It took us about 24 hours from Zurich to get to Malapascua island, which lays on top of the Cebu island. Our general impression about the Philippines at our arrival was that it owns a variety of flora and is rich of different kinds of plants, flowers and trees. People are poor compared to Switzerland (of course) but during our cartrip we have seen many children playing at the borders of the streets, laughing, having fun and being satisfied with what they have.
Arrived in Malapascua we were struck by the beauty and wilderness of the landscape, not too much touched (compared to the islands in Thailand), as it is still not very convenient to get there (4 hours drive and boat ride). You almost only meet dive tourism there and the island is split into the 3 main diving providers and some additional resorts and restaurants in a very reasonable amount which doesn't seem to waste the area yet too much by tourism.
Pigmy seahorse in sea fan
The local people are very friendly, hospitable and always up to a good joke which very much describes the filipino character. Our diveguide Mark with nickname Martin (every filipino has a nickname :))) is one of the greatest underwater spotter ever seen. Originally from Apo Island he is the most experienced dive guide (20 years experience!!) in Malapascua. A real marinero and passionate diver with this certain feeling for underwater creatures. There were no 10 seconds passing under water when he did not spot something special, whether it was a colourful nudibranch, ghostpipefish, white tip sharks and in the end even a tresher shark. Malapascua is famous for its tresher sharks getting a regular cleaning at Monad Shoal during sunrise. It took us 5 times before we were able to spot a single one, which meant to get up every morning at 4.15 am to get to Monad Shoal by 5.30 am. Tresher Sharks are in general very shy and whenever you are able to spot one you ought to control your breathing as they are afraid of the bubbles.
The day we got to see one already started very promising. While descending at a rope to get to the bottom of Monad Shoal a baby manta ray was passing by gracefully like an eagle. I could not get rid of the feeling that something more ought to happen. After 10 minutes laying on the ground and waiting I almost couldn't believe my eyes, there was a single Tresher Shark gliding through the water and its beautiful silvery body with the enormous tail fin was shining, even though the visibility wasn't optimal. I was struck by the beauty of the moment and very much touched so I really had to shed a tear.
Although Malapascua is famous for its regular sighting of Tresher Sharks it is also rich of diverse beautiful divespots, such as in Gato Island, where many different kinds of nudibranchs and fishes, white tips, corals etc. can be admired and observed amidst a breathtaking underwater landscape.
We were more or less spending our time in Malapascua with locals who are reliable companions and funny people like Martin, Dishiely and many others. Roberto was very popular among the locals, because of his spanish sounding name and his easygoing and joking nature. They called him Roberto Agas (agas means floating) and whenever Roberto appeared on the surface again (after a dive) they were already calling his name.
One situation I have to share now, as it is a very funny one. It was the first dive at Gato Island while preparing to get into the water. While everybody was already under water for 10 minutes, Roberto was still preparing his fins, mask etc. and even for the Filipinos he was a bit too slow and they were joking about him in Bisaya using the expression "langay langay", which means slowly. But as I already used the term in his presence and explaining it to him he knew what they were talking about. And therefore the whole situation ended up into much laughter and surprise, as the locals did not expect him to know the word "langay langay".
One of our acquaintance Dishely is a young, spirited, smart and gwapa pinay and originally from the island itself. We spent our last evening with her and amidst other filipinos with filipino barbecue, filipino steamed rice, a delicious mango desert à la Dish (comparable with tiramisu, but much better) and nonstop singing.
The food in the Philippines was the best we have ever eaten in south east asia. We do prefer very simple and light kitchen as fried, grilled or steamed fish, squid, shrimp, chicken with rice and a little sauce consisting of chilly, filipino lemon (calamansi), asian vinegar and soy sauce or just in the adobo style. The fruits are sweet and the taste of mangoes, pineapple and papaya cannot be compared to any other place in the world.
Malapascua's beauty, its astonishing surrounding islands and underwater world and the affectionate local people won't be easily forgotten and therefore nothing more remains than to say kami mobalik!
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