Sea Slug Divers (Malapascua)
Apart from Pulau Tioman, we also run regular trips to Malapascua, an island located in Cebu, Philippines. Situated in the coral triangle, the waters surrounding this tiny island are full of life. It’s a mix of deep drop-offs attracting large pelagics and shallow pinnacles, where a macro enthusiast can while away many hours hunting the rarest of creatures.
The main attraction is, of course, Monad Shoal. This ginormous seamount rises 250m up from the ocean floor and acts as a cleaning station for thresher sharks and more. Every day, these amazing creatures rise up from the depths so cleaner wrasse can remove parasites from their bodies. Notoriously shy, these sharks spend most of their time at depth and are rarely seen by divers elsewhere. It’s a world-class dive site and one that should not be missed.
Our trips to this wonderful island are hosted by our partner dive center – Sea Slug Divers. Why do we decide to partner with them? Simply because they are the only fully locally owned dive operation on the island with a dive crew that have lived and dived there all their lives. Here’s what they have to say!
Established in April of 2010 the shop’s first name was SAFETY STOP DIVE SHOP, the very first ALL FILIPINO OWNED Dive Shop in the Island. It is owned by Mr. Felix Castillo and Matilde Castillo and Family. Their son, RENO CASTILLO is the first LOCAL DIVE MASTER in the Island who entices them to invest into SCUBA Diving. With his experience on the field of Diving and his Assistant Instructor status he was the first Manager of the Dive Shop.
Safety Stop had been one of the few Dive Shops back then (only 12 dive shops). It has been part of “Born To Be Wild” a reality-travel- research show under GMA-7 with its host Mariz Umali. The show was exploring Ship Wrecks and Safety Stop Crew was there to be their guide! Time past and Reno went abroad for another diving career then his title as Manager was given to his younger brother REN MARK who is the shop’s Manager till today.
November 8, 2013! A super typhoon hits Malapascua and the shop’s operations went into a stop. Though hit hard the Safety Stop family never gave up and eventually recovered through the help of our beloved customers/ guests now our brothers-in- arms and is our Family!
By the year 2015 the name Safety Stop was changed into “SEA SLUG DIVERS – Malapascua” with a tag line- “Dive Slowly But Surely”. Sea Slug Divers – Malapascua had been fully operational since then; it had undergone renovations and expansions.
Quick fact: 99% of the staff in Sea Slug Divers is Certified Scuba Divers and all are locals. Yes, they are all Filipinos from our Instructors, Dive Masters/Guides, to our boat crews. So expect the warmth hospitality the Filipino way. As one of our brother Boby of SG SCUBA Singapore would say, “You came in as a Diver, and you’ll leave as a Brother”.
This is a proudly ALL-FILIPINO OWNED Dive Shop and guarantees professional services! The shop is located at the back of Cocobana Beach Resort and just beside the famous Ging-Ging’s Restaurant. It has daily trips to Monad Shoal for the Thresher Sharks and Gato Island for the White Tip Sharks. So what’s the wait? Come and Visit us today and see the world famous Thresher Sharks tomorrow! And remember: “Dive Slowly But Surely” because best things in life happens slowly!
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