Malapascua · Philippines · Seamount · Pelagic & blue water
Monad Shoal
The old thresher shoal, now dived for tigers and mobulas
Photo: Petter Lindgren · CC BY-SA 3.0
Monad Shoal is a submerged seamount 7.8 kilometres east of Malapascua: a 1.5-kilometre rock stump with a flattish top at 20 to 24 metres, ending at the edge of a 200-metre drop. It was the world's one reliable thresher shark dive until the sharks left for Kimud Shoal in September 2022. The shoal is still dived from the island, now for tiger sharks, hammerheads and mobula rays.
Where it is and how deep
11.3179° N, 124.1927° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
For two decades this was the dive: a 6am departure, a 30-minute crossing in the dark, and a descent onto the flat top of the shoal at 20 to 24 metres to wait at the cleaning stations spaced along the rim. In September 2022 the threshers stopped coming. Sightings dwindled over a few weeks and then ended, and the sharks set up at Kimud Shoal, further southeast towards Leyte. The early boats followed them.
Monad is still dived from Malapascua, and the geology that made it work has not changed: a 1.5-kilometre stump whose rim ends where the bottom falls away 200 metres. What comes to it now is different. Tiger sharks began patrolling the shoal around the time the threshers left and are its most productive draw, though encounters are random rather than scheduled. Hammerheads are reported from January to April, and mobula, manta and eagle rays cross the plateau.
The profile is a normal recreational one, 10 to 25 metres, on an exposed shoal where current is usually medium and occasionally quite strong, so the group stays tight and the ascent is made back over the plateau. Visibility is often 20 metres and more. Liveaboards mostly leave the shoal off their itineraries now and it is dived by the land-based operators, on its own merits rather than as a guaranteed shark show.
Background
The shoal itself is unremarkable rock: a 1.5-kilometre stump at the edge of a 200-metre drop, with a flattish top at 20 to 24 metres. Most of its coral has been damaged by destructive fishing, and in June 2016 a ship ran aground and damaged three hectares of the protected area. It was declared a marine protected area in 2002 and, in mid-2015, the Philippines' first shark and ray sanctuary along with Gato Island, covering 1.8 square kilometres with a 500-metre buffer zone. Its cleaning stations drew thresher sharks daily for two decades until September 2022.
Marine life and season
- Tiger sharks
- Hammerheads
- Mobula rays
- Manta rays
- Eagle rays
- Pygmy seahorses
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Malapascua: Threshers visit Kimud Shoal all year. March to May is calmest and clearest; October to January brings rough seas, green water and the most cancelled crossings.
Know before you go
- Current is usually medium but is occasionally quite strong on the shoal, so stay with the group and be ready for a drifting ascent.
- Tiger sharks patrol the shoal and encounters are unpredictable, so the site is dived with a guide and a group that stays together.
- The plateau ends at a 200-metre drop; keep it in sight and ascend over the top rather than out into blue water.
Dive videos
Monad Shoal Malapascua - Thresher Shark Diving · Behind the Mask on YouTube
First dive at Monad Shoal in Malapascua on March 5, 2025. · 若林章正 on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Are thresher sharks still seen at Monad Shoal?+
Not reliably. Sightings dwindled over a few weeks in September 2022 and then stopped, and the sharks moved their cleaning to Kimud Shoal about 8 kilometres further southeast. That is where the early boats from Malapascua go now.
How deep is the dive at Monad Shoal?+
The normal profile is 10 to 25 metres. The shoal has a flattish top at 20 to 24 metres, and the cleaning stations sit along the rim where the edge drops away into about 200 metres of water.
What is there to see at Monad Shoal now?+
Tiger sharks, which began patrolling the shoal around the time the threshers left and are its most productive draw, plus hammerheads reported from January to April and mobula, manta and eagle rays over the plateau. Encounters are random rather than scheduled.
Sources
- Malapascua — Wikipedia
- Malapascua — Alert Diver (DAN)
- The Thresher Sharks of Malapascua — Evolution Diving Resort
- Diving sites Philippines Malapascua — Dive The World
- Thresher Sharks at Kimud Shoal — Thresher Shark Divers
- Monad Shoal dive site — Divezone
Photo credits
- Pelagic thresher shark gliding through open blue water over the shoal by Petter Lindgren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In The Logbook
- Where to dive in every month of the yearTrip planning · 14 min read
- Malapascua thresher sharks: Monad or Kimud?Big animals · 11 min read
- When and where to dive with hammerheadsBig animals · 16 min read
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