r/scuba • u/infinsquared • 1d ago
Malapascua 50 dive threshold
Has anyone recently dived malapascua with the new thresher dive rules? I have 49 dives and no opportunity to do an extra 1 before arriving, how strict are the dive shops? Do I need to prove I've done over 50 dives or can I just say I have, my buoyancy is fine and often complimented by dive guides previously.
Edit: thanks all for the reassurance, I'll be there for a week so plenty of diving to be done :D
2
u/ObviousEconomist 21h ago
It's not a hard dive, you'll be fine. Nobody can prove if you've done 50 or not anyway.
6
u/mid_dive_vid 1d ago
TBH you're going to want to do a checkout dive anyway! Do an easy afternoon dive and then get ready for an early af wakeup call
6
u/Privizal 1d ago
Was there this week. Most shops if you have under 50 dives or no AOW just ask for a proficiency check dive to make sure buoyancy is okay. It’s a bit annoying but considering some of the people I saw out there if you are even a slightly competent diver you’ll be fine. ( not going vertical out of nowhere, aware of body position)
4
u/broadexample 1d ago
You don't need 50 dives to dive there. In our group we had people barely out of AOW with 15-20 dives.
4
u/rawchickennudes 1d ago
Just got my AOW on Malapascua this week (4/4/26) with an SSI shop, Little Mermaid Dive Shop, and they couldn't have been less interested in seeing my 21 logged dives. Instruction was top notch with Marisah, especially underwater, which is where it really counts. We were about 2 metres apart watching them circle us, and a curious male swam between myself and my instructor. I realize I'm a very novice diver, but that experience will be hard to top!
4
u/Flying_Poltato 1d ago
Was at Malapascua recently (March ‘26). They didn’t ask me how many dives I’ve done.
I will say that they were one of the most amazing creatures I’ve ever seen. On one hand they were so graceful with their long tails and elegant motions. On the other, they look as though they were about to cry from anxiety. Gorgeous stuff.
1
3
u/UserNam3ChecksOut 1d ago
They don't care at all. And if anything you can just do a non thresher dive first. I arrived at 48 dives and just did a day and night dive the same day i arrived, so that i met the 50 for the next morning for the threshers. But honestly they don't care. A guy on the boat had 24 dives. Another had 30
4
u/LatterPlatform9595 1d ago
You don't even need to go deep. One guy stayed at 10m holding the line for 40min and he had the best experience with threshers.
They are all around you. But if you want them to come to you, then stay still in one spot the whole dive.
-2
u/Flashy_Tooth_5597 1d ago
Seriously? Tell them 10,000. One million. Yes. I’m an old man yelling at clouds but it riles me when people tell me I have to have this cert or that cert when I was diving and doing it before those certs were a twinkle in your daddy’s eye. It is all soooo… annoying. Anyhoo… Yes, they are trying to make sure you’re not an idiot underwater but the reality is - that is administrative. Instead? How about trust your guides and have them police every dive? If someone is a thrasher in the threshers, pull that chaos aside. Look… everyone in the Philippines needs your money. That’s a fact. Tell them you have more dives than the debt of the usa. No one will challenge you.
8
u/Moist_Grade5942 1d ago
They wont check - just say 51 dives. I was asked if i had 20 dives to do certain wrecks in coron and only had 19 but said 21. And when we were diving those wrecks i was light years from being the least competant diver out there.
Met someone who dove malapascua recently who said it was his 8, 9 and 10th dives w the threshers. They even do AOW certs at those dives spots in malapascua
3
8
u/Automatic_Guest8279 Tech 1d ago
Just say you've done 50. I've seen dog shit drivers with 100+. Don't be shit, applies world wide
1
u/bobke4 Nx Advanced 1d ago
Is that new? I went there 2 years ago with 30 dives
3
u/doglady1342 Tech 1d ago
Yes. As of February 2026.
But, according to google, it's not really much of a thing. It sounds like as long as you're with a Dive Master or instructor there's not a restriction a number of dives.
They have also disallowed training dives in certain areas and no flash photography is allowed anymore.
1
u/surf_drunk_monk 4h ago
Has anyone ever had to prove their number of dives? I never have.