Navigating the New Path: Infiniti Liveaboard’s Malapascua Island Route

This season, we have adjusted our itinerary for the route to Malapascua Island. Join us on a 7-day journey with 17 dives, and we are thrilled to announce that we have a new and improved route to make the trip even more exciting and enjoyable.

This itinerary includes the opportunity to get up close with the Thresher Sharks of Malapascua Island. We’ll be doing three dives in Kimud Shoal, giving you more time to capture great shots and experience epic moments with the Thresher Sharks as they go about their cleaning routine, glistening under the sun’s rays in waters that are just about 14 meters deep.

You’ll also have the chance to experience the night dive of a lifetime, which will be conducted at Gato Island. We’ve adjusted the itinerary to ensure that you can fully explore the beauty of Gato Island. This island is home to the largest number of rare nudibranchs in the Philippines, and at night, you won’t believe the vibrant marine life that emerges. The night dive at this island is among the most exceptional diving experiences we’ve ever had, featuring sharks hunting, octopuses, sea snakes, cuttlefish, crabs and rare nudibranchs.

Lastly, we’ve scheduled a beach trip to one of the most Instagrammable islands in the Philippines, Kalanggaman Island. We’ve allocated a three-hour beach trip on the island, allowing you to relax and explore its beautiful white sand beaches, lined with coconut trees and featuring a long stretch of sandbank on both sides. The sunsets here are also breathtaking.

The New Itinerary

Day 1:

This will be the embarkation and orientation day at Cebu Yacht Club, and the boat will depart at 9 PM, cruising to Pamilacan Island.

Day 2:

A dive safety briefing will be conducted at the beginning of the day after breakfast, and we will complete three dives at Pamilacan Island. Pamilacan Island is a small island that is part of the Bohol Region, perfect for macro diving due to the bounty frogfish, crabs, shrimps, and nudibranchs. Additionally, there is a location where turtles can be found in abundance, some of them reaching lengths of up to 2 meters, larger than a diver. Another highlight is the opportunity to witness schools of jackfish and barracudas. This makes Pamilacan Island the perfect place to start the week.

At the end of the day, we will cruise to Anda Bohol.

Day 3:

Anda, Bohol, is a diving paradise worth exploring. With its majestic walls, we’ll embark on three dives in the area, delving into its caverns and caves. The location also boasts a stunning coral bed on the reef’s surface, where numerous turtles can be seen nesting and resting. After three dives, weather permitting, we’ll venture to the La Manok dive site, just a short distance north of Anda, for an afternoon dusk dive. The sandy, rubbly seabed at around 14 meters provides opportunities to spot seahorses and occasionally flamboyant cuttlefish. The walls are adorned with soft corals and sponges, where rare nudibranchs and frogfish can be discovered. Moreover, the area is teeming with schools of snappers and fusiliers, making it another perfect island for diving.

As the day ends, we start to head towards Southern Leyte.

Anda Diving

Day 4:

Exploring Southern Leyte, we have identified several fantastic diving spots, and we will visit the best of them. Our first stop will be in Pintuyan, where we will have the opportunity to explore its magnificent reef wall through two dives. This wall is the habitat of giant frogfish and pygmy seahorses. It is also adorned with gorgonian coral bushes and soft corals, creating an environment teeming with damselfish, fusiliers, and hunting jacks, snappers, giant trevallies, and barracudas.

Next, will be the Tancaan dive site in Padre Burgos to finish up 4 diving day. This area features a slope covered with hard corals, attracting big-mouth mackerels, yellow snappers, and frogfish. You can also spot crustaceans like hairy squat lobsters, candy crabs, and peacock mantis shrimps.

After three days of diving with critters and schools of fish, our journey will take us to Kimud Shoal to witness some larger marine life.

Day 5:

The highlight of this trip, which everyone is eagerly anticipating, is the opportunity to see Thresher Sharks. Upon our arrival at Kimud Shoal, we’ll have one dive in the area. Thresher sharks go about their daily cleaning routine as cleaner wrasses entice them to their stations for cleaning. The sharks are generally unperturbed by divers, allowing us to get incredibly close shots of them with vibrant colors, thanks to the sunlight filtering down at just about 14 meters depth.

After this exhilarating sighting, we’ll set our course for Gato Island. During our time on the island, we’ll complete three dives, exploring its magnificent tunnels and caverns. Gato Island is abundant with rare nudibranchs and frogfish. If we’re lucky, we may also spot flamboyant cuttlefish, seahorses, harlequin shrimp, pygmy seahorses, blue-ringed octopus, and wonderpus. As the day gives way to night, our final dive will take place on the same island. Just imagine the incredible marine life that emerges at night, including bamboo sharks and whitetip reef sharks on the hunt!

Day 6:

Do you think our Thresher Shark adventure ends there? Certainly not! This time, we will set out early for Kimud Shoal. By 6 am, we’ll already be diving in the area to get a head start of the divers arriving from Malapascua Island. As they arrive, it will be just about time for us to conclude our dive and enter our surface interval while they begin their dives. We will make every effort to avoid the crowd during our last two dives at Kimud Shoal to maximize our chances for better sightings and close-up footage.

Once we’ve completed our dives at Kimud Shoal, we will sail towards Kalanggaman Island, the epitome of a picture-perfect island. This island is renowned as one of the most Instagrammable destinations in the Philippines, offering a white sandy beach and a backdrop of coconut trees. It boasts pristine, clear blue waters perfect for a relaxing swim, providing the ideal leisurely conclusion to our diving trip.

At the end of the day, we will cruise to Mactan Island, basking in the beauty of the sunset. We will then gather on the sundeck to celebrate the perfect week of diving adventures.