That’s (almost) our name, don’t wear it out!
The last two months on Monad Shoal have just been crazy, crazy, crazy, with big stuff absolutely everywhere. All our divers have been coming back every day with huge, beaming smiles and great photos.
To start with, there have been plenty of thresher sharks to go around. And the mantas are out in full force. Also devil rays are being seen in numbers I have never heard of before – up to 30 at a time. Devil rays flying in squadron formation is truly a sight to behold, it almost feels like you are in Star Wars!
As an example, earlier this week there was an almost unheard of 6 thresher sharks circling at the same time. And as if that wasn’t enough, the lucky divers went back later that afternoon and saw 5 mantas. Quite a day’s diving.
This almost beats Trevor’s all time world record from back in 2004. He was doing a 75 minute nitrox dive with our old friend Alain and they had 7 sharks circling at once.
Peter Quinn was with us recently and managed to shoot these excellent video clips on just his basic point and shoot camera.
On a related note, probably the most popular question asked by divers coming to Malapascua Island is, “When is the best time for thresher sharks?”
Well, as threshers are wild animals, they don’t always come when they are supposed to, so it is tricky question to answer. But I will try my best:
Threshers can be seen year round and it is very rare to have a day when one is not seen on Monad Shoal. But there are times of the year when the general tendency is better and there are more sharks around.
Over my 7 years on Malapascua Island, June to October have been the months when we see the most, whereas January and February are not so good. But having said that, January and February 2008 and 2009 were great for threshers and September 2008 was not. And this year, April and May have been just amazing.
So go figure…
What does this mean?
Book your holiday whenever is best for you and you are almost guaranteed to have some great shark sightings! But it is a good idea to come for at least 4 days diving just in case, to make sure you get that special experience.
But for the inside scoop, my favorite month has always been September 
