Malapascua Scuba Eco Adventures

Tucked away on the laid-back island paradise of Malapascua in the Philippines, Malapascua Scuba Eco Adventures is a PADI 5-Star Dive Center with a genuine conservation focus. With six PADI instructors and small group sizes, it's a welcoming base for both first-timers and seasoned divers chasing unforgettable underwater adventures.

What it's known for

The signature experience is the sunrise thresher shark dive at Kimud Shoal — one of the rare sites worldwide with predictably frequent thresher sightings at dawn, thanks to natural cleaning stations. Day trips fan out to Gato Island, with its caves, white-tip reef sharks and sea snakes, and to Kalanggaman Island, where soft corals, fan corals and schooling fish gather along colourful walls and plateaus.

Macro and night divers are spoiled too, with nudibranchs, mandarin fish, pygmy seahorses, cuttlefish, frogfish and pipefish among the jewel-like critters found on late-afternoon and nocturnal dives. The waterfront centre offers a house reef, dive boat, onsite accommodation, food and drinks, and equipment rental, with staff speaking English, Spanish, French and Filipino.