rare and graceful creatures can grow up to six meters in length and can usually be seen during the early hours of the morning.

  Thresher sharks (Family Alopiidae) have an extremely long upper lobe of the caudal fin. Thresher sharks use their tail to herd and stun small fishes, which they then eat.

Kemod Shoal

It is very similar to its much more famous bigger brother, Monad Shoal Also an underwater seamount rising from the abyss, it has a flattish reef top starting at around 12 metres before sloping away at an ever increasing angle.

The beautiful, peaceful municipality remains strong despite the recent typhoon (Yolanda)

that tested its people and made Daanbantayan where Malapascua and its islets located

was even more prominent among

 local and foreign visitors.